Dunking Food

[Julianna]

Does anyone else's parrot dunk all their food? Pippi brings each of her pellets of all the way across the cage and dips them in her water before eating them (with lots of crumbs) over her water. She also floats her fresh food in her water bowl and pushes it around while maybe injesting very small amounts. Before I got Pippi I remember reading that this is a pretty common habbit with caiques. Does anyone discourage it so you don't need to change the water every ten minutes, or do you just consider it good exercise?

 

[Jowelbg]

Caique Soup! Our birds love making it .

 

[Julianna]

It's just so appetizing, right? Soggy pellets, chewed up vegetables, the occcasional feather to spice things up...delicious

 

[Pinkbirdy]

I think its just a thing that they do ,Gretas waters clean and Sammy 's is OMG!!!

 

[DanR]

I honestly think Tango wastes 3/4 of his food dumping in to the waterbowl along with his veggies and fruits... Birdy Soup!!

 

[randy]

I have used water bottles in the past instead of a bowl. My macaw is a souper but then
i only have one bird.

 

[dskidd]

Oh yes, Eliza and Henry are both little raccoons when it comes to their food. They both have drinking bottles (Lix-It) on their cages, and will carefully push their pellets into the tubes. So I don't have to worry so much about cleaning their water dishes. On the other hand, nearly two years ago I remember watching Eliza drink and not seeing air bubbles coming up through the water. I realized she had shoved one of the pellets so far up the tube that she had clogged it. Sheesh! Anyway, I keep an eye out for that as well.

Once again putting to rest the myth of how intelligent caiques supposedly are: I keep a couple of ramekins of water on the counter just in case E&H are eating outside their cages. Unfortunately, they have yet to figure out that certain food items don't actually float. Thus I'll often see them starting forlornly at a piece of broccoli or chicken that has sunk to the bottom of the ramekin...

Derek

 

[dskidd]

I should also mention E&H's bath water isn't the most appetizing thing to look at either if they've decided to forgo their baths and make soup instead...

Derek

 

[babybirdie]

My alexandrian loves to do that with his cheerios, pellets, grapes and other things he considers "hard". Many times they just do it to soften the food up so its easier to eat. Nothing to be concerned about

 

[RavensGryf]

Raven does it sometimes, but usually not. I think some parrots just like to do it and some don't

 

[LoriP]

Snoopy likes to add foot toys to her "soup":52:

 

[Jowelbg]

Hopefully, this attachment will work. Shown here is the elusive green-cheeked Caique or Greeque. It was recently discovered in TX. His diet consists of water that has turned green from the green strips of tissue paper dunked in it.

The Greeque's unique coloring is known to bumfuzzle and frighten owners due to its sudden onset. The Greeque's main source of nutrition is Tequila. Unlike their near relative He-Liza, they cannot break the "FedEx Barrier."

-Joel

 

[punkindave]

Two caiques dunk, two don't!! (All 4 live in a large cage with a single water bottle and two water dishes)
One Cockatoo dunks, one doesn't..
Go figure..

 

[punkindave]

View attachment 11466

Hopefully, this attachment will work. Shown here is the elusive green-cheeked Caique or Greeque. It was recently discovered in TX. His diet consists of water that has turned green from the green strips of tissue paper dunked in it.

The Greeque's unique coloring is known to bumfuzzle and frighten owners due to its sudden onset. The Greeque's main source of nutrition is Tequila. Unlike their near relative He-Liza, they cannot break the "FedEx Barrier."

-Joel

Hysterical, we used to have the rare (but not as beautiful) smudge bellied Caique!! Some believe this odd variation comes from rolling around with newsprint!! We have since started using butcher paper!!

 

[Julianna]

What about the black-billed white-bellied caique, caused by chewing on wet newsprint? Completely freaked me out when I first saw it....

 

[diego0621]

i have a caique and she does it all the time. i do realize she does it alot with cranberries because they normally make her beak red. I think it has to do with the fact they are very clean birds. I have read in many books that they dont like to be dirty. my bird also dunks fruit in the water. not sure because it taste good or if she doesnt want stains on her. she is too cute sometimes but wastes tons of food

 

[Allee]

I've enjoyed the humor in this thread, thanks for sharing.

Three of my birds are very talented soup makers. I think sometimes they put items in their water to soak and go back later to discover the soaking didn't improve the taste as much as they expected, at that point, the soup bowl becomes an art project. Vegetable dyed paper for color, toys for interest, and so on. Sometimes the art project goes south for whatever reason and then they will make poop soup so I'll know they've lost interest and want a fresh bowl of clean water. The only remedy I've found, is to put the water bowl on the opposite side of the cage from their food dishes. I add a drop of grape seed extract to their bowls to keep the water fresh a little longer. Often my soup makers will travel to make a bowl of soup. Other than that, checking the bowls as often as possible is my only defense.