fussy eater??

[lilamy]

When I got my percy (age unknown) I was only told he liked apple he has his mixed parrott food. I have tried to get him on to pellets but he doesnt seem keen.
so far he loves monkey nuts and apple. He will eat pear grapes and orange but so far has totally refused raspberries, strawberries, kiwi. Melon. Mango. Cucumber. Carrot. Broccoli. Egg. Lychees. Pineapple. Pepper and prob more I cant remember!!
Is this ok should I be concerned he is not eating a great variety??
I have also tried cuttle bones which he wont touch and am now trying to mix crushed oyster shells into his food but he seems to be leaving it

is anyone elses this fussy?? And does anyone have any other suggestions I could try ??
Thanks in advance x

 

[Kiwibird]

Plenty of birds are fussy eaters, and there are different methods of getting them to eat the food they need. Nuts and apples are healthy, but the bird HAS to have more gaiety than seed, nuts and apples. Our bird wouldn't eat anything besides seed/pellets and table food when we got him, and it was extremely difficult to get him to try any kind of fruit or veg (so much so we started consulting the vet about what to do with him).

The first method is to eat some of the food yourself right in front of the birds cage (preferably in the AM before his morning feeding so he's hungry) and really make a really BIG deal of how yummy it is. It helps if you have another family member too, who you can share the food with and you both act SUPER excited and really play it up. See if he gets him intrigued and wants to try some of what your having. Parrots are flock animals, so if they see a perceived flock member (you) eating a food and enjoying it, they may be more inclined to try it. This is usually all most birds need to be encouraged to try new things and enjoy them. Many older birds have simply never had these things in their diets and may not even realize they are food or taste good. And if there are a few things he doesn't like, that's ok, but he needs to have at least 6 or 7 types of produce other than dry food he will eat on a consistent basis for him to have enough variety (and the more, the better of course).

The second method is trying to "sneak" the healthy food into their diet. Things like mixing finely chopped veg into the food so they have to eat some to eat their other food or offering them specially baked "birdie bread" or "treats" that have fruit and veg mixed in. I am personally not too much of a fan of this "sneak it in" method because, yes, the bird is eating some produce, it is still not eating enough and you still have not addressed the underlying issue of the bird being unwilling to try new foods. It's kind of like getting a picky kid to eat some spaghetti and patting yourself on the back for "sneaking" in veggies because the sauce has tomatoes and onions or whatever in it. Still not enough to be nutritionally relevant overall and still doesn't address the picky eater issue, though some may disagree.

The most "harsh" method (and a lot of people are not fond of it) is to let the bird go to bed hungry so to speak if it will not eat it's fruit and veg. This is a last resort and one you MUST consult with a vet on so you can come up with a professionally guided action plan specific to your birds needs. We had to do this with our boy because nothing else worked and he was not getting adequate nutrition, and hadn't been for probably his entire life. He actually PICKED the chunks of fruit and veg out of the "breads" and treats we made him then flung them and just ate the bread part when we tried "sneaking" it in or just refused them all together:20: And he didn't care if we ate fruit, he wasn't going to touch it. The vet outlined a healthy weight range for us, instructed us to weigh him daily to make sure he wasn't loosing too much and said to only offer fruit and veg until he got hungry enough to try. Hunger is a strong motivator, and it didn't take long for him to get over his aversion to the produce. We went about 5 days without giving him anything else but produce, carefully monitoring his weight as-per vets orders, and tried him on every fruit and veg we could get and was safe for him to eat. We took notes and recorded ones he liked better and at the end of it, the bird learned this not all this stuff was yucky or inedible. He still has to get his fruit first, and once he's eaten a reasonable amount, then he gets his other food or he won't eat the fruit, but thats better than him refusing it all together. He is much less picky about the veg., but I have no idea why that is.

As for calcium, you can buy powder supplements to sprinkle on the food, or liquid supplements to put in the water. I would consult with the vet on which is better, and the appropriate dosage.

 

[lilamy]

Thank you I will try these!! Sneaking may be one of our only options at the minute as if we go near cage he flys to back and frets so I dont think he would be bothered what we ate but still worth a go!
We would have no chance of weighing him and when previous owner took him to vets they refused to look at him as he cant be handled
We have had him since January and he has clearly put some weight on I will try and get drops for his water . Ive even bought various treats and he wont entertain these either. He has had a little peck at some of the fruits but the veg he wont even look at we put it on a skewer in his cage and have left it there all day hoping he may give it a try but still wont
thanks for all your advice tho I will def give these tips a go x

 

[Kiwibird]

Thank you I will try these!! Sneaking may be one of our only options at the minute as if we go near cage he flys to back and frets so I dont think he would be bothered what we ate but still worth a go!
We would have no chance of weighing him and when previous owner took him to vets they refused to look at him as he cant be handled
We have had him since January and he has clearly put some weight on I will try and get drops for his water . Ive even bought various treats and he wont entertain these either. He has had a little peck at some of the fruits but the veg he wont even look at we put it on a skewer in his cage and have left it there all day hoping he may give it a try but still wont
thanks for all your advice tho I will def give these tips a go x

Poor guy;( Sounds like his last home didn't treat him too well at all if he isn't familiar with a healthy diet and hasn't ever been handled.

With that information, his diet can wait a while. You need to work on socializing him before you can do much else with him. And since the last vet he went to sounds completely incompetent, you need to have him examined by an avian vet who is competent enough to know how to restrain an untamed bird to do a basic exam and health checkup. Kiwi was a pretty vicious biter and had never been handled to speak of when we got him. His first vet appointment was 3 days after we brought him home, and the exotics vet (not even avian specialized) was able to get him out of the cage and do an exam. Kiwi wasn't a happy camper about it, but between the vet and an assistant, the bird did get a much needed health assessment. The vet was also able to give solid advice about socializing him, and once we had started making progress on that, helped us along with his dietary issues. Having a GOOD vet on your side is essential, especially working with an older bird who is not socialized. A vet who is scared of an animal the size of a softball is not a very good vet. Find a new vet, preferably avian specialized, or at least who deals with exotics. A regular dog/cat vet is likely to give you the kind of response this last one did. I think you will be surprised how much it helps to have a professional to help answer questions and guide you along.

 

[JenJen]

I second the suggestion of eating in front of/with your bird!

Try cutting everything up in different shapes (blocky and not so blocky, long and slim and itty bitty pieces), put it on a paper plate or something YOU feel comfortable eating off of. Then have the bird sitting within range of that paper plate. Start by eating some of it with him... take a bite and get really excited about how good it is. Take another bite, repeat the excitement. When you finish your piece, pick up another and offer it to your bird (if they haven't already grabbed a piece for themselves). When he's good and hooked, dump the remnants into their food dish.

Zulu only ever goes straight for his food dish when he sees me put peas in it. He practically turns his beak up at everything else (papaya is a new favorite!). I'm having success with the method above.

 

[lisascannell]

I find that my birds find the food much more appealing when it's wedged in between the cage bars. They can't help but want to pick at it.

 

[lilamy]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone I will continue to try them all! He def likes his hanging fruit kebab stick and always comes to investigate what's on it when I put it in he is enjoying some orange as we speak

I definatly think your right kiwi bird in short my partners nanna had percy before us her son bought him from a friend who had bought him as an anniversary present for his wife but they ran a pub and dint have time for him we were told he was 8 month old when we took him and his nanna had him for 4 month but once we got him realised he alot older as already had ringneck markings poor lil fella been passed from pillar to post and god knows where he came from before he was bought as a present. He def seems more nervous around males. I will ring around and see if I can find a specialist vet and hopefully get somemore advice!!
Thanks again everyone xx

 

[lilamy]

Quick update on percy he is still very fussy but I have continued to ty bee thing. I gave him blackberries and he didn't touch them so I left them in till nxt day and he had a go but splattered them all over my cream carpet little tinker haha but we have found although not his favourite he will eat grapefruit ive also tried different nuts brazil almond and walnut but he wouldn't touch them but still loves his monkey nuts. I got the pellets and he would eat them so I got a seed mix from a pet shop which had smaller seed in and he will eat that but also got a mix from abother pet shop with some bigger bits of seed and dried fruit etc so I am now mixing them and putting a little bit of pellet in to try and give him more of a mixture. He refused the crushed oyster shell so I have bought vitamin drops for his water but dont think he likes it as seems to now avoid his water!!
I think this bird just doesnt want his vitamins haha

 

[RavensGryf]

I second the suggestion of eating in front of/with your Start by eating some of it with him... take a bite and get really excited about how good it is. Take another bite, repeat the excitement. When you finish your piece, pick up another and offer it to your bird (if they haven't already grabbed a piece for themselves). When he's good and hooked, dump the remnants into their food dish.

I know this works for many birds which is why it's popular to do, but there is also a fair amount of birds which it does NOT work for. IME many still do not go for this method.

I like suggestion of if they DO like it, to dump the remnants into the food dish, to reinforce the idea that this item is their food

 

[lilamy]

Yea the plate idea sounds great but he literally does not get close enough and has no interest in what we r doing if I put my hand near cage even holding his favourite food he just goes to other side of cage and wont move till I move my hand away.
my partner did have some carrot cake the other day (we know sugar etc not good but was a very tiny piece and have only dun it the once) he put a tiny bit in his bowl while he ate the cake next to percys cage and he left room and came back he had eaten it which is gud as usually takes ages to try new things in his bowl so we guna keep trying this with things he can have
thanks again for advice we really do take it all on board and try everything we can