Goofy the seed addict and his first steps on the path to recovery

[BeatriceC]

(Note to mods: I wasn't sure if I should put this here or in the diet area, but he's an amazon, so I put it here. Please move it if I made the wrong choice.)

I've mentioned previously that Goofy is a terrible seed addict. MrC has attempted to convert him to pellets many times in the past, but Goofy is so stubborn that he will literally starve himself for days if that's what he's given. MrC gave up entirely.

More recently, I decided to give it a go. We've had some small successes that I want to share. I'm so proud of him for branching out!

Two months ago I got him eating a little birdie bread. This particular recipe is more suited to macaws, so it was too high fat, but it had a lot of other good stuff in it, and I wound up converting about half his diet to the birdie bread (with the vet's blessing). I've made a different, less fatty birdie bread and he's gung-ho for that too, which makes me even more confident in making it a staple diet item.

A month ago I started trying to just add some pellets to the seed mix he's still getting. He won't touch them. Two days ago I thought to give him a small nibble of Charlotte's food, thinking he might go for the pasta. I'm still having trouble with Charlotte and vegetables, so I coat her bean/pasta/veggie mix with pureed veggies that she can't lick off and discard. I thought that I might have some similar luck with Goofy.

Well, I did have some luck, but not what I thought. He won't touch the beans and pasta, but he does lick off and eat the pureed veggies and oats. He's quite literally licking the beans and pasta clean. This is a HUGE deal. I'm so excited. It looks like Goofy might finally be on a path to a healthy diet!

 

[SailBoat]

Congrats! Every step appears to be in the right direction.

Regarding the seed. Is it 100% Sunflower seed or a mix of general seeds?

One of the directions you can try is to switch to a 'Human Grade' dry mix of Seeds, Grains, Nuts, Pastas, dried fruits and Veggies, and small bits of pellets. There are a couple of suppliers on the Market. After starting with it, start pulling the Sunflower seed and if included peanuts out of the mix. Please keep the Birdie Bread in place. This is to transfer from Sunflower to a wider mix of dry foods. The pellets can be taken all the way down to crumbs.

NOTE: The mix I am referring to contains a very wide cross-section of each group. So, it provides variation and therefore a better dry food base.

Also, consider mixing some crumbed pellets into the Bread. Start with a small amount and increase with time.

Goffy has a Proud Mama!

 

[BeatriceC]

It's a mix, has no sunflower seeds, and he won't touch the peanuts in it (though he does like human grade unsalted peanuts, but we don't give them to him).

And thanks! I was considering crushing pellets and hiding them in the bread, but I wasn't sure about that. I might try hiding them in the purred veggies he likes and see how shy goes, but I'm going to wait a few days before I make anymore changes.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Yippee good going Goofy

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

Congratulations on successfully changing your parrot's behavior. You go, girl.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Agreeing, for once.
YAYYYYYYYYYYY, Goofster!
And Beatrice, you G'ON, gurl!
Who would have thought...?

 

[BeatriceC]

Thanks!

Little bit by little bit. He's a stubborn, 32yo YNA. I'm very pleased we've gotten this far.

 

[BeatriceC]

Update:

I've been slowly decreasing the amount of seed while also increasing the amount of birdie bread and the pasta/rice/veggie dish I give him. The vet looked at the recipe for the birdie bread (I've altered JerseyWendy's recipe a bit to reduce the added sugar in the cornbread mix and reduced the fat as well), and he says that would be fine to use as his primary diet. I'm still trying to get him to eat the chop, but he plays with it and sometimes eats it and sometimes doesn't. I also offer fresh fruits and veggies every day, which he mostly ignores, but he does eat broccoli and mango, so I'm hoping he'll try the rest soon.

Anyway, yesterday I cut off the seeds entirely. He's on day two of no seeds. He's not all together happy about this, but he's surviving, and eating enough of everything else that I'm not worried about calorie intake.

 

[wrench13]

Beatrice,

its a battle you can win! Salty only was eating a small amount of pellets and was not crazy about chop unless we mixed in some Avicakes ( which are mostly seeds). I tried mixing some pellets with his nightly chop, about 20 min before dinner time, and the pellets absorb most of the excess wetness in the chop, and soften up a lot, which Salty likes. Now, every other day he gets this pellet/chop mix and sits there eating it for hours.

 

[BeatriceC]

UPDATE:

Almost a year later and we have finally had a breakthrough. I've tried a few different chop recipes and he wouldn't have anything to do with any of them. Recently I made a version that didn't have pasta or beans it it, just oats. It's a little dryer than my regular recipe. That seems to have done the trick. Two days ago he played around with it a little. Yesterday he ate it off and on throughout the day. This morning he ate it all right away. WE HAVE SUCCESS!

For anybody reading along, a reminder of the timelines involved:

MrC got Goofy in 1998. He was on a seed only diet with occasional bits of broccoli (and an intense love of cheese that he got only on rare occasion or when he could steal it.) MrC tried off an on for the entire time he's had Goofy to get him converted to a healthier diet. Goofy would starve himself before he'd eat pellets.

I moved in 4 years ago. 3 years ago I started trying to get him converted. I was hit or miss; trying for a few weeks, then getting distracted and not working so hard at it.

One year ago I dug in and got stubborn. Amazons my be stubborn little turds, but I'm more stubborn and infinitely more patient.

This week we finally have success.

 

[SailBoat]

Gotta, love it when a plan comes together and an Amazon opens-up to and expanded world of FOOD!

Amazon's Have More Fun!

 

[Scott]

Congratulations, persistence pays off! Well, maybe Goofy does not understand the benefits, but you do!