How long is too long? (fresh fruits and veggies)

[jiannotto9492]

How long do you leave fresh fruits and veggies out for your birds before removing them from the cage?

 

[Kiwibird]

About an hour for MOST fruit/veg.

However, there have been a few times over the years I've accidentally left fruit/veg in there all day/overnight and he was fine.

 

[labell]

Most information sites say no more than 2 hours for human consumption. I do feel that is playing it overly safe. I have cut up fruits and veggies for myself for long car trips 4-5 hrs and never had any issues. Unless you don't have AC and your house is really hot I don't see a problem with that amount of time.

I wouldn't feed my parrots anything I wouldn't eat.

 

[jiannotto9492]

See the more I'm hearing about diets the more I want to do a diet based off of veggies and whole grains however I'm not exactly home to remove uneaten food from the cage during the day. I'm trying to find an ideal way to feed Duke a veggie based diet with my schedule and it is proving to be difficult.

 

[Kiwibird]

Oh, well in that case there's several options. The most common is to have a second dish for fresh foods you remove before you leave for work leaving the regular dish (if you opt to offer food during the day).

I personally only feed Kiwi in the morning and evening (big meals!). He gets about an hour (maybe a little longer) to eat as much as he'd like. He only has foraging treats during the day (dried fruit or seeds or nuts). I find this method encourages healthy eating at mealtimes since he gets his fruit or veg when he's really hungry (instead of the option of filling up on dry, not as healthy food during the day). It also promotes healthy weight, since he can't sit around and munch all day. The treats he does have he has to "work for" (foraging).

 

[jiannotto9492]

Oh, well in that case there's several options. The most common is to have a second dish for fresh foods you remove before you leave for work leaving the regular dish (if you opt to offer food during the day).

I personally only feed Kiwi in the morning and evening (big meals!). He gets about an hour (maybe a little longer) to eat as much as he'd like. He only has foraging treats during the day (dried fruit or seeds or nuts). I find this method encourages healthy eating at mealtimes since he gets his fruit or veg when he's really hungry (instead of the option of filling up on dry, not as healthy food during the day). It also promotes healthy weight, since he can't sit around and munch all day. The treats he does have he has to "work for" (foraging).

I guess the easiest solution is for me to start waking up earlier so I can feed him and remove the food before leaving for work.