How much is enough?

[Josiegirl]

Hi guys. Just wondering how much and often to feed my pineapple GCC, Josie. At the moment, she has pellets in her cage but she's rarely in there. Every day I make her a mix of dry and wet foods, and she kind of just grazes on these whenever she can. She would eat all day if I let her, so I'm wondering whether I should take it away? Can birds become obese? She's only eating healthy stuff (the picture shows a mix of oats, pellets, capsicum, jalapeño, chia seeds, coconut, dates and cranberries but she eats many other fruits and veggies too). Do I set "meal times" or just allow her to help herself? She's about four months old (I'm only assuming she's a she) and very well behaved.

 

[adz1984]

Not an expert but I wouldn't worry too much especially when still a baby, In general they are slow eaters for eg: my bird sometimes eats for 2 hours straight but really not that much is consumed when I take a look at the bowl. A lot of people on here give 24/7 access to pellets and feed veg/fruit once or twice a day for an hour or so. I weight my bird daily so I know her empty/full weight and she's always full before sleep, if one day she wasn't I would know that there is probably something wrong.

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

Birds definitely can become overweight, I am dealing with that issue with my female eclectus right now. When it comes to fresh foods, you definitely want to set "meal times" just because you don't want to leave it out all day to prevent spoiling. As far as how much to feed her, I would let her eat whatever she wants of the fresh foods, and unless she has a weight issue, I would just allow her free access to eat pellets whenever she is hungry. If you think she has a weight issue and want to limit the amount of pellets she gets, I would discuss it with your avian vet. How much pellet she should get in a day varies greatly depending on how much fresh food she eats, her activity level, her health, etc, and your avian vet would be the person who would be best to work with to help establish a diet plan for her.

The only time I would suggest pulling her pellets away from her, would maybe be an hour before training sessions, so she is more food motivated for treats, and possibly an hour before fresh food meals. Just so she doesn't fill up on pellets right before you give her fresh foods, and then she isn't hungry until after you have to take it back away.

 

[plumsmum2005]

If she is super active and is grazing all day then no real problems. If she is just sat and still grazing all day then that is when problems can occur. Pellets can and do contain a fairly high % of fat, have you looked at the ingredients? They have a place in parrot nutrition but not in excess. We always say fruits and veggies but really it should be veggies, veggies and some fruit. The fruit contains more sugars; more calories.
My AV says to weigh weekly btw but up to you.