new turquoise parakette owner

[Chirpy]

Hi
Thank you for letting me join.
I got a turquoise parakette at Christmas from a breeder, I can’t remember how old the breeder said it was but it’s only a few months old. As I got the parakeet on Christmas Eve I called it Grinchy (as in Grinch who stole Christmas). The breeder thinks it’s a girl but said well and the colours change.

I’ve looked online to see what is best foods / snacks to feed it other then just seed. Ive tried it on a little bit of carrot, baby spinach, corn kernel, apple, millet spray and handful of fruit and nut trail mix. So far only thing Grinchy seems to like is apple, a little bit of spinach and corn kernel. Everything else she’s either left on her cage floor or it’s ended up out of the cage and on the ground.

I was wondering if anyone had ideas of other foods I could try it on, the next thing I was going to try her on was pear. I tried one of those seeds that hang on the cage with the fruit and nuts and it’s not interested in that. I have a cuttlebone in its cage which it loves.

I also have another question- it loves music and whistles to music, sounds crazy but there’s particular music it prefers so I often put radio on for it or play music through my phone . I work part time so the parakette is in the loungeroom on its own whole I’m at work. I was wondering if I should have the radio playing to keep it amused while I’m out?

Thank you for your help

 

[herbwx]

Each bird is different regarding foods. My parrotlet has turned it's nose ("beak"!) up at almost everything offered -- that's unusual, but I try offering everything repeatedly. You will learn with time what your bird likes. Stay away from coffee, chocolate, salt, avocados.

Re: music -- I would leave music on at first when I was at work all day. It may help a lonely/bored bird, but even if it doesn't, it surely won't hurt. Just keep it low volume, but loud enough to be a pleasant background. Make plenty of toys available to reduce boredom. Foraging toys may be helpful to keep your bird entertained.

 

[Chirpy]

Each bird is different regarding foods. My parrotlet has turned it's nvose ("beak"!) up at almost everything offered -- that's unusual, but I try offering everything repeatedly. You will learn with time what your bird likes. Stay away from coffee, chocolate, salt, avocados.

Re: music -- I would leave music on at first when I was at work all day. It may help a lonely/bored bird, but even if it doesn't, it surely won't hurt. Just keep it low volume, but loud enough to be a pleasant background. Make plenty of toys available to reduce boredom. Foraging toys may be helpful to keep your bird entertained.

Thankyou
I read somewhere to stay away from chocolate, coffee, avocado plus a coworker who used to breed birds has been giving me tips said something similar.
I was amazed someone would feed their bird those foods you mentioned but I guess you’d be surprised what people would do

I have a small plastic bird bath, and a couple of toys and a ladder in the cage. She loves the ladder, sometimes plays with the toys when in the mood but often sits on the bath. She loves paper towel, I tried using the paper towel to line the bottom of her tray and she shreds it up so I had to use another option.

I also have a jap quail but she’s an outside bird and I mainly keep her in the garage (with the window open) so cats etc can’t get her but put her out when I’m home and the weathers nice.

 

[Flboy]

Hi, and welcome! Your stay away list is accurate! But I wanted to point out avocado. Even a taste can result in death!

 

[Laurasea]

Often leafy greens are a big hit! And leafy greens are packed with nutrition! Romaine, arugula, bok choy, watercress, all the lettace that you would eat. Celery, bell pepper, hot peppers, zucchini, summer squashes, cucumbers, cooked squash like butternut, acorn squash, or pumpkin, cooked sweet potato. Plums , strawberries, blueberries, raspberry, cranberries. All of above and more, my parakeets eat!

 

[Scott]

Welcome to you and Grinchy!!

Your entertainment instincts are terrific. Music and television are often appreciated in some form by birds.

A few links to help the food discovery process!
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

A helpful technique is to prepare two bowls of food, (aka "chop") one each for you and Grinchy. Begin eating, make "Mmmmm" sounds, bob your head to express enjoyment. Birds are flock eaters and you are part of the flock. Be persistent and continue to offer foods that are dumped overboard. Many birds dis an item for years and become curious, try, and enjoy.

 

[Chirpy]

Thankyou so much
I live alone so dont buy alot of fresh fruit and vegetables as it gos off to quick. I tend to eat more frozen vegetables.

At meal time after dinner i sometimes feed my left over vegies (usually corn) to the quail. I was going to try Grinchy on a small corn on the cob left over from dinner but changed my mind and gave it to the quail and gave Grinchy some of the corn that fell of it. Looks like she ate that.

I also keep Grinchies snacks seperate from her regular food. I have her water & seed bowls. Then I got a couple of cheap food bowls for any snacks/ treats.

 

[Chirpy]

Often leafy greens are a big hit! And leafy greens are packed with nutrition! Romaine, arugula, bok choy, watercress, all the lettace that you would eat. Celery, bell pepper, hot peppers, zucchini, summer squashes, cucumbers, cooked squash like butternut, acorn squash, or pumpkin, cooked sweet potato. Plums , strawberries, blueberries, raspberry, cranberries. All of above and more, my parakeets eat!

Thankyou

All I've been told is the Turquioise parrots love anything sweet.

I found with the parrakeet if she doesnt want something she'll push it out of the cage, with my quail she'll bury any food she doesn't like in her cage in the wood shavings.

A couple of other things I'm not sure of -
Do I only give the parrakeet snacks/ treats every few days? I only work 3 days so want to try to use those days as the days to give her something to eat.

My coworker suggested not keeping fresh food in her cage overnight because of bacteria

I think it was my coworker said something about to only give it greens a couple of times a week. May have been because too much greens can affect the poo? I can't remember (unfortunately i dont have the best memory).

 

[Laurasea]

You can use frozen veggies, thaw and serve, or warm and serve. To prevent illness like respiratory disease, often caused by low vitamin A. You must feed veggies, and leafy greens. They sent expensive to buy. It's the very best thing you can do for health.
Food primary diet must be available at all times. Leafy greens will wilt but you can remove and out in new, veggies I leave for a couple of hours and then Remove

 

[Chirpy]

Welcome to you and Grinchy!!

Your entertainment instincts are terrific. Music and television are often appreciated in some form by birds.

A few links to help the food discovery process!
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

A helpful technique is to prepare two bowls of food, (aka "chop") one each for you and Grinchy. Begin eating, make "Mmmmm" sounds, bob your head to express enjoyment. Birds are flock eaters and you are part of the flock. Be persistent and continue to offer foods that are dumped overboard. Many birds dis an item for years and become curious, try, and enjoy.

Thankyou
I go over and talk to Grinch every day, even try to whistle with her but Im not much of a whistler. She did whistle back at me the other night lol.

I just looked at your links, havent looked right into them but they will be very helpful. Normally i have her seed in there all the time. Im going to try taking the seed out when I have the other food in the cage. See how i go.

I'm already getting aot of enjoyment out of her and get enjoyment out of my quail which has her own personality lol

 

[Chirpy]

You can use frozen veggies, thaw and serve, or warm and serve. To prevent illness like respiratory disease, often caused by low vitamin A. You must feed veggies, and leafy greens. They sent expensive to buy. It's the very best thing you can do for health.
Food primary diet must be available at all times. Leafy greens will wilt but you can remove and out in new, veggies I leave for a couple of hours and then Remove

Thankyou
With my quail I give her my left overs, sometimes on the odd occassion if I but fresh veggie she'd get a little of zuchinni but normally it's frozen vegies which have been cooked.

With Grinchy it's still trial and error.
If I buy fruit eg apple i only buy 1 or if I can get just a hand full of salad mix or baby spinach id get that.
I think of what i eat and Grinchy can have some as well lol.

 

[Chirpy]

A update on Grinchy
I’ve tried a few different foods salad mix, baby spinach,raw carrot, corn, peas, pear and apple

She took no interest in the salad mix / spinach. Wasn’t too interested in the carrot or pear , threw the corn and peas out of her cage or put them in her bath. The only thing she’d eat was the apple . I found the red apples she prefers more and I was able to get kid size ones. I also found if I stick it on the perch she’ll go over and eat it. I’ve been taking her seed out when I give her the apple so not sure if that’s right or if I should leave seed in

She is getting more confident with me and I can open her cage door without her freaking out. She used to back away but now she just looks at me, probably thinks I’m crazy lol.

The cage I had her in was a smaller one my coworker suggested it might be good idea to get her a bigger cage so she could fly around. I went to the petshop on my lunch break on Wednesday and got her a cage which is 2 1/2 times the size bigger.
Didn’t take too long to adjust to the cage and her new surroundings.

She isn’t interested in hand feeding yet but I’m not pushing her.

 

[Scott]

Grinchy is settling in nicely. Continue to offer a variety of foods and accept her tossing of unwanted items. Over time she may become interested! Flight cages are truly a gift to creatures of flight. We generally recommend the largest you can afford (making sure bar spacing cannot allow a head/foot to be stuck) while retaining budget for toys, etc.

 

[Chirpy]

Grinchy is settling in nicely. Continue to offer a variety of foods and accept her tossing of unwanted items. Over time she may become interested! Flight cages are truly a gift to creatures of flight. We generally recommend the largest you can afford (making sure bar spacing cannot allow a head/foot to be stuck) while retaining budget for toys, etc.

My coworker said to try to get the biggest one I can, when I went to the pet shop I was going to get a different one but the girl at the petshop suggested this one was actually better and more spacier. My coworker said he would probably have gone bigger but he was still happy with the size as it is a lot bigger then her old one lol.

There were 3 perches in the cage but took one out as I didn’t want to overcrowd it. I have one up the top near the back of the cage and the other lower down (level with the door).

I’m not sure how to post photos to a post yet but there is a picture of her cage on my wall.

At the moment she’s only on basic bird seed mix you give smaller birds because that’s what I had at the time. I’m going to change her seed to wild bird seed mix but i want to get it from a pet produce place. I can’t drive so my dad takes me when I go to the produce place to get the quails stuff. We have to go to the produce place this week to get some stuff for the quail so we’re going to get Grinchies food there too.

 

[Scott]

Many cages are equipped with simple wooden dowels as perches. It is best to replace them with more naturally shaped varieties, better for their feet.

Best way to upload pictures is from a free image hosting site such as Imgur. Technique: http://www.parrotforums.com/technical-support/6287-how-post-pictures-6.html#post718293

 

[Chirpy]

Many cages are equipped with simple wooden dowels as perches. It is best to replace them with more naturally shaped varieties, better for their feet.

Best way to upload pictures is from a free image hosting site such as Imgur. Technique: http://www.parrotforums.com/technical-support/6287-how-post-pictures-6.html#post718293

Thankyou

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

Another page I go on we used to have to post pictures the same way but then the owner of the page changed servers and we can just post pictures normally now. It had been a while since I posted a picture online this way I forgot how lol .

In regards to the perch I’ll have to look into that when I get a chance.

 

[Scott]

Many cages are equipped with simple wooden dowels as perches. It is best to replace them with more naturally shaped varieties, better for their feet.

Best way to upload pictures is from a free image hosting site such as Imgur. Technique: http://www.parrotforums.com/technical-support/6287-how-post-pictures-6.html#post718293

Thankyou



Another page I go on we used to have to post pictures the same way but then the owner of the page changed servers and we can just post pictures normally now. It had been a while since I posted a picture online this way I forgot how lol .

In regards to the perch I’ll have to look into that when I get a chance.

Well that's a palatial cage, well done!

 

[Chirpy]

Well that's a palatial cage, well done!

Thankyou

The one I was looking at in the petshop was about the same size but looked liked 2 houses. The lady at the pet shop said that one would be better as it would give her more room to fly.

Another coworker was nice enough to pick it up from the pet shop which is near work and take me home that night, it only just fit in her car lol.

 

[Noahs_Birds]

I've been breeding Turquoise parrots for a while now
Basically corn, mung beans, spinach and apple plus small parrot pellets and egg and biscuit mix are the main snacks for them
Members of the Neophema aren't big fans of fruits, because they are naturally a ground dwelling bird, and too much fruit is bad for them anyway as it gives them a sugar high, but instead when you feed vegetables and a little slice of apple, it gives them plenty of energy throughout the day.
Best wishes with your new feathered friend, if you have any more questions feel free to PM me
Thanks
Noah Till

 

[Chirpy]

I've been breeding Turquoise parrots for a while now
Basically corn, mung beans, spinach and apple plus small parrot pellets and egg and biscuit mix are the main snacks for them
Members of the Neophema aren't big fans of fruits, because they are naturally a ground dwelling bird, and too much fruit is bad for them anyway as it gives them a sugar high, but instead when you feed vegetables and a little slice of apple, it gives them plenty of energy throughout the day.
Best wishes with your new feathered friend, if you have any more questions feel free to PM me
Thanks
Noah Till

Thanks Noah
So far only thing she’ll eat is apple but I only feed her a little bit twice a week. This was suggested by my coworker not to give her apple more then twice a week. She didn’t like corn or spinach / salad mix but I’ll keep trying her on the corn as I often feed left over corn to my quail.


Would it be good idea to mix the vegies in with her seed to see if that will encourage her to eat them?
I got some Brussel sprouts today so was going to see if she’d eat the leaf if I chop it up and put it with her seed.
Thanks again