Night terrors and more

[mustbemonroe]

Hello, I am very new here I have a blue headed pionus, approx 16 y/o. he was a rescue so I know nothing of the first 8-9 years of his life.

He's always had night terrors. They seem to come all at once, then stop. He could have 1-2 every night for a week then nothing for months. Is there anything I can do to help this? We cover him at night with a sheet (more for routine than anything) and when he has a terror I have to uncover him, leave a light on, and wait for him to 'snap out of it.' During a terror he falls off his perch and beats his wings while he flails around the bottom of the cage. I'm always afraid he'll give himself a heart attack

Another quirk of his is he will not touch any type of fresh fruit/veggies. When I first got him he only ate sunflower seeds. I've been able to transition him to a pelleted diet but would love to give him fresh foods. I've tried them in his food dish and treat dish and he just sits at the opposite end of the cage and hisses at it until I remove it. Any help with this?

Thanks for any responses

 

[BACON]

No thoughts on the night terrors, but with his food would it help if your bird saw you eating some fruit?? With my bird anything she sees me eating she wants! If its ok then I'll give her a piece, if she likes it she has it as a treat or something.
Might be worth a go!!!

 

[94lt1]

The night terrors sound awful...for the fruits and vegies...I would honestly leave them in the cage for a while(not over night or anything) ..my reasoning is like that of a new toy..it'll take some time to get used to it...then he may approach and possibly try it...

For the night terrors, put a blanket down on the bottom of the cage perhaps? That way your bird doesn't get hurt when he falls off the perch...

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Rosie never had night terrors, but she used to fall off her perches a lot. I would use a entire paper towel roll to pad the bottom of the cage, then put a bunch of layered paper on top(a week or two worth). It made a huge difference in softening the impact.

Have you heard if chop mixes? if you google "bird tricks chop mix" the first link will be a great recipie with photos. I make it in bull then freeze it. Rosie had also been own a sunflower seed diet(and it was killing her! So make sure you pionus see's a vet) and didn't touch the mix for a long time. Then after around 3 months worth of food had been thrown out she suddenly decided she loved it and now acts like it's a awesome treat.

 

[mustbemonroe]

Thanks for the responses! I will try padding the bottom of his cage and see how he takes to it. He's a creature of habit so there is a possibility it'll freak him out, lol.

As for the fruits/veggies, I've eaten them in front of him, I've put them in there daily and left them for a few hours at a time, I even took him into work and had him watch another parrot chow down on fresh food; he is NOT impressed with it at all and does nothing more than give it the side eye and hiss. Stubborn old man, haha.

I have not heard of the chop mixes but I'll definitely look into them! Thank you all so much!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Here's a link to the chop mix site I was telling you about(I was on my phone earlier so couldn't insert the link)

Chop Mix For Your Birds