Treats question

[Karlos]

Hello there

I have a question - problem. I no longer hand-feed Eli, because she has already learnt how to eat her pellets, seeds and fruit/veget. I make her. She is not like she would fully eat, but she must get used to her new diet
Well now for the thing, I haven't yet found a treat that is good enought for her .__. I tried like 5 kinds of nuts, her favourite fruit, and so on, but I just can't train with her with any of these treats - she likes them, but she wont eat them when I do stuff with her. Mostly, she takes them and then drops them on the ground.

Also, what is your Macaw's favourite diet? I tried to give her boiled corn/brocolli, and I was hoping she would just eat through it, but it looks like she doeasnt like it I give her her seeds (she is eating them bit after bit), bannana (she likes them), mandarin (also likes them), some tomatoes, tried also cucumber, apples, pears, pineapple, but she has never fully eaten once (except that bannana and mandarin). And I noticed she likes to eat mostly at night time, when I put her back into the cage for night sleep (I switch the bowls with food from top of the cage -> into the cage, because she has never eaten everything in the bowl like I said.)

So what diet would you suggest I should try? And what should I try with the treat thing? I was thinking that maybe after some time that she is on her own with food now, she could become more friendly with nuts and stuff - and maybe if I stop giving them to her for a while, it could have the same effect. Ideas? Opinions? Thanks!

 

[94lt1]

Wow, your macaw and my macaw are a lot alike lol.. he finally settled on dehydrated banana chips..I make em myself so there's no extra sugar added..

But at first Monte did the same thing.. he would take the treat and drop it.. after so long he would turn his back to me letting me know he was done for that point in time lol....

Good luck and just keep trying.. that's what I had to do.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Niko's favorite treat in the whole wild world are pinenuts. My boy's got expensive taste.

I feed all my birds (Niko + the Amazons) the same diet. It consists of 3 different pellets, the blend from MySafeBirdStore (link below), some mixes of Goldenfeast, my homemade recipe (link below), birdy bread, and Niko gets mixed, shelled nuts as well.

Link to MySafeBirdStore Food Blend
Bountiful Harvest Blend for Parrots PER LB. - MY BIRD SAFE BLENDS by MY SAFE BIRD STORE

My recipe:
http://www.parrotforums.com/recipes/22594-cook-portion-freeze-my-recipe.html

 

[triordan]

i feed zupreem pellets in the morning and have nuts/cheerios/raisins etc in foraging toys while I'm at work~ when I get home he gets dinner a combination of sweet potatoes, squash, broccoli, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, quinoa, beans, flax seed,carrots and brussell sprouts( depending on time of year i will use corn/pumpkin whatever is available)~ I mix it all together, its the only way to get him to eat veggies, I make a large batch, freeze portion size on cookie sheet and place in a gallon baggies last for about a month. Depending on what we eat for dinner he often has some of that too!

His favorite training treats change often, sometimes cheerios, craisins, apple, grapes, kiwi ,pistachios(favorite!) and I offer at least 2 of these alternating between them. Try training first thing in the morning when they are hungry.

 

[luv4scjjt]

Bayshing goes nuts for popcorn. Even askes for it by name. (unbuttered and unsalted of course) works great as a treat and training.

 

[plax]

Bayshing goes nuts for popcorn. Even askes for it by name. (unbuttered and unsalted of course) works great as a treat and training.

That reminds me of Salsa. His favorite thing in the world is air-popped popcorn with nothing on it. He'll kill for the stuff! :smiley3:

 

[IcyWolf]

We don't have macaws so I can't be of much help on the diet question but I did want to mention, not all birds are food motivated but that's not always a bad thing. You just have to find what kind of reward suits him, we have birds that like verbal praise more than treats so whenever they do something that deserves a reward we just get really excited and tell them how good they are. Other birds might like head scritches or to be handed a favorite toy. Keep trying different treats but think outside the box, what Eli finds most rewarding may not be food at all

 

[Karlos]

Well I will try again in a month or so, and we will see. I will continue to try another treats, maybe some toys and stuff. I know she likes shelled peanuts, but if I give it to her, it takes a long time to chew it and crack it and stuff, so not a great reward for training I guess. I also had a success with soaked cookie bits, so I am working with that right now.

Ofter I think that when I call her to fly to me (as a part o training) she is more interested in me (or my mouth, she is such a huge kisser ) than the treat I try to give her )

 

[Karlos]

i feed zupreem pellets in the morning and have nuts/cheerios/raisins etc in foraging toys while I'm at work~ when I get home he gets dinner a combination of sweet potatoes, squash, broccoli, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, quinoa, beans, flax seed,carrots and brussell sprouts( depending on time of year i will use corn/pumpkin whatever is available)~ I mix it all together, its the only way to get him to eat veggies, I make a large batch, freeze portion size on cookie sheet and place in a gallon baggies last for about a month. Depending on what we eat for dinner he often has some of that too!

His favorite training treats change often, sometimes cheerios, craisins, apple, grapes, kiwi ,pistachios(favorite!) and I offer at least 2 of these alternating between them. Try training first thing in the morning when they are hungry.

Well I gues I am doing something wrong then. She always has a bowl with seeds/pellets/nuts mixed together and another bowl with veggies/fruits like bannana, mandarin, corn, brocolli, potato, cucumber, apple etc. But it is there all the day, because she is not like that she will eat it in one session And I also give her food for night (the food she leaves - food she didnt eat).

Well it is only a few days after I stopped with handfeeding, so I guess this is normal, isnt it?

And big thanks for all the diets from u guys, I will try them