Fruits and Veggies

[Kumiko]

Hello,

To start off, my 3 month old Kiwi is not eating his fruit and veggies. I dont want him to be on a all-seed-diet. Is there anyway to show him that fruits and veggies are a good thing?

More to the point, I put fruits, veggies, and seeds (a pinch) in his cup every so often for about 2 hours (afterwards cleaning it out and putting new seeds in), and he never eats anything during that time period. If he does, he just eats the seeds and pick through the assortment trying to get to the seeds. This makes such a mess sometimes at the bottom of the cage if you catch my drift.

Overall (?):

Is there anyway to show him that fruits and veggies are a good thing?Thanks.

[AndreaFahy]

He has learned very quickly the routine - "If I don't eat this now, there will be tasty stuff later"

Usually being around another same species bird will pique their interest in new foods (one of the many reasons to keep parrots in pairs :) )

Does he have a favorite treat to use like with training? We have clicker trained birds to eat their healthy foods. Works like a charm. There is a thread about clicker training on this forum.

[Sally]

It took time for Chipper to enjoy diff foods. Have you baked birdie breads full of good things? Beak Appetit? Maybe these things can get Kiwi to try new things. I like cooking sweet potatoes and adding cooked veggies of all kinds. Assorted from froz. bags. Chipper and my little dog LOVE this dish. Chipper likes little peas also.

Try new things and keep looking for diff. foods. Little by little Kiwi will taste something new. Chipper only wanted seed and now she is a great eater!!! I bake lots of goodies too. You can find yummy and nutritious things to bake with oatmeal etc. Oh, have you tried some warm oatmeal with cinnamon? The list is endless. Doesn't just have to be a carrot etc.

[Kumiko]

His favorite treat... millet and uncooked oatmeal. I don't train him. I have recently thought about clicker training, but where to find a clicker?

Birdie breads???? What the heck is that!!:) :confused:

Also, he gets mixed fruits (honeydew, melon, peaches, blackberries, grape) and frozen peas and corn (thawed of course) and many others like celery.
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The only thing I worry about getting him a friend is that the new one will bond with Kiwi (not me at all i believe) more and Kiwi will abandon me alittle bit. I have been recently thinking about getting a temporary cage for the new comer and socializing him first with me then put it in with Kiwi... both being in my room looking at each other so they still will get on my finger and let me pet their heads.

[birdiemom]

You can get them to eat all sorts of things by baking them into muffins. Get some non-sweet muffin mix and start adding:
veggies, unsweetened applesauce, pellets, extra eggs etc, and mix and bake.
This is Paulie's breakfast along with Harrison's Mash. He loves it. He loves corn so he picks that out first but be eats most of it.

[AndreaFahy]

We have the clickers on our website. So far as a mate, a paired parrot will NOT loose pet qualities unless they are in poor living conditions and if you ignore them. Some of my pairs only get my attention every few days and they are wonderful pets, very interactive and even snuggly when they want to be.

[Kumiko]

I will try the muffins bc all he eats out of my hand is grains.

BUT sometimes I eat in front of him and he has eaten peas, celery, corn, and brown rice, and he tryed to get a peice of my steak before (trying to jump on my plate) I put him on the other side of the couch and he came running over and fluttered on my shoulder and climbed down my shirt trying to get it. I put him up soon afterwards bc he wouldnt give up. :D

[Kumiko]

Sorry for posting again, but I am not a online shopper bc of my age, my dad doesnt feel secure with shopping websites. Do you beleive they will have them at petco?

I use to have a girl cockatiel with Sonnie my mom's male. She was dad's, but she didnt like him. She loved to snuggle and Sonnie was loved too. They didnt loose bonding with us. Daisy, I would consider, was my bird, but she was a feather plucker. She plucked herself to death so to say. Underneath her wing was like lunchmeat. She had bloodpoisoning. She was in a very bloody, bad state after i gave her a bath, her toes where cold and werent moving. I had to take her to the vet and put her to sleep bc she was really in a bad state, and even if she survived she would still chew up her wings.

With that story, I am still kinda scared this will happen. AND EGGS! Dasiy laid eggs like crazy, but was never fertile. I think she was a chronic egg layer. She didnt have a good baby life with her previous owner. (owner bred big birds, crowded cages, big birds all around the tiny cockatiel's cage)

[lily]

Parrotlets can learn to eat a variety of foods without having another parrotlet to watch. Your bird should see you as another flock member. You can be your bird's example.

In the bird world, not being allowed to eat with the flock means you are being left for the predator to eat. Sure death! That is why your bird wanted your steak. You can use this instinct by putting your bird's new foods (some old ones, too) on your plate and offering them to your bird while you eat. My bird will spit out certain food over and over, but I keep handing it to her, even eat a little myself. She finally catches on and eats it.

Parrotlets also love to chew things, so making food into a toy is another way to get new food into the mouth. I like to shove small pieces of raw vegetables onto the little twigs of a branch. You could also thread food onto a string. Don't worry if your bird is afraid of the food at first. Just keep doing it every day, giving him time to watch the vegetables and get used to them. Finally, he will investigate with his beak.

I found clickers for less than fifty cents at a store that sells party and Halloween supplies.

[Kumiko]

Thank you for the comments. I beleive I better understand methods to be used, but i will bring it up to the folks to get a play mate for Kiwi... does it have to be a girl?

[musicjan]

Bitsy eats birdie bread that I make. It is the first thing he does to EVERY morning when he's fed. Lots of nutrients. If you will PM me or email me, I'll give you my easy recipe. Lots of luck!

[Kumiko]

I P'm'ed u!

[AndreaFahy]

A girl would be the most natural for Kiwi. I have a pair of parrotlets playing with my right now, as if I were a jungle gym just for them!

Cockatiels can be a bit trickier. And did your vet ever figure out the cause of your cockatiel hen's picking? This has me concerned, b/c if it was dietary or environmental you wouldn't want the same thing to happen again. That would have been a good case to hire a behaviorist for, or deal with a good avian vet before it got that bad.

[Kumiko]

No, the vets are crap here. We saw her at a flea market with 20 different cockatiels in a small cage in the middle of a Macaw and Cockatoo cage. She looked like the others were picking on her, so we got her... later we found out that she was diong it to herself.

We were talking about a behaviorist, but them she stopped... her feathers were growing back in and everything... the the next day, she had blood all over her perches, we took her to the vet and they said they dont know whats wrong... they put her on Prozax, but she wouldnt take the meds. We put a leanir in her mouth to make her take it, but she always spit it back up. Her feathers was a browny color (5 days after the bloody perches incedent), so I gave her a bath... She just numbed up... her feet wasnt gripping on to anything. My mom said we have to take her to the vet... I had no clue that she was dying. The vet said we can put her into surgery, but we asked if she would stop feather plucking after this surgery. He said no, so Mom put her to sleep. After about a year, I decided to get another bird. I got Kiwi.

I will say something to my parents though about that blue one, but what if it isnt a girl. They did have green girls there too. I will probaly give-up my savings on the tank to split it with the parents and pay them back when I get more $.

[AndreaFahy]

Sorry to hear the entire story. That is so sad.

Did you ever say what size cage Kiwi is in? I'll comment on the potential second bird after that.

[Kumiko]

It is

2ft high
about 18' inches long
about 13' inches wide

[Sally]

Your cage is WAY to small. Please think about getting a large one. Parrotlets need VERY large and wide cages and lots of toys, big and small. Parrotlets are active and should have lots to do and should be able to fly in the cage. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Sally11/newcagepic.jpg

[Kumiko]

That is what I will be diong soon. There was beautiful purple cage the size of yours that i am looking at for $90.

[lily]

What if you get the big cage and the new bird, and the new bird won't eat veggies either? Just wondering...

[Kumiko]

Well then they better get use to birdie bread bc that is what is in the oven right now! :mad: Lily, you make me worry!! ;) lol.

I

[Kumiko]

..... made that birdie bread and blended the veggies and fruits in the mix... there is not way they will know that there is veggies and fruits in the bread... it is complete blended in to liquid mush!

[Sally]

$90? What is the size? That sure is cheap!

[Kumiko]

It is:

32'in High
20'in long and wide
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That is the cage itself... the stand is $30 dollars more so overall it is about $119.99

[Kumiko]

Well, I made it... and he was scared of it for a second... then he was nibbling off of it... i crumbled it up and replace his seeds with it... Hopefull he eats it!

[Kumiko]

YESSS! He is eating it!! :) :) :) :) He wont leave his seed cup! He loves it! Thank-you!!!

[Sally]

I thought it probably was not as large. Wider is much better. Mine is 21 inches x 32 inches wide and 35 inches tall. Width is very important to have room for enough toys and flying. SO many of us found out late, after we had other cages.

I had one your size first. Wasn't big enough. Chipper was SO much happier when we ordered a large cage. I DO use the old one in my bathroom. She loves it because she can be with me when I bathe, get dressed etc. BUT, there really is not room enough for all of the time.

Glad he is eating birdie bread. Chipper loves it. The variety of breads and muffins is endless!!!

I made dried sweet potatoes today for my little dog and Chipper. A HIT! Has nice flavorings too. My hubby loves them too. It is a recipe for people.

[AndreaFahy]

Someone had a link to a 21 x 32 cage with a great price. Anyone have that link? We carry these cages also, but of course shipping adds on to the price.

[Kumiko]

I really appreciate you guys helping me... this forum is really "guest freindly" other than the many ones I have been to.

[Sally]

I had to learn also. We all did. It is great you are here and ready to learn. There are so many things to learn and I think learning is fun! We all want our birds to be happy and healthy!

[lily]

Kiwi, I didn't mean to worry you; I just like to look at problems from all different angles. I'm glad you've had success with the birdie bread.

I reread your first post and I have another question. You commented that your bird makes a mess leaving uneaten food all over the floor of the cage. My question-- Do you use a grid over the floor or no grid?

[Kumiko]

Yes. I have a grid.
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Lol. That was a joke... it is okay, you didnt worry me.. sorry if i caught you off guard though.

[lily]

I asked about the grid because I took the grid out of my bird's cage. She likes to crumble her food into little pieces before she eats. She was making everything little, but dropping it on the grid. Then she couldn't get to it to eat it! I was worried that she would have poop in her food if I took out the grid, but, no, as soon as I removed it, she chose two places to poop, and the rest of the floor she can eat on.

[Takiparrot]

hello all! this is my first post.

regarding parrotlets and food, it seems to me that they are not picky about food at all. my two pairs of parrotlets eat every darn thing i put into their cages. they like carrots, bananas, watermelons, and surprisingly, aloe vera! (unchopped, ungrated, uncooked... just plain fruit and veggies...:D)

when i placed the aloe vera plant into the cage, i thought it was just show because as you may know, aloe vera plant can have quite a bitter taste. one day later... the plant was almost completely gone. since aloe vera has the ability to heal, i feed my parrotlets a leaf once in a while.

at the moment, i am trying to get my newly adopted, handfed parrotlet to eat carrot, banana, and aloe vera. i literally feed him by hand. i let him perch on my finger and then i place carrot stick close to him and he will start biting. he takes only tiny bits because he is still very young.

parrotlets are so awesome!

[Pado]

Hi Takiparrot - Welcome !

[sueanno1189]

Most of the pet stores have them. I don't know if you have Petsmart or Pet Supermarket in your area, but mine has a big bowl of clickers at the cash register for $1.49.

[Milliebird]

you pretend to eat them it works great my birds HATES mango but then i pretend to eat it now it's her favorite, dotn actually eat them becuse human saliva is toxic