Diego is not interested in any food apart from Melon and Apple?

Hi Everyone

Diego is incredibly picky with his food and does not want to eat pellets, Parrot fruit mix or any kind of seeds and nuts. The only thing that he will eat is melon and apple.

I have only been keeping apple and melon as a treat hoping that he will start to eat his other food rather than leaving it after picking out his favourites. This does not seem to be working and I now have a very hungry Diego who is constantly calling me and making it known that he wants food.

Today I bought some berries and other fruit including banana that I thought I could mash up and mix with his normal food to coat it and therefore making it more interesting for him, but he stuck his beak in took a piece then dropped it on the floor.

I don't know what to do, I don't want him to be hungry and am very close to giving him a bowl of apple just so that he has some food him. However, I feel that this is giving in and he will know that eventually I will feel sorry for him and give him what he wants.

I'm not sure why he is such a fussy eater, I do know that the breeder gave him pretty much a fruit only diet. But I always thought that Amazons were normally great eaters and would try and eat anything?

Hope someone can help me with this.

Thanks

Carolina.

It sounds like he's holding out for what he wants. I value the "varied" diet...so fruit, although healthy, would not be appropiate. Remove the food at bedtime, and try veggies in the morning(with a small amout of fruit mixed in) when he's really hungry. Leave it for him for a few hours...he should get hungry enough to try it.

Hi SharonC, I agree with the varied diet also. Just as I was reading your reply, I have just turned around and he is now eating some of his food although somewhat fussily and very intermittently. I will try tonight removing the food at bedtime to see if this also works. The only veggies he will eat a small amount of at the moment is green peppers but he's not overly keen.

I think he is trying to get his own way, so I will keep holding out. My only worry is I don't want he to get so hungry that it makes him poorly, or do you not think this will happen?

Just keep an eye on how much and what he is eating. I don't think he'll starve himself. Try mixing chicken breast or fish with the veggies, as well. My YNA loves both....

Parrots by nature are fussy eaters. One of the best ways is for them to see you eat the food so they know it is safe. You will be his taster. If he sees you eating it he may be curious and take a few bites. Our birds are slow to try something new. When I first gave Rosie pellets she wanted nothing to do with them. I kept on offering them (mimiced eating them in front of her) and now she loves them. Like everything else with parrots introducing new foods takes patience.

Thanks for your responses. I have been eating the berries and banana etc in front of him so will keep going with this. I'm not too keen on fruit myself so he's doing me some good tasting it first lol.

I have just given him some grape which he is loving, it seems to be all fruit that are light in green colour.

Another question I have is about water, he does not seem to drink that much. How much does a parrot normally drink?

I really never worry about water intake. The foods of course do contain water. In addition to water I give Rosie juices and she really craves the vit. water I drink. As long as you offer clean water it should be ok.

Diego probably needs very little liquid due to his fruit diet which has a high % of water - especially the melon which I believe is 80% water! I think you have to persevere with the other foods, although fruit is an excellent addition to his diet it isn't good enough alone. No self respecting parrot is going to starve himself. They almost always want what you have so this is excellent advice you have been given. I believe that if you cut down on the fruit you give, Diego will have no option but to try other things. Have you tried different types of nuts and seeds with him? Why not try alternating fruit with vegetables which are more nutricious? Broccolli, carrots, beans etc. are excellent sources of vitamins and minerals.

SB and MPW are doing great at helping you, thanks guys! So, I really don't have much to add. I agree completely with weaning off of fruit onto more nutritious foods like vegetables for example. I went almost cold turkey with my birds, they immediately got weaned off of lettuce onto more varied vegetables. Lettuce used to be all they were fed in their last home, and they wouldn't take anything else.

Although, I have something really cool that I learned from my own experience. I had a garden, and I grew Broccoli in it. The most nutritious parts of Broccoli is the leaves, and the florets are the second most nutritious part. But of course, Broccoli leaves aren't sold in stores, because people don't normally eat them. That's where the garden came in handy. I had a way to give the 'tiels fresh, almost organically grown, Broccoli leaves. You can grow many other things in the garden, and that will supply you with the freshest F & V possible.

I did wonder if he was not drinking too much because of the high amount of liquid in the fruit.

Have you tried different types of nuts and seeds with him? Why not try alternating fruit with vegetables which are more nutricious? Broccolli, carrots, beans etc. are excellent sources of vitamins and minerals.

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I have many different types of seeds and nuts but he will not entertain any off them, especially the seeds. I have a container in the fridge full of boiled carrots and broccolli, which I keep giving him everyday. Although he always leaves them, I still give them to him. He does seem to like green pepper and chickpeas, so I make sure that they are also included in the food I give him. Although he does not eat much of it.

I have uploaded a video of Diego acting like he normally does when he either sees us or we are talking to him or even training him. Is this behaviour him begging for food? Excuse his feathers at the front, he had not long been misted


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbkUKIl0jD4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbkUKIl0jD4[/ame]

Great video, what a lovely fella Diego is and he doesn't look too skinny there either so he must be doing ok. All I can add is never give up trying with these foods, one day he is gonna surprise you but judging by the look of him you don't have too much to worry about.

Thanks everyone, I'm going to stick at it and even stop giving his favourite foods as a treat for now. Training at the moment is not really training but doing him desperately trying to get to the hand where the treat is or to where the bowl is.

Funny, I have always been very strict with my children about food and they are both excellent eaters. My feathered son comes along and I temporarily went all soft lol

GoDieogo said:

I have uploaded a video of Diego acting like he normally does when he either sees us or we are talking to him or even training him. Is this behaviour him begging for food?

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That isn't classic begging behavior (the kind chicks do), but if it's been taught to him, that could be his way of begging. One of the down sides of having a parrot - they're smart enough to modify their instinctual behavior, if something else works better, so you can be left guessing.

Chick begging behavior is crouched down, head bowed, and fluttering the wings, with little inquisitive noises. That's what Boo does when he wants food, or wants to come to me. Adult parrots normally stop the begging behavior, but it can be reinforced by humans so they do it all their lives.

I have uploaded a video of Diego acting like he normally does when he either sees us or we are talking to him or even training him. Is this behaviour him begging for food?

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When he is being given a treat or even a lot of attention he gets excited about, the noise goes up and up, it stays the same sound but gets quicker and louder. When he gets given a treat, when he is eating it he actually sounds like a turkey going gobble gobble gobble. I can't help but laugh lol

What a cute bird sound!! PQ your are right on about a garden. At the Phoenix Landing nutrition class I went to the door prize was a large container full of safe plants growing for birds, both vegies. and herbs. You can grow for the birds in containers if you do not have a garden. They stressed the importance of organic soil and seeds for growing. Sorry I did not win the pot though.

All of my garden is a huge patio terrace, I do have some herbs growing so will look up about which herbs are good for Amazons. I will give it a go but I'm terrible at gardening lol. I have also started to try and sprout some of his seeds to see if he likes them. I'm thinking if he likes the shoots and leave the shells on at the end it will get him used to the sight of them as a good food in his bowl.

He has given in slightly already and when he realised that no apple or melon was coming his way so far today, he has eaten some of his dinner of chickpeas, green and red pepper and some soaked berries.

My husband keeps seeing all the bags of nuts, fruits and veg and saying he's going to eat better then him lol.

Oh dear an error occurred, when I tried to watch the video, says try again later which I will do.
The above members have given you fantastic info and tips, not much for me to add, except one important thing, make sure you are weighing Diego, :smile049:making sure his weight remains constant, and he is not loosing weight.
Not sure what his weight should be, sure other members will assist you.
Keep up the good work

Actually, IMPE, amazons are great eaters and not picky at all. Toos are picky, tiels are picky, greys are picky but not amazons, they love food and will gladly eat practically anything you put in front of them but they do love their seeds and nuts even more so you need to keep him on a strict schedule: healthy food in the am (cooked whole grains mixed with lots of cooked, chopped veggies accompanied by raw produce) and nothing else until the evening when they get their dinner (the high protein part of their diet which should be measured -less than 1/4 cup a day) when the sun starts to set. Also, it's better if you don't offer him more than one type of fruit, one type of veggie and one type of leafy green each day and make it a different one every day (IMPE, when you offer more than one choice of each, they don't eat as well as when you offer only one). Try giving him ripe red papaya and mangoes (make sure they are nice and soft and juicy), corn on the cob (very, very slightly steamed), cherry or grape tomatoes (mine love them!), sweet potatoes baked in the skin (they become all soft and mushy and caramelized and delicious), blueberries, the heart of the romaine lettuce (where it's nice and crunchy) and celery (with the little leaves on top). These are my amazons' favorite stuff but it does take time to get them to eat everything so just keep on trying.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I thought I would update everyone with what is happening. I have contacted an expert in Amazon parrots who like Birdamor explained that Amazons were the least picky eaters in the parrot world. Because of his age (4 months) he explained to me that Amazon parrots are very well known for digressing with being weaned and many at a younger age return back to formula for a while.

I gave Diego a bit of mushed up banana in a syringe (a food he hated before) and he went mad for it. I'm now waiting to hear back from the expert to see if this is a sign of him digressing and if so where I go from here.

I felt awful seeing how hungry he was to take the syringe and am now wondering if he has digressed because he was weaned to early or if it just a thing some Amazons go through.

I will keep you all updated

I am glad that you sought an expert. When there is a health issue with a bird we should be seeking professional advice such as an avain vet. Us forum members can make suggestions and provide education on most issues but when it comes to the health of your bird leave that for the ones that have the formal training.