Fresh foods

Miss Gracie will NOT eat any kind of fresh fruit and will only eat tiny bits of brussel sprouts and essentially nothing else.... what can I do to get her to start eating fresh foods? What do I put in like a chop mix for her? She eats pellets and seeds mostly, we just started her on pellets since we noticed that is what she had been picking out of her food mix the most, it already had some in it, but we got a bag from Petco and boosted it. I dont like it though because it's got colors in it. I also dont know anywhere so far that sells good organic gluten free pellets, we have a severe celiac house and anything containing wheat, rye, or barley is a MAJOR health hazard to my husband. Her being a messy eater as well as getting food on her, or him handling her, her cage, her food or water and changing out her water dish in the sinks kitchen or bathroom (because teeth brushing) is a contamination hazard for him... so if anyone has and sources for gluten free pellets or a company that will like make and brand out celiac friendly parrot pellets or anything... that information would be greatly appreciated. And hes a picture of her being a princess bird over the sink this morning ♡

No info on gluten free foods, but she is a beautiful princess!

Chop. I put in as many kinds of hot peppers as I can find in the supermarket. Kale, broccoli, cauliflower (as many colors and I can find), carrot greens, carrots, parsley greens, some corn, some all natural multi grain pasta, and generally any veggie that is safe for him to eat. The results are frozen into daily amounts, and served defrosted with a small amount of Avicake or a Nutriberry or two crushed up. We also substitute chop with a serving of acorn squash or other squash, which Salty loves.

We just started to offer a full carrot as an all day available food, by using a holder meant for millet stalks, Salty reduces it to schnibbles in short order, but he eats quite a bit of it.

wrench13 said:

No info on gluten free foods, but she is a beautiful princess!

Chop. I put in as many kinds of hot peppers as I can find in the supermarket. Kale, broccoli, cauliflower (as many colors and I can find), carrot greens, carrots, parsley greens, some corn, some all natural multi grain pasta, and generally any veggie that is safe for him to eat. The results are frozen into daily amounts, and served defrosted with a small amount of Avicake or a Nutriberry or two crushed up. We also substitute chop with a serving of acorn squash or other squash, which Salty loves.

We just started to offer a full carrot as an all day available food, by using a holder meant for millet stalks, Salty reduces it to schnibbles in short order, but he eats quite a bit of it.

Click to expand...

That sounds delicious haha! I wonder if replacing all of her food for a few days with that would help her start eating healthier.

Fresh foods should ideally consist of more veggies than fruit. Here's a comprehensive but not exclusive list of bird-safe items: http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

Not unusual to encounter resistance to dietary change! One solution is to prepare two identical bowls of fresh foods aka "chop." One for you and the other for Miss Gracie. Begin to eat from yours, making "mmm" sounds, bob your head in delight. Parrots are flock eaters and you are part of the flock! May take a while but remain persistent. I've had birds toss overboard an item and eventually try and love decades later. Very important to remove seeds/pellets while feeding chop to spur curiosity. Chop has a limited life of a few hours depending on ambient temperature, and of course the admonition of "never starve a bird into submission" applies!

Unsure if any pellets are celiac compliant. You'll have to scrutinize the ingredients label and contact the manufacturer for details.

https://topsparrotfood.com/pages/ingredient-highlights

Hmm I just remember it saying gluten free but after looking at the list it has barley so that wouldn’t work. My mother is gluten free and never has a problem with contamination between things. Might just have to be careful.


Oooo. I almost forget about this. My mother feeds the green chunks to her macaw but the same company has the unpellet mix which should be safe.
https://phoenixforagingrolls.com/shop?olsPage=products/unpellet-mix-regular

You can also make birdie bread and/or flat crumbly dried chunks like the green chunks that the store sells above. All you need is a dehydrator. That way you can make up a variety of different types to make sure they are getting everything they need without being on the traditional pellet. Obviously fresh foods too but the birds seem to accept birdie bred easier. If you need help with gluten free ideas for this I can put you in contact with my mother.

I contacted TOPs to see if they had anything, good starting point!

wrench13 said:

No info on gluten free foods, but she is a beautiful princess!

Chop. I put in as many kinds of hot peppers as I can find in the supermarket. Kale, broccoli, cauliflower (as many colors and I can find), carrot greens, carrots, parsley greens, some corn, some all natural multi grain pasta, and generally any veggie that is safe for him to eat. The results are frozen into daily amounts, and served defrosted with a small amount of Avicake or a Nutriberry or two crushed up. We also substitute chop with a serving of acorn squash or other squash, which Salty loves.

We just started to offer a full carrot as an all day available food, by using a holder meant for millet stalks, Salty reduces it to schnibbles in short order, but he eats quite a bit of it.

Click to expand...

I have a question about any kind of chop. it's great fresh (though my crew hasn't eaten any yet!) but when I freeze it, it's all soggy and wet. Is that how you serve it? Just confused?!?

I just got a young YNP, and 90% of my efforts are going into developing good dietary habits.

I’m pretty convinced you have to do this in cage...outside cage stands and feeding cups interfere with them “paying attention”...and you have to try several things every day, throughout the day. And keep repeating those fruits and vegetables he previously ignored.

And just a few pellets in the dry cup with a light sprinkling of seed. Do NOT load that dry seeds bowl at all. Only enough for him to pick at for a few minutes.

He’ll get into the habit of hitting the little dry, and then check out what’s in the wet bowl.

I also think that once you find something fresh he likes, do NOT serve it every day. The bird is going to ignore trying new things.

I baked a few fresh beets on Saturday...they stay fresh in the fridge for a week...and he wouldn’t touch it. Tonight, I try again, with a little sliced raw zucchini, something he’s NEVER tried. He might like the zucchini, so maybe he’ll chomp on the beets too.

Otherwise, I know he loves red bell pepper, so if this doesn’t work tonight, I’ll try that with the beets tomorrow.