Dumping food question

StChelle

New member
Apr 4, 2017
76
0
Louisiana
Parrots
Male Galah named Valentine; male red-sided Eclectus named Harlequin "Harley"; female red-sided Eclectus named Petra
Valenitine seems to enjoy dumping his treats and food as much or more than he does eating it lol. I have locking bowls now and he will sit in them take a piece of food in his claw and drop it over the side. He will do this several times before deciding to actually eat one.

This doesn't bother me but I am wondering if the feathered fool is actually eating enough. He will actually empty both food bowls and his foraging carousel. He isn't so bad about this in the outside aviary but with the tropical storm they have been inside the past few days. I'm working from home so I have been putting a few more pellets in to make sure he has access to something between mealtimes. I'm more worried about when I'm not working from home.

Is there some form of bird safe mat that is heavy enough that he couldn't move if I placed it in his cage under his food bowl? Once he drops food it goes through the bars where he can't get it. I don't think I can stop this behavior so am wondering what I could do to at least make sure he always has access to some form of food.

Or am I just an over worried new mom??
 
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Freebird1969

Member
Feb 20, 2017
67
0
Surrey, UK
Parrots
Coco (Pitball) oven ready female Citron Cockatoo,
Suki, soppy soft and silky female MSC,
Oliver Belly (Cuddle Monster) Male U2
Bandit & Gizmo (green goblins) Lineolated Parakeets
I really wouldn't worry too much, they are intelligent creatures, he will soon realise dropping his food out of the cage is the wrong thing to do if he gets hungry, it won't hurt him to do without for a few hours whilst your out. He will learn the hard way lol.

My U2 sometimes loves to destroy his fruit and veg around the outside of his bowl, he makes a royal sticky mess and most of it ends up on the floor outside of his cage. Thankfully he doesn't do it all the time. I think he just enjoys watching me clean :bigeyes:
 

chris-md

Well-known member
Feb 6, 2010
4,349
2,119
Maryland - USA
Parrots
Parker - male Eclectus

Aphrodite - red throated conure (RIP)
Yep, this ^^^^^^. If he dumps his food it doesn't get refilled. You might also consider portion sizes. Many people have noticed that dumping has a correlation with lager food portions. Smaller portions might help ease the behavior.
 

plumsmum2005

New member
Nov 18, 2015
5,330
94
England, UK
Parrots
Lou, Ruby, and Sonu.
Fly free Plum, my gorgeous boy.
Yes a bird that is hungry does not dump food. He does it because there is plenty on offer. You could try the feed fresh stuff and leave for 15/30 minutes and then withdraw, couple a times per day. If he has dry food available and some foraging activity he will be fine. As an exercise weigh a portion and then see what % of his bodyweight you are giving him. Then have a think about how they eat in the wild. We are nurturers by nature.
 

Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
9,789
San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
They love to dump food! Parrots own stock in feed companies and this is one way to increase sales.

Seriously, it is a very common habit. Removing the bowl from the receptacle is enjoyable. If you lock or fasten the bowl they will use the beak to scoop the food out. Or, the unwanted pieces get tossed out indignantly. More frequent but smaller servings are one way to decrease the overall waste.
 

Kiwibird

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2012
9,539
111
Parrots
1 BFA- Kiwi. Hatch circa 98', forever home with us Dec. 08'
My dads goffin cockatoo, if given a dish of food in the dish holders, will throw it all out before going down and eating it off the floor. He will his little foot right through the grate to get it. He goes to all that effort just to not eat it out of a dish in the upper part of the cage. My mom figured out long ago that by positioning a heavy ceramic pie plate on the grate out of the..ahem..."line of fire" (i.e. not under any branches where he could poo in it) he seems to much prefer eating his food down off the grate of his cage and does not fling it out of the pie plate. Why a pie plate? Because it is wider so the food is more spread out and he can scrounge around in it. In nature, cockatoos will scrounge for food on the ground unlike other parrot species who almost exclusively forage in the trees. Go to the goodwill and pick up an old ceramic or pyrex pie dish, put his food in there and see what he thinks about food being offered on the cage floor instead of up in the 'canopy':) Just be sure it's not directly under any branches.

Lots of videos on youtube showing wild cockatoos feeding on the ground! It's a natural behavior.

[ame="https://youtu.be/u44jN2O1gBI"]Australian Wild White Cockatoos - YouTube[/ame]
 
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GaleriaGila

Well-known member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
May 14, 2016
15,045
8,742
Cleveland area
Parrots
The Rickeybird, 38-year-old Patagonian Conure
I agree with all the above, PLUS...
I think many parrots are fascinated with gravity, kinda like two-year old kids. The Rb will throw and drop food and toys in a variety of ways, and seems to hoot in fascination at the different heights and distances.
Lastly, because I am such a bad behavior modifier, he does it to get attention or revenge. He'll fill his beak with Harrison's, then scramble or fly someplace out of reach and gradually spill the pellets, which fall and bounce and roll everywhere... drives me crazy.
 

plumsmum2005

New member
Nov 18, 2015
5,330
94
England, UK
Parrots
Lou, Ruby, and Sonu.
Fly free Plum, my gorgeous boy.
Plum seems to have a real thing about shiny stainless bowls, no way they are staying put! Have assumed it is because his reflection is in it??
 

T00tsyd

Well-known member
May 8, 2017
1,256
862
UK
Parrots
Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
Perhaps I'm lucky but Syd eats beautifully........now. In the first week or so he took great delight at throwing everything out of his bowl generally in my direction. I thought the change in behaviour was brought about by a) Suddenly realising that veg was ok b) me removing it each time he started flinging it around.

I am now quite careful with how much I give him as he's only small so presumably his crop is also small. On the rare occasion he finishes it all I top it up and he seems content. He always has pellets on hand although sometimes if he is playing up I remove them until he has eaten a fair bit of fresh first.

Gosh it's like kids. No dessert until you finish your dinner.
 

Puck

New member
Mar 8, 2015
802
4
I also tend to turn feeding time into something more interesting by creating opportunities to forage. I put paper over her bowls that she has to pierce to get to the food, mix it with things like colored blocks that she must sift through and paper balls she can toss out to the ground, provide a foraging wheel along with bow feeding, and also add "surprise food" all over her cage by attaching TP tubes filled with paper and a few pellets with holes pierced in the sides along with "fortune cookies," pieces of paper with a few pellets hidden inside that she will have to tear apart to get to. Now that she has to work harder to get her food she seems a lot happier and doesn't toss food anymore. Sometimes I think they do this because they are evolved to spend so much time in the wild working for food and we just stick it all right there and it's just "eh, whatever, toss this junk around cause it's fun, didn't have to work for it or anything." Plus what was said above definitely applies--sometimes I decorate my living room floor with pellets and let Lucille loose. She loves scavenging off the ground. Of course then I have to sweep up what's left, so this is a special treat! I will have to try the pan thing!
 
OP
StChelle

StChelle

New member
Apr 4, 2017
76
0
Louisiana
Parrots
Male Galah named Valentine; male red-sided Eclectus named Harlequin "Harley"; female red-sided Eclectus named Petra
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Lol thanks everyone!!
 

AmyMyBlueFront

Well-known member
Apr 14, 2015
6,315
Media
4
3,034
Connecticut
Parrots
Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Jonesy,the goffin,just LOVED to fling/empty his bowl! I fixed his wagon good,by getting on of those plexi "tidy bowls" Three sided with a roof...and perch inside..If he wanted grub,he had to go inside and perch,and there was no way he could fling food every where...it didn't stop him from TRYING..:eek:...but it didn't get him too far :p





Jim
 

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