Non-Fresh Diet - Urgent Switch?

charmedbyekkie

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I might have to head back to the US for about 1-1.5 weeks or so at the end of August. I'm trying to see if my partner can come with me, which means no one will be home to take care of Cairo.

Options:
  • Ask a small breeder we know to take care of him in her home, which means tiny cage, leg chains, other birds, etc. (not sure if she's interested, but she keeps her birds healthy); or,
  • Ask someone (ideally who works at our national bird park) to visit our home every day (their commute could be up to 1.5 hours just one way) while he stays in his Hacienda.

That being said, while I plan on making his frozen chop for him, I need to plan for if they can only visit once a day (and if the breeder was open to taking him in, she even prefers pellets as a staple).

Do I force him over to TOPs? This is my first thought since he has tried it before. It originally clashed with whatever I was feeding him because he started toe-tapping a little, but if his diet switches to mainly TOPs it may not cause toe-tapping due to the other trigger ingredient being less. Alternatively, I could dehydrate fresh veggies for him, but he never really took to it before.

Before he came to us, he was eating the colorful zupreem pellets. I'd hate to switch him back to that, but I'm just really worried because he is such a picky eater sometimes - his appetite comes and goes like mood swings. And no one would be able to weigh him every day, since he's fully-flighted and only recalls to me and my partner (I guarantee if he's taken out of his cage, he'll fly to the top of our laundry rack which is on a high ceiling that's maybe 12+ ft high).

Disclaimer: there's really no such thing as bird boarding here, and where private homes offer the service they do absolute zilch to check on the health of the birds coming in and out (largely because it's hard to find an avian vet who can send blood tests overseas for disease testing).
 
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plumsmum2005

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Try avian vets to see if they can board? Also is there an Ekkie site on FB, make friends, see if anyone can board yours with theirs? Leg chains? Really? You really do not want him on Zupreem IMHO hun.
 
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charmedbyekkie

charmedbyekkie

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Try avian vets to see if they can board? Also is there an Ekkie site on FB, make friends, see if anyone can board yours with theirs? Leg chains? Really? You really do not want him on Zupreem IMHO hun.

There are only two listed avian vets, and I only trust one of them so she's our go-to. But I know it would be a hefty bill and likely in a small cage due to space constraints - I'll definitely check with her though.

There is a local ekkie facebook group, but nobody goes for regular health checks let alone understands that birds can be silent carriers for certain diseases (really no fear of PBFD at all in the local community). The lack of awareness regarding medical matters scares me enough to not trust Cairo to stay with them.

And ya, leg chains are normal/common here as are very small cages (a cage that is 46x46x66cm or 18"x18"x26" is considered acceptable for ekkies, amazons, and grays. I think Cairo's a rarity for wearing a harness and having his Hacienda cage; and I'm firm in my ways of how Cairo is treated - never to be hit or shouted at or left exposed to the elements.
 

chris-md

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You definitely have options. It’s not the end of the world for him to go on something nonfresh for a little while.

Do you have access to any avian dry mixes? Nut/seed/fruit mixes? Goldenfeast materials for example?
 

Kiwibird

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Honestly, for a week, I'd just offer a high quality seed mix with nuts. I wouldn't even try pellets with an ekkie. Oh, and leave him at home and have someone come over. I'm a firm believer in staying at home with a pet sitter stopping by is better for birds than boarding. Boarding, IMO, should be an option of last resort and certainly not somewhere that will chain your baby up in a tiny cage, culturally acceptable where you are, or not.
 
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charmedbyekkie

charmedbyekkie

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You definitely have options. It’s not the end of the world for him to go on something nonfresh for a little while.

Do you have access to any avian dry mixes? Nut/seed/fruit mixes? Goldenfeast materials for example?

I completely didn't think about premixed options. Thanks for the tip about Goldenfeast! I'm trying to find a local supplier that can ship it into the country in time or another similar alternative.
 
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In a pinch I made my own mix of dried veggies “just veggies” and “just peas” (Karen’s naturals on Amazon), along with raisins, goldenfeast golden’obles mixed in, oats, and a few slivers of almond and pumpkin seeds. I put it all together in a Tupperware and the sitter had no issues feeding it to him for the week, he ate it and tolerated it well :)
 

bill_e

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Try https://www.texasnaturalfreezedried.com/ . I don't know if she can ship it there or about customs but it's not going to spoil on the way over and it is very light in weight.

She is a one person shop and would probably be up to the idea.

You can also chat with her on Facebook
 
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charmedbyekkie

charmedbyekkie

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Try https://www.texasnaturalfreezedried.com/ . I don't know if she can ship it there or about customs but it's not going to spoil on the way over and it is very light in weight.

She is a one person shop and would probably be up to the idea.

You can also chat with her on Facebook

For the freeze-dried chop, do you need to rehydrate it or is it possible to serve dried?
 
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charmedbyekkie

charmedbyekkie

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Does anybody know about Versele-Laga or Higgins Sunburst? I can't find any Goldenfeast instock locally, and I worry shipping will take some time or might get rejected by customs.

I'm trying a TOPs diet today. He still has his snack bowl of veggies that last during the day (whole sweet peas, green beans, chili padi, etc), but instead of chop, I gave him TOPs. We'll see how it goes - if any toe-tapping arises.

We're arranging a meet-up with the potential pet sitters. One of them is a vet tech, but she charges double because of the distance, and she can only make it once a day. The other used to work in the national zoo, handling a variety of creatures including parrots as part of a demo for the public. He can potentially come twice a day if we arrange it. He's also more affordable - his fees for coming twice a day is cheaper than the vet tech's once a day.

We'll see if Cairo takes to either of them. I need him to be comfortable enough for them to be able to put him in his Birdie GoGo if he gets sick and needs to see our vet.
 

bill_e

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Try https://www.texasnaturalfreezedried.com/ . I don't know if she can ship it there or about customs but it's not going to spoil on the way over and it is very light in weight.

She is a one person shop and would probably be up to the idea.

You can also chat with her on Facebook

For the freeze-dried chop, do you need to rehydrate it or is it possible to serve dried?
She says most of her customers eat it dry, Nike gets it rehydrated with a little fruit juice or coconut water,
 

chris-md

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Freeze dried food can be served either way, as Bill notes.

Higgins sunburst in a pinch is ok. Not great, but you have my blessing for an emergency such as this (not that you need it! :p)
 
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charmedbyekkie

charmedbyekkie

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Thanks, Bill! I've managed to chat with them via Facebook and just submitted an order. Hoping it'll reach in time - they said they'll ship it out asap. It's also a crapshoot if Cairo will take to it or not. He's unbelievably picky, even with the chop I make him.

Cairo is awfully befuddled about receive free-flow TOPs. First meal was perfectly fine (though I suspect he mostly just likes crumbling them to bits). Second meal he was confused, but eventually went to them. Third meal was ignored. Fourth meal I just had to give him chop. But so far, no toe-tapping (we'll see if the chop's ingredients interact with it though). It at least tells me that he can eat TOPs, but that I do have to keep his options open for him.

I'll definitely be making a batch of chop before I leave, but the sitters might only be able to visit once a day (and yes, I'm seriously thinking of getting two sitters just to make sure he's visited twice a day) and I don't want him eating chop that's gone bad from sitting out for too long.


:/ his dietary needs and appetite don't help the stress that the haze is coming again this month! I'm waiting for an air purifier to be delivered, and hopefully that'll relieve my mind if the PSI gets bad while we're away.
 

bill_e

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Nike is very, very picky as well and the hydrated chop are the only veggies she eats. I give her a large tablespoon (dry) and then hydrate it with a little watered down mango juice so it's nice and sweet.

I know you're hoping for dry but this is my method. Add a little juice, mix it lightly with my finger...the chop is maybe 25% hydrated at this point. Then put it in the microwave for 7 seconds. That little heat totally hydrates the chop.

Some days she chows down on it and some days not. She's a small bird so I get about 1.5 months or more out of a bag and I'm happy that she's getting veggies every day, even if it's not a full meal.
 
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charmedbyekkie

charmedbyekkie

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Update:

I couldn't find anyone who felt comfortable to take care of Cairo. I had a few friends offer, but they don't know how to handle bird, which is a risk because Cairo get scared if strangers put their hands near him and he's fully flighted. The vet tech was worried about him getting stressed then sick but having no one to keep a constant eye on him, so she declined. And the former zoo employee ghosted me.

So I gave in. Cairo's groomer runs this amazing little place that's a parrot daycare and boarding space. There's a big room full of perches and toys, and they can fly around to their hearts' delight. Like a wonderful indoor aviary space. The birds are let out one by one, just in case they don't get along. The cage they provide of course is nowhere near his current one (if this were the US, I'd say it's a healthy size for a conure, but this is actually slightly bigger than the normal size for an ekkie where we are).

The groomer and his colleague are so kind. They opened up the space in the evening, just so we could visit and reassure myself. They're completely onboard with feeding Cairo his chop. They said we can opt into receiving daily videos and if we want they can arrange video calls too. They're more than happy to bring him across the country (erm, an hour drive) to see his vet if need be.

Cairo was quite chill about the space. He just did his little "Hello!"s to them, then joined in a bit of the birdie chatter. He wasn't displaying any signs of anxiousness. And I know he'd love the play area, but I didn't let him on it because two macaws were hanging out there. And I think, despite his dislike of grooming, he'll get along with two main people there - his groomer looks like his previous owner, and the colleague vaguely resembles me (Cairo is less nervous around people who vaguely resemble me).


I know, I know. Disease is a risk. I really do know that. But in my heart, I couldn't handle the thought of him being caged up for almost 2 weeks with no one to interact with for 23 hours every day, of something happening to him whether because of inexperienced caretakers who can't read avian signs of illness or because no one was around to help him if he got into a predicament.

I was so torn because I've been in denial, hiding away from testing him for diseases (we have to ship the blood sample overseas, so no one in this country has tested their bird). If he is even a silent carrier, I can't bring him to the US if we migrate back (we're discussing it within the next 5 years). And that scares me.

Is this a risk I'm willing to take? No. But I don't see another choice that I can live with.

So I hope he'll be happy and figure out being a bird away from his overbearing human mum. And I know they'll look after him like he's one of their own. So that's good enough for me.
 

HEEDLESS

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There is no other as picky as Kise....


If she is OK with the Texas freeze dried, then other birds will be fine with his/her picky :D

I have Mr. Bill to thanks for it... ^_^


I have 15 bags chopped veggies and some treats have not open.. if you need some.. I will ship overnight for you for free since you are in the urgent needed.



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charmedbyekkie

charmedbyekkie

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I have 15 bags chopped veggies and some treats have not open.. if you need some.. I will ship overnight for you for free since you are in the urgent needed.

Aw, thanks for the offer! We ultimately decided to board him where they're happy to feed him the frozen chop I made. We did manage to receive our own shipment of the Texas Natural just yesterday, but I'll keep them in the freezer and save it for later. :)
 

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