How does your bird discriminate

chris-md · Jul 28, 2015

I'm just wondering if anyone has found any patterns for their birds sensitive, discerning pallette. I've come to discover that my Parker will not eat anything orange. He doesn't like oranges, carrots, papaya, mango, you name it orange and he won't eat it

I your little ones have similar habits and tendencies?

Kiwibird · Jul 28, 2015

Kiwi was such a picky eater when we got him, he even turned his nose up at seeds, so picky eating isn't tolerated (if it was, I'm sure he'd rapidly regress to his preferred diet of pizza and chips and stop eating his fruit and veg :20

. These days, he will eat what he's given because he knows there will not be another option (besides going hungry)! He does have some fruit/veg preferences (he hates carrots and isn't into leafy greens) so I don't generally give him things he clearly doesn't like (though I'm not above sneaking those items into other foods:54

. However, things he 'likes enough' are offered frequently and in plentiful quantities

MikeyTN · Jul 28, 2015

Where do I start......lol.......We have 14 birds to talk about.....lol

GreatBlue320 · Jul 28, 2015

I haven't noticed anything particular about Baxter's eating habit as of yet except that he does most of his eating when he is in his "house". I'll often put a small bit of his food out on the kitchen counter when we are all eating breakfast and he just isn't all that interested in the food. He'd rather play on his play stand or run around the counter "yelling" at us!

Amanda_Bennett · Jul 28, 2015

Zilla will eat anything purple! Grapes, cauliflower, bell peppers, if it's purple she will eat it, even if she won't eat any other color of whatever it is.

DexMom · Jul 28, 2015

So far Dexter loves food - he'll at least pick at everything I put in his dish or on a kebob - with the exception of strawberries. If there are any strawberries in his bowl he will methodically pick every single piece out and fling it (I never knew how far a teensy fleck of strawberry could travel) before eating a single bite of anything else in the bowl.

I'm really enjoying feeding him and I love to watch him enjoying his food. I made a kebob yesterday with a couple of raw brussel sprouts in between the corn-on-the-cob rounds and he had SO much fun picking them apart leaf by leaf. He actually ate more of them than I thought he would. I expected him to just toy with them, but he gobbled them up!

AJBirds · Jul 28, 2015

Pixie is a tiny green monster. She eats like there's no tomorrow - when she's in the mood to eat, she gobbles away like she hasn't been fed in months.

I read somewhere that macaws (all parrots?) are social eaters, and she loves eating when I am. She's also partial to food that she's seen/smelled me eat, as well as tidbits of my meals (veggies, protein). Yesterday, for the first time, she was allowed to "sneak up" onto my lunch plate

She loves chilli, which I hate. So far, she hasn't been too fond of raw ginger or broccoli stems (florets are fine)

labell · Jul 28, 2015

chris-md said:
I'm just wondering if anyone has found any patterns for their birds sensitive, discerning pallette. I've come to discover that my Parker will not eat anything orange. He doesn't like oranges, carrots, papaya, mango, you name it orange and he won't eat it

I your little ones have similar habits and tendencies?

For eclectus the orange fruits and veggies and the dark leafy greens are the most important imo. I have never had an eclectus like citrus but the carrots, mango, yams, cantaloupe, orange bell peppers, pumpkin, butternut squash you really need to get them in however you can. Grating them super fine and mixing them in the chop so they are forced to eat them because they are stuck to everything else is a good way to get Parker used to them.

chris-md · Jul 29, 2015

I hear you Laura, completely. Fortunately he loves anything bell pepper, and there are about 1600 µg beta-carotene in a red bell pepper. So I make sure he gets plenty of those, as well as other colored peppers since they have slightly different nutrient profiles. I'm not giving up on orange stuff yet. I think he might eat the dried carrots out of his next so he's getting those. And I'm not out of tricks for other foods as well. He didn't eat raw hands but I haven't cooked and mashed for him yet I can also take away his dry commercial food and essentially forced him to eat whatever fruits and vegetables I put in his bowl. Right now I only give him a little bit of the dry stuff at night when I go to bed at 11, small snack. I can withhold that so he eats what I give him earlier in the evening.

AJ, I used a trick similar to social eating to try to get Parker to try new stuff. I eat a bunch of it in front of him in hopes that he would get curious and if you want to try something. It's been less than successful unfortunately my dog, however, refuses to eat unless we are home!

Mimsy01 · Jul 29, 2015

Foo only wanted seeds when we first got her, then she decided raspberries were awesome.

She would then eat anything that was red. (which is ironic since red toys and shirts scare her)

Now she will try anything we are eating, though red food is best. Green food is worse. Takes a lot of us nibbling a green item before she is willing to try.

labell · Jul 29, 2015

chris-md said:
I hear you Laura, completely. Fortunately he loves anything bell pepper, and there are about 1600 µg beta-carotene in a red bell pepper. So I make sure he gets plenty of those, as well as other colored peppers since they have slightly different nutrient profiles. I'm not giving up on orange stuff yet. I think he might eat the dried carrots out of his next so he's getting those. And I'm not out of tricks for other foods as well. He didn't eat raw hands but I haven't cooked and mashed for him yet I can also take away his dry commercial food and essentially forced him to eat whatever fruits and vegetables I put in his bowl. Right now I only give him a little bit of the dry stuff at night when I go to bed at 11, small snack. I can withhold that so he eats what I give him earlier in the evening.

AJ, I used a trick similar to social eating to try to get Parker to try new stuff. I eat a bunch of it in front of him in hopes that he would get curious and if you want to try something. It's been less than successful unfortunately my dog, however, refuses to eat unless we are home!

I think feeding Parker cooked, raw or mashed HANDS would be a very bad habit to get into and would probably cost you friends. LOL I am so sorry it's just I snorted my coffee when I read your typo.

I don't know if you have a juicer but everyone here loves carrot juice, Willow slurps it up while practically scuba diving in it.

dhraiden · Jul 29, 2015

Seconding that my GCC Mochi is usually game to try anything she's seen me put in my mouth...

Newbsi · Jul 29, 2015

Gollum does not care for fruit. He prefers veggies for now. I will keep trying!

chris-md · Jul 29, 2015

You know Laura, I swear I'm not as grammar challenged as these posts make me seem! For some reason typing on an iPhone or iPad, I don't seem to catch those auto correct mistakes like I do if I'm typing on the computer. Damn you AutoCorrect!

Newbsi · Jul 29, 2015

Gollum said he had to make a liar out of Parront today!
Eating fruit!

(I do think he is smirking)

AJBirds · Jul 29, 2015

Chris, have you tried dried apricot? It's one of my favorite treats - and Pixie's, too. That might get Parker started with the horribleorangefoods.
My husband theorizes that Pixie can pick up on our enjoyment of food, for instance she seems to especially love all our "human treat" foods.

chris-md · Jul 30, 2015

Lol go gollum! Yummy!

AJ, we tried that just 2 days ago. Complete snub

. He LOVES his dried fruit/but mix I give him for his base diet, but any other dried fruit gets the upturned nose.

JerseyWendy · Jul 30, 2015

Chris, I can tell you how my big macs discriminate. Make sure Parker doesn't read this - as you don't want him to get any ideas..... :54:

My Ripley is particularly good at chucking unwanted fresh food bits against the wall, and sometimes they actually 'stick' to the walls. Now even though he looooves blueberries, every once in a while he gets so carried away chucking his food rather than eating it, my light tan colored wall ends up looking like a painter's palette. :32: And blueberry stains are one massive PITA.

Sorry, I'm not being of much help, am I? :21:

Mariar · Jul 30, 2015

This morning sissy decided that my bowl of cereal, with cashew milk, was hers. Cute at first..disaster after. She doesn't like coconut or dried fruit of any kind but likes banana so after drinking some of my milk she decided to forage for what she wanted and she's picky. And that's when cereal went flying all over the place, as she buried her head deep in my bowl..laughing ...brat!

Newbsi · Jul 30, 2015

JerseyWendy said:
My Ripley is particularly good at chucking unwanted fresh food bits against the wall, and sometimes they actually 'stick' to the walls.

LOL! Gollum has learned that what veggies and fruit he doesnt want that if he drops it over the side my 2 pound chi eats it. Its funny to watch. Picks it up with beak, walks it to edge, drops it, tilts head to the side so he can see the dog eat it... Do it all over again!

How does your bird discriminate

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