No Veges Thank you Please

Our Noble Macaw is (we think) about 15 years old. When she moved in, we were told to feed her meat, fruit and veges along with her seed diet that she came with.

First - Hilariously, any time i offer her a vegetable, no matter how I offer it or which vege, she literally runs away from it. I can't help but laughing. She is so much like a 3 year old. However, I don't know how to get veges into her.

Second - her seed diet... she basically only eats little white seeds out of it and leaves everything else.

Third - I'm quite confused on diets for Parrots. To Seed or not to Seed? Some places say Seed only with meat/fruits/veges. Some places say Pellets only with meat/fruits/veges/seed addition.

would love to hear thoughts on any or all of these.

thanks!!

The white seeds they love are safflower seeds.

Meat is really a minimal thing. Not more than a tiny portion of chicken or fish. I don't give mine any red meat.

I tricked mine into eating veggies by cutting it up and mixing it in with cooked pasta.

They will usually eat sweet potato.

Hi this is such a complex topic. You don't state what Lola's weight and health situation is?
I started feeding my RB2 seed and bit of veg but came to realise that he cherry picks all the ones he likes from the dish and then asks for more please, sounds familiar? I changed to chop (multitude of recipes on here) it takes time and patience but if you eat or pretend to eat it they eat it. I have been forced to withdraw loose seed and feed pellets and TOPs have worked and are accepted. It pays to be cunning and strong willed when trying to convert a fussy bird. Try a smear of chop on a piece of toast or a cracker. If you want to give the pellets a go Lafaber Nutriberries might work as a half way house initially. I feed a limited amount of these a day as they are readily accepted (nutritionally balanced like pellets with seed/grains). It really is trying to work out what Lola likes and will eat and then perseverance to get her to eat the stuff she wont and should eat. They do take notice of what you do so use that to your advantage. For what its worth I personally wish I had switched Plum a lot sooner, you live and learn!

BB will eat most of the veggies i give him now. I started by eating them with him. They want what you have lol . He hates Sweet Potato so I mix that with Pasta. I have also spread it on Unsalted Crackers with some Cinnamon on it

Safflower Seed mix is what I put in his treat bowl

FruitBlend is in another dry bowl

Thank you! I have a lot to learn for sure. She has eaten 1 bite of sweet potatoe and flatly refused any more.��

Eat your dinner in front of her and leave something on the plate you want her to eat and then give her the plate, or scrape it into her bowl. This works most of the time for my girl who always wants whatever I have.

So she weighs 5.9 oz or 190g. I feel she may be a tad underweight but am not sure. Her feathers are all healthy looking. she is just finishing a molt. She isn't plucking at all.

I feel I need to learn terms such as "chop" and "TOP"s. I am using Lafaber's Nutriberries as well and she kind of picks at them in her foraging toy and says, "mmmm". but hardly any have disappeared.

I will try to find chop and TOPs and see what they are. I'm not exactly sure how all to use the forum as I just joined.

Not even sure I'm replying to the correct person. haha!

thanks!

plumsmum2005 said:

Hi this is such a complex topic. You don't state what Lola's weight and health situation is?
I started feeding my RB2 seed and bit of veg but came to realise that he cherry picks all the ones he likes from the dish and then asks for more please, sounds familiar? I changed to chop (multitude of recipes on here) it takes time and patience but if you eat or pretend to eat it they eat it. I have been forced to withdraw loose seed and feed pellets and TOPs have worked and are accepted. It pays to be cunning and strong willed when trying to convert a fussy bird. Try a smear of chop on a piece of toast or a cracker. If you want to give the pellets a go Lafaber Nutriberries might work as a half way house initially. I feed a limited amount of these a day as they are readily accepted (nutritionally balanced like pellets with seed/grains). It really is trying to work out what Lola likes and will eat and then perseverance to get her to eat the stuff she wont and should eat. They do take notice of what you do so use that to your advantage. For what its worth I personally wish I had switched Plum a lot sooner, you live and learn!

Click to expand...

Ok, here we go. I don't actually know what I'm doing on this forum yet.

I think I replied before but it may be hanging out there in cyber space somewhere.

So Lola weighs 167g 5.9 oz. I feel she may be somewhat under weight?

I'll see if I can figure out what Chop and "tops" are. I do keep the lafabra nutri berries in her foraging toy and she picks at them and says, "mmmm". but they are not disappearing at all so I don't think she is actually eating them.

I have a lot to learn about parrots and this one especially but I am concerned that she is not eating nutritionally at all.

any words of advice will be greatly appreciated.

Amanda_Bennett said:

Eat your dinner in front of her and leave something on the plate you want her to eat and then give her the plate, or scrape it into her bowl. This works most of the time for my girl who always wants whatever I have.

Click to expand...

Thanks Amanda,

do you do that no matter what you are eating? So far when I've put any people food into her bowl, she won't eat it at all. She will eat fruit and chicken if I hand feed her. She has nibbled a tad at eggs when I'm having breakfast.

Birdman666 said:

The white seeds they love are safflower seeds.

Meat is really a minimal thing. Not more than a tiny portion of chicken or fish. I don't give mine any red meat.

I tricked mine into eating veggies by cutting it up and mixing it in with cooked pasta.

They will usually eat sweet potato.

Click to expand...

Do you know, can she have too many safflower seeds?

Christinenc2000 said:

BB will eat most of the veggies i give him now. I started by eating them with him. They want what you have lol . He hates Sweet Potato so I mix that with Pasta. I have also spread it on Unsalted Crackers with some Cinnamon on it

Safflower Seed mix is what I put in his treat bowl

FruitBlend is in another dry bowl

Click to expand...

Thanks. Can they have too much pasta? do you mix your own safflower seed mix or is it something you purchase? Can she have too much of that?
She doesn't touch her fruit blend. she will eat blueberries though.

Parrots should have both seed and pellets in their diet as well as fruit and veg.

I got a guy that was a safflower junkie. i had to change his seed/nut mix to one without safflower seeds (the macaw mix i had I went thru and separated the safflower seeds out manually). He only get those as training treats.

Chop is just chopped veggies. It works well because as others have said, you can get them to eat veggies by chopping it small and mixing it with stuff you know that they will eat.

At first this can be a little veggies chopped and mixed with pasta, sweet potato, squash, etc....if at first you are only getting a little bit of veggies and mostly the other stuff he likes, thats ok....its a start. Keep consistent and keep working at it. Gradually (never sudden food changes) increase the veggie and decrease the other (not as healthy) food.

As others have stated, the more you can make it seem like what you have is the greatest thing in the world to more likely they will think of it that way. Talk to them while you are pretending to eat it..show them how excited you are about it...he will get interested.....make a game out of it. I like to stuff one food (say pasta mixed with chopped veggies) into a mimi sweet pepper. You can even then hide that in something else.....they love this type of game and are sure to eat some of what you are offering....some. They seldom seem to eat everything.

Mix it up. My guy seems to get bored. He may go crazy for sweet potato mixed with jalepenos one day....but turn his nose up it he gets it too often. Having to investigate what he's getting means he has to take a bite or two...thats a win.

If you have a food processor, use it. My guy won't touch kale....so I grind it so small he has no choice but to eat it with the other food he's eating. This can be done for kale, spinach, radish tops, carrot tops, dandelions, water cres, etc.

If you find other things that work or other combos, feel free to post them up. I'm always looking for new ideas to keep it fresh for him......make him interested and the battle is won.

Parrot diets are confusing at first, there's a wealth of information and opposite opinions. When you think you have it figured out and offer the first batch of perfectly prepared chop to His or Her Majesty, more often than not, your beloved parrot will take one look in the bowl and make you wear it. I'm joking, it's not that bad and it will get better.

There are lots of pellets on the market, it's a matter of choosing the healthiest pellet you can successfully get past your parrot's beak. My converted seed eaters started with Zupreem Naturals and have reluctantly added Goldenfeast and Harrison's to their list of acceptable pellets. Here's a link with some helpful tips to get you started.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

Chop is a wonderful way to bribe your bird. Even huge beaks seem to prefer finely shredded chop with added, pasta, grains, beans, sprouts, etc. Even the fussiest of parrots usually can't resist a fresh bowl of chop.

Here's a great base recipe limited only by your imagination.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/34185-slop-chop-mix-ala-wendy-s-kitchen.html

Birdie Bread is another wonderful way to camouflage nutritious foods. Just like ingredients in a chop recipe, you can stuff birdie bread with all kinds of good stuff, every batch is a little different. It freezes well and few parrots will turn up their beaks at a fresh piece of bread.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/28298-my-birdie-bread-macs-love-these.html

Some birds are stubborn about changing their ingrained feeding habits but with patience most of them will prefer the better diet, given time.

There are a lot of high quality seed mixes available but I don't think seeds should be a major part of the diet. As Birdman mentioned, Nutriberries are a good way to transition from seeds to fresh food.

Crazy_Bird_Lady said:

Amanda_Bennett said:

Eat your dinner in front of her and leave something on the plate you want her to eat and then give her the plate, or scrape it into her bowl. This works most of the time for my girl who always wants whatever I have.

Click to expand...

Thanks Amanda,

do you do that no matter what you are eating? So far when I've put any people food into her bowl, she won't eat it at all. She will eat fruit and chicken if I hand feed her. She has nibbled a tad at eggs when I'm having breakfast.

Click to expand...

I do it every night, but I make sure it's food that is safe for her to have like pasta, rice, veggies, potatoes, sweet potatoes, chicken, fish. I also make chop and freeze in small bags that hold about enough for 3 days and have been known to put a small bit on my plate and then give it to her so she thinks I ate some and it was super yummy.

When you guys refer to chop do you mean raw or cooked veg. I was wondering because I have only ever fed raw veg to mine. I have never chopped it either but perhaps I should start. I usually hold it in a 3 to 4 inch piece for my two and feed them direct from my hand as they make a game out of eating it or in slightly smaller pieces from their bowls perhaps I should chop it up smaller for the bowl. Hope you get your girl to eat lots of veges soon Crazy Bird Lady.

I do both. If I've cooked dinner, I take out the appropriate veggies and feed them out. They've not got added salt etc, any additives are added after I've sorted the birds share.

Crazy_Bird_Lady said:

plumsmum2005 said:

Hi this is such a complex topic. You don't state what Lola's weight and health situation is?
I started feeding my RB2 seed and bit of veg but came to realise that he cherry picks all the ones he likes from the dish and then asks for more please, sounds familiar? I changed to chop (multitude of recipes on here) it takes time and patience but if you eat or pretend to eat it they eat it. I have been forced to withdraw loose seed and feed pellets and TOPs have worked and are accepted. It pays to be cunning and strong willed when trying to convert a fussy bird. Try a smear of chop on a piece of toast or a cracker. If you want to give the pellets a go Lafaber Nutriberries might work as a half way house initially. I feed a limited amount of these a day as they are readily accepted (nutritionally balanced like pellets with seed/grains). It really is trying to work out what Lola likes and will eat and then perseverance to get her to eat the stuff she wont and should eat. They do take notice of what you do so use that to your advantage. For what its worth I personally wish I had switched Plum a lot sooner, you live and learn!

Click to expand...

Ok, here we go. I don't actually know what I'm doing on this forum yet.

I think I replied before but it may be hanging out there in cyber space somewhere.

So Lola weighs 167g 5.9 oz. I feel she may be somewhat under weight?

I'll see if I can figure out what Chop and "tops" are. I do keep the lafabra nutri berries in her foraging toy and she picks at them and says, "mmmm". but they are not disappearing at all so I don't think she is actually eating them.

I have a lot to learn about parrots and this one especially but I am concerned that she is not eating nutritionally at all.

any words of advice will be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

Hi and sorry. You are doing great - you are on here and wanting to know/asking questions. I have to feed my RB2 Cockatiel Nutriberries as he wont touch Parrot ones. I think they are too hard for him, LOL. TOPS is Totally Organics and again I use the crumbled pellets for small hookbills. It can be an expensive time trying to find the right one! It pays to make Parront friends re swaps lol. This is what works some of the time with Plum. Have you tried to break them up for Lola, does this make the Nutriberries more palatable?

Others have helped out re CHOP but just to say it is whatever your parrot will eat - raw whole, raw chopped, steamed or boiled. Aim to make it nutritionally correct and meets her needs and not on the poisons list. Don't get stressed out, it takes time. BTW I cook our veg without the addition of salt now just in case I have to part with some of my dinner.

On cooking versus raw, it comes down to what he'll eat for me. For example, mini peppers need to be cooked, but if I put peppers into the food processor, then he gets them raw.

I usually have a mix of cooked veggies (sweet potato, squash, whole peppers) and raw. The raw is almost always from the food processor and very fine chop mixed in with the cooked material.