Parrot is a Picky Eater?

Hi Everyone, my name is Sam and just a few days ago I picked up a Green-Cheeked Conure from a local breeder. He (I don't know the gender, but "he" is shorter to type) is just under 2 months old, and he seems to be adjusting well to his new home.

The breeder weened him onto a pelleted diet, and I have been mixing small amounts a cockatiel seed mix into his pellets (which he hadn't had before, but got used to VERY quick). However, that seems to be all he is comfortable with eating.

I'm always trying to introduce more fruits and vegetables to his diet, but he usually will ignore them if they are in the cage, or back away/throw it if I try to hand feed it to him.

I've tried broccoli, celery, spinach, kale, carrots, and corn as well as oranges, mandarin oranges, apples, and apricots. The best I've gotten him to do is nibble on oranges and spinach before ignoring them.

I've gotten him to eat the pellets and seed out of my hands, but I don't really want to use that for training because he always has it in his cage. I really want to get him used to perches outside of the cage and teach him to not bite me, but I don't have any interesting food to use.

Is it too early for him to start eating other foods, or should I keep trying to feed him a larger variety of fruits and veggies? Also, is it OK to try and use his normal food from his dish to train him in the mean time?

A diet rich in vegetables/fruits is best, with some pellets and smallest portion of seeds. That he was weaned with pellets and devours the seeds is no surprise - you've introduced the equivalent of a burger + fries!!

Persistence and variety of what we call "chop" aka vegetables/fruits is helpful. Continue to introduce healthy alternatives and don't be dissuaded by the lack of immediate approval. It can take years for a bird to suddenly take a bit of pear, sample a bean, or discover the goodness of a pomegranate seed. Cooked sweet potatoes and yams are frequently a hit, as are various beans such as lima, kidney, black, and garbanzo. Many of mine love cooked spiral noodles that are either 100% whole wheat/grain or with vegetable additives.

Two key points to consider: Birds are flock creatures and often respond to YOU eating the same foods from a separate dish! Sort of monkey-see-monkey-do. Another is to avoid competition between chop and pellets/seed. I always serve one or the other, and remove dry foods for several hours when chop is offered. Only when the moist food "times out" depending on ambient temperature will I remove and replace.

A few helpful links!

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

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/49831-chop-day-recipe.html (this is large scale, but you'll get the idea. Easy to prepare periodically and freeze individual portions)

My cockatiels were the same way, when I got them they loved their pellets (Zupreem Fruit pellets) and Kaytee cockatiel seed mix (with lots of sunflower seeds, which are not good for them to have all the time) and so I converted them over to a mix of the same pellets, healthier seeds (with no sunflowers), and CHOP! (my recipe here!)

It took a little while to convert them, and my female cockatiel likes the chop more than the male, but he'll still eat it. His favorite is the Kaytee sunflower seed mix so I'll give them that on occasion only.

Introduce the healthy foods as first thing as the major hurdle is getting them used to eating it, birds have a lot less taste buds than we do. They still have preferences though. Give him/her 15 minutes with it and you eat your breakfast and see if you have any results, keep trying this until you do. If no go then add the usual foods after the time is up.

http://petgreencheekconure.com/green-cheek-conure-diet/

Both of my conures were on a seed diet and I've been working to switch them to pellets and chop. Pellet conversion was fairly easy, fruits and veggies have been more difficult. Mine seem to have preferences about how it is chopped up, as well as whether or not it is cooked or raw - so you may have to try different ways to prepare the same things as well . I did find that when I take the pellets out at bed time, they are far more interested in chop first thing in the morning. I give them an hour with it, and then put in their pellets for them to munch throughout the day. I then take their pellets out when I serve their evening chop. They get their pellets back, and a small amount of seed to snack on until bedtime. Variety, limiting their choices "in the moment", and persistence seems to be what is working for me. Some things, like greens, I just have to chop up so small that they have trouble picking it out of the fruit that they like lol.