Got milk?

JamesC · May 30, 2012

Sidney is a soup maker. He dips his pellets in his water more than any bird I've ever known. Dips after every bite. Recently he has really started to be insistent on sharing what I'm eating. Especially breakfast.

So this morning, I'm eating a bowl of Cheerios and here he comes. I saved a few Oh's for him and thought to distract him from grabbing the bowl and generally making it difficult to eat. He has snagged some cereal from the bowl in the past so he knows what is in there. His first action on taking one of the dry ones was to walk over and dunk it in my bowl. Took a bite. Dunk it again. So I ended up dodging him while I tried to finish up the rest of the cereal. I somehow doubt that breakfast is going to be easy from this point on unless I fix him his own bowl.

Fortunately he seems to be tolerant of the lactose. I won't let him drink much of the milk, though. Will keep his intake minimal.

Parrotmamma · May 30, 2012

That is so funny : ) ....my GCC is the same way . She sits on the side of my bowl like it hers....lol She LOVES cheerios !

GiosMom · May 30, 2012

My wheaten terrier Charlie is a Cheerios addict! It's so funny just the sound of the box gets his full attention and the minute the cheerios hit the dish forget it he will cry until he gets some. Too funny!

Karigan · May 31, 2012

It's so hard to keep them away from milk products, especially when you're eating. Bits of cheese or soaked cereal that fall are fair game, and I'm not always fast enough. Thankfully it's never in large enough quantities to cause harm.

dishgal1 · May 31, 2012

Forrest loves swiss cheese. He will rip it from your mouth. Little tiny triangles are missing from my swiss when I eat it. When the fridge opens he will be on your shoulder hoping for swiss cheese. I know they aren't supposed to have milk products and he likes the cereal bowls too, but how do you know when they are lactose intolerant? Are all birds lactose intolerant?
I try to keep him away from milk but it is really super hard. You would think their instinct would keep them away from things that aren't good for them. He seems to know (I think) when things are bad. Like fudgsicles, he never tries to eat them. I guess I just wonder who found this out that they are lactose intolerant.

JamesC · May 31, 2012

I'm not really sure where the caution on dairy products comes from. One thing that I've heard is that they cannot digest it properly. Some people feed their birds dairy/cheese quite often. I will occasionally give them a few small pieces of low salt cheese if i have some in house. All three of them seem to love it and I have never noticed any adverse affects in behavior, appetite or droppings. But like anything outside of normal diet foods I consider it a treat to be given sparingly. With Sid and his new found love of milk in my bowl I think I'm going to have to come up with an alternate distraction that has a higher value to him. Or leave him in his cage until I'm done eating. But he sure hates to miss out and I enjoy eating breakfast with him. Maybe some apple juice soaked into some birdie bread will do the trick.

Parrotmamma · May 31, 2012

Have you tried almond milk on your cereal ? I actually prefer it over regular milk , but some people do not care for it . Just a thought : )

Karigan · Jun 1, 2012

JamesC, that's exactly it. Cow's milk is hard to digest, even human babies have a harder time digesting it than mothers or even goats milk. I know a few babes who have no alergies (doc checked) but couldn't even handle it when their moms drank it while they were feeding. Coconut milk is a great sub as well as almond milk. It is the lactose itself that is so hard to digest, and when you think about it, it's a totally unnatural substance to a bird, they're not mammals.

JamesC · Jun 1, 2012

Parrotmamma said:
Have you tried almond milk on your cereal ? I actually prefer it over regular milk , but some people do not care for it . Just a thought : )

I have not tried it yet but I'm going shopping tomorrow and I'll add it to my list.

The birdie bread with apple juice got a quizzical "Whats this?" look then he went straight for my bowl of cereal. Senegals can be so expressive with body posture and how they turn their heads. Right now he is looking at my laptop with an "I wanna destroy that" look.

...and here he comes. Time to defend the keyboard.

Remy · Jun 2, 2012

Karigan said:
JamesC, that's exactly it. Cow's milk is hard to digest, even human babies have a harder time digesting it than mothers or even goats milk. I know a few babes who have no alergies (doc checked) but couldn't even handle it when their moms drank it while they were feeding. Coconut milk is a great sub as well as almond milk. It is the lactose itself that is so hard to digest, and when you think about it, it's a totally unnatural substance to a bird, they're not mammals.

I also like rice milk. Soy milk is richer, but has estrogen mimics in it. I use it in moderation though.

All of the above "milks" seem to be good in coffee though, except for rice milk because it's watery.

I keep meaning to try making cashew milk. Cashews are good for making pies and soups creamy and dairy-like (I even made some realistic "cheez" with them recently), so I be it'd be yummy.

friedsoup · Jun 5, 2012

Have you tried the fruit cheerios Bogart loves them and likes my almond milk

AFP520 · Jun 12, 2012

Are there any cereals I should stay away from? I like them personally, and I gave my gold cap 1 piece of fruit loop and 1 piece of rice krispies. I think she's in heaven, but I don't want to overload her on sugar. I'd really like to save these for treats if possible.

Karigan · Jun 12, 2012

I'd say anything saturated in sugar and artificial colours.

KatherineI · Jun 12, 2012

I'd stay away from anything with artificial anything in it; colors, additives, and especially sugar. I also keep this as the rule for my human child as well.

Loki looooves cheese. It's his thing. Not quite his "crack", but he will do just about whatever he can for a piece of cheese! I'm wishing dairy wasn't so bad for them because that could be handy for trick training. Oh well.

Lokums · Jun 18, 2012

Cow Milk is the ONLY way to go IMO. Almond, Rice, Soy... that is just white colored water flavored with ick. Birds have a minor lactose intolerance, but its not going to hurt them. Worse it will do is give them gas or indigestion. Then maybe he will stop going after your cheerios.

Mare Miller · Jun 19, 2012

Our Sassy girl, loves morning cereal. We use almond milk, I don't buy cow's milk anymore, haven't in years. I'll spoon a bit out for her own special bowl. She LOVES it!!

Grenage · Jun 19, 2012

I don't use milk, but I use soy on my muesli/cluster cereals. While I have yet to let my GCC taste the stuff, is it ok for them? I recall reading something about soya not being great for parrots.

Oedipussrex · Jun 19, 2012

haha pickle likes the cheerios too... and almonds are his treats. if this almond milk thing is a good idea he might just think it is the best invention ever! XD

Got milk?

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