Update (Jerry & Arya)

Hey,

Just wanted to pop some updates on Jerry and Arya an maybe ask some quick questions to pick peoples brains.

Jerry and Arya now both step up out of their cages really well, they now come from where ever they were in the cage right to the front so I can take them out for some play time and living room perch time. They generally stay out from about 12 midday to around 8 at night playing and perched quite happily.

Jerry has learned step up, target and recently "gentle" where I can just gently touch his head and body for some strokes and cuddles. I'm hoping this will help with handling him and vet visits etc, even if he doesnt grow to like scratches it will at least help him be handled when necessary.

Arya isnt quite enjoying training as much, she likes target and step up a little but we are still working on those before any touching. More trust building first.

One question I have is on how to wean them onto pellets. Both love the veggies they get on a evening, we steam or boil them for a little and give them carrots, peas, beans and sweatcorn. This often goes down well.

However, when it comes to pellets I'm not having as much luck. I'm spending a lot on Harrisons pellets at the moment and its so awful to watch them go to waste on the perch floors. At the moment, I put an equal amount of pre shelled seed and pellet into a bowl, soak them in hot water and pat them into a cake into their bowls. I knew they would take time but I've been doing it for a few weeks now and all they do is forage for the seeds still, mainly any black shelled sun flower seed they can see!

I use sunflowers as a training treat at the moment but I'm worried they are slightly addicted to just eating those and now will just ignore the pellet. Any help would be really appreciated.

I'm sorry for the essay.

Thanks

Hi Joshuaaa!
I was wondering if you have tried to make a birdie bread incorporating the pellets? My guys will eat anything as long as I put it in birdie bread so I always add pellets to it

Both my birds love Volkmann Feathrglow 15 min soak and serve. So what I do is prepare 3 teaspoons of it, then after it's dished out I add to it some Harrison hp fine pellets and chia seeds and mix well. I do this twice a day, morning and evening. Leftovers, if there are any get discarded. In another dish I will chop up some fruits and veggies for the day. Each bird also gets 1 Nutriberry and or a little bit of seed that I alternate with, it goes in their hanging coconut. Each person had their way. Harrison's is expensive, they waste so much of it if I just feed it separated in another dish. So I do it this was, less waste for me.

I second what Terry said. My zon has, despite eating at least 'some' pellets in the past, now decided that it is poison and should be avoided at all cost. He won't even go near it to toss it from the bowl! But - stick it in birdie bread and he gobbles up every morsel

I actually tried to switch my conure to Harrison's, and to be honest she doesn't like them at all. Unfortunate for me, but it's alright because she does like Roudybush. I always give her a combination of the two (less Harrison's), and she always leaves the Harrison's behind. I think it's just a taste preference. While it is expensive to "experiment" with different pellets, I think it might help a little to maybe see if you can get a sample and see how they react to a different but still highly nutritious pellet.

That, or you may just have a prince and princess on your hands who need copious amounts of pampering just to get them to eat healthy

Oo I think I best experiment then! Il take a look at some different pellets if the remainder of these go eaten and il also look into birdie bread?!
I really want to reduce the seed intake, I'm just thankful they eat veggies at least!

I have just read a few bits on the internet about weaning onto pellets but wanted to run them by a few people on here before I try them out.

Someone has said put the pellet in a small peanut butter sandwich?
Or, put the pellet in some cheese?
Soak them in a juice?
Or put them into a bread?

Can parrots eat cheese and normal bread? For some reason I'm thinking I've been warned off them but can't remember why?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

I sometimes wonder if parrots don't like the texture/shape of certain pellets. I've had several birds who learned to 'soak' their pellets in the water bowl before eating it. Barney is a dunker and spends a few minutes soaking her treat. She'll roll it around in the water with her beak, prop the soft goo on the top of her raised foot, and take dainty bites with eyes half closed as if she's enjoying her afternoon tea.

Softening the texture during cooking might be the reason why birds like pellets in their bread.

We'll have to start sharing pellet-bread recipes!

ooo okay i love that idea, Ive just tried soaking in fruit juice so il let you know how i get on!

on another note, i just walked in to my newly made playgym and found jerry swinging off the preening toy!!! couldnt believe it!! so he does play! just when im not around obviously!! hahaha was hilarious!

I have been trying to get my quaker to eat harrison's pellets for awhile now. It definitely took a few weeks of some fresh pellets sitting untouched in his bowl before he finally caved and tried them out. I think now he is regularly eating at least some of them. Oscar really prefers his nutriberries, though. He often eats the red yellow and green pellets that my budgie leaves behind so I thought he would for sure go for Harrisons pellets. Usually he will if they are the only thing left in the bowl, or if it is the only thing I feed him later in the day. When I see him eating the pellets, I reward him with a few nutriberries. With the pellets, he will often take one in his mouth then scoot over to his water bottle and take a sip. He does this with anything dry. I think maybe If I moved his water bottle closer to his food dish he might like to eat more pellets. Perhaps sometimes he is just too lazy to walk over to the water bottle, lol, but it sure is fun to watch.

I recently got the Harrisons power treats as well, which are basically bigger square peanutty pellets. I give him a few of those in a little dish with a bit of water every few days. Oscar usually rolls them around and waits for them to get a little soggy before he chows down. Perhaps this will liken his tastes to the regular pellets as well.

Good luck!