I tricked Boozie

[Boozieshome]

Boozie will not eat vegetables. Will barely touch fruit. She ignores greens. She throws bananas at me. She wings cranberries over her head with pinpoint accuracy. She is stubborn. She is an amazon.

She came here a couple of months ago with stress feathers the vet thought were due to malnutrition, so I have made it my goal to improve her diet. It has been a losing battle.

Until I took her outside and she was on the top of a porch swing and enthusiastically tore a leaf off of a bush and started munching. First, crap! I don't know if that plant is toxic to parrots! Fight ensues as I try to take it away from her. Then, eureka! She needs to forage for her greens.

So I bought several basil plants, parsley plants, and rosemary plants, in pots. I rotate them across her play top. She grazes over them and has learned to love extremely fresh greens. I oven fried (in olive oil and spices) sweet potato fries and she munches away on them with gusto. And I found that my son in law's fig tree produces fruit that she doesn't immediately throw at me.

Progress. She has also learned to love one of my dogs.

 

[SailBoat]

So, she is eating greens and also dog! Well that sort of completes a diet!

 

[LordTriggs]

throwing food? Arguing? Stubborn?

My diagnosis is "Amazon"

I'm sure with time and patience she'll learn she's going to eat the good food and enjoy everyone there. She happen to hail from Asia? she has the same taste for dog as some countries out that way do!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Have you tried one of these to thread different foods onto? (Please take extra care with your dog as mishaps do happen, hate it to happen to you).

 

[PL84]

That is how i got my CAG and Mealy to eat their greens... No way they are going to eat anything "normal", they just throw them around (it's nice when they stick to the walls) but when they can forage the greens by themselves, then the s*tty food becames the best food

I haven't added my dogs to their diet yet but i think i need to do it after reading this thread.

He knows i'm filming him, i swear he eats those (not just throws around) without camera
[ame="https://youtu.be/2XFMOb5t9A4"]Parsley + Mealy - YouTube[/ame]

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

That's pretty neat indeed! I remember when Wally the budgie was around (47 years ago ) I could buy these plastic sprout growing thingies...clip it to his house window,add water,and in a few days "sprouted grass" would grow..and he loved munching on it,then sitting IN it..
I wonder if they're still around? Might be a way to get The Beebs to eat his greens.




Jim

 

[Boozieshome]

Have you tried one of these to thread different foods onto? (Please take extra care with your dog as mishaps do happen, hate it to happen to you).

I always have a hand on the dog when Boozie is investigating. I love the dog, and I know he is a gentle boy, but my trust doesn't go that far. When I first got Boozie she tried to fly but she came with butchered wings and fell like a rock when I left the room. I heard her and came running and Rufus was standing guard over her while she tried to right herself.

Will try the food threader. I try everything.

 

[plumsmum2005]

That's pretty neat indeed! I remember when Wally the budgie was around (47 years ago ) I could buy these plastic sprout growing thingies...clip it to his house window,add water,and in a few days "sprouted grass" would grow..and he loved munching on it,then sitting IN it..
I wonder if they're still around? Might be a way to get The Beebs to eat his greens.
Jim

Here you go Jim, not as I remember them but might do?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/1526136281...=1006800&device=c&campaignid=857251617&crdt=0

 

[LordTriggs]

throw a couple seeds in among that grass I bet they could have a whale of a time

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

That's pretty neat indeed! I remember when Wally the budgie was around (47 years ago ) I could buy these plastic sprout growing thingies...clip it to his house window,add water,and in a few days "sprouted grass" would grow..and he loved munching on it,then sitting IN it..
I wonder if they're still around? Might be a way to get The Beebs to eat his greens.
Jim

Here you go Jim, not as I remember them but might do?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/1526136281...=1006800&device=c&campaignid=857251617&crdt=0

Not as I remember either Plum..what I recall was a "cup" about 7 or 8 inches high,with a "grate" on top,where the grass would grow from under,and it had a little attached plastic perch for Wally to stand on...but what you sent a long just might do! Think I'll get one for the little guy..will have to look at Dr Fosters or Windy City Parrots ( some place "local" lol)

Thanks for sharing



Jim

 

[Kiwibird]

Great idea! I have a bunch of collard greens I'll be cooking up for dinner tonight actually. I'll be sure to cut off a big piece and clip it in Kiwi's cage with some cilantro that needs to be used up and see what he thinks of his greens being presented in a "bouquet" format

 

[Ladyhawk]

That is how i got my CAG and Mealy to eat their greens... No way they are going to eat anything "normal", they just throw them around (it's nice when they stick to the walls) but when they can forage the greens by themselves, then the s*tty food becames the best food

I haven't added my dogs to their diet yet but i think i need to do it after reading this thread.

He knows i'm filming him, i swear he eats those (not just throws around) without camera
Parsley + Mealy - YouTube

Great idea! I always had to eat some first to get Gabby to eat his veggies. I did that with Kizzy today and she was emphatic that she wasn't going to try the carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. I ate a bunch of it in front of her, then left three very small pieces in her dish. I've learned that big stuff overwhelms her, at least for now. When she's older, I'll try the bouquet.

BTW, I'm amazed at what you've done with that gigantic mealy.

 

[PL84]

Got the proof this time =)... He didn't notice/care i was filming and didn't start to throw the greens. This is the only way i can get my parrots (Mealy + CAG) to eat their greens but i dont complain, it's really easy way to do it and they're happy to eat and play with the "green pots"

He's eating Wheatgrass, it's pretty good atleast for humans and i didn't find anything wrong with it for parrots either

"Wheatgrass is a source of potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E (alpha tocopherol), vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, iron, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. Wheatgrass is also a source of protein (less than one gram per 28 grams)."

[ame="https://youtu.be/6--EcFdWyGE"]AÌŠke and greens - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Boozieshome]

Here is boozy with her basil. I have the parsley and rosemary rotated off to regrow. Another basil has been grazed to near nothing so I put it in the sun to rejuvenate. This one was much more full a couple of days ago.

I also learned she loves cherries. I tried coconut and she balked until I ate it first.

Notice the stress feathers.

I am really going to need to learn to rotate these photos.

 

[adz1984]

awesome idea's..
I'm going to do the grass thing for sure..do they need to be washed or just watered? also what greens are safe to eat daily and quickly grow?

 

[PL84]

awesome idea's..
I'm going to do the grass thing for sure..do they need to be washed or just watered? also what greens are safe to eat daily and quickly grow?

You mean you're going to grow the greens by yourself? Then you dont need to wash them

We've been eating these without problems:

Watercress:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watercress

Wheatgrass:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatgrass

Parsley:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsley

sugar/snow/snap pea greens:
https://www.jarvikyla.fi/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Jarvikyla_herneenverso-146-475x545.jpg

Rucola/Arugula:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruca_sativa


I can get those all of those in small pots here in Finland, they are around 1eur/1usd per pot and it's 1 pot / day (enough for 2 birds) so it's not expensive ... I dont know are those available "planted" in your country and if you buy them like that then you need to wash them.


There is A LOT of other safe and good plants, those are just the ones i use. Those are all really fast to grow too, specially "pea greens" and wheatgrass.