Paco's on a diet!

[pacoparrot]

So a few days ago I started cutting down on Paco's seed. He's addicted to the stuff and is looking a bit overweight. He always has pellets available but I switched the pellet bowls spot so it's where the seed used to be. I also increased his fresh foods. I gave him a tiny amount of seed for the first few days and when he ran out he had to eat whatever else was available. He's always been good with fresh foods. I suspected a Vitamin A deficiency so I've been giving him broccoli. He eats it happily. I also give him bell peppers but he ignores them. I am letting him choose from 3 pellets. Zupreem fruitblend, Zupreem nutblend, and an Organic pellet with really good ingredients I won at a bird fair. So far he's been going with the zupreem nutblend. Every once in a while I catch him selecting a piece and then he dunks it and eats it. If he would start eating pellets more regularly he would be a lot healthier. And then I can use the seeds as treats and he would have a little motivation! He's doing extremely well for a male dyh amazon in the spring. He hasn't drawn blood since like December. He is moody and grumpy but I'm not his favorite person, just his caretaker. He loves my mom and is much more tolerant of her. But she is always busy and never has time for poor Paco. Hopefully this will work and he will be eating healthier in the near future.

 

[sunnyvmx]

Here in Mexico we have fresh picked veggies and fruit in great supply and cheap. It's the mainstay of the mexican diet. I have a new Lilac Crowned Amazon and I've happily discovered that ChuChu loves the birdie mash I make for my cockatiels and serve each morning. His fruits I serve separately as the tiels are not fruit eaters. The mash is made in the food processor from granola, whole wheat bread, carrots, broccoli, chick peas, sprouts and whole canned corn. Nothing that makes it wet like bell pepper as they like it crumbly. Twice a week I scramble an egg and divide it between them. ChuChu also likes chicken and salmon. Nuts and sunflower seeds I feed by hand as treats. At 11 or 12 I switch out the birdie mash for pellets and seeds for the tiels, but ChuChu just gets his parrot pellets. I vacuum seal the mash in vacuum bowls which keeps it fresh for a week in the fridge. I found that freezing made it too wet for my birds. A friend met me in the market yesterday and I saw her looking in my basket. I said, "Would you believe every single thing in this basket is for the birds?" She replied, "Even the rotisserie chicken?" I answered, "Yes, that's ChuChu's and thankfully the birds share their food with me." Now she's sure I've lost my mind.

 

[ImmunoGoblin]

Maybe also try using food as toys? We often thread a skewer in Tater's cage with grape tomatoes, pepper and sweet potato chunks, pieces of broccoli, etc. Gives him something to work at during the day and keeps him eating vegetables. Figs and dates work well too! (although they're not vegetables)