Please help!

[tlizzle]

Hi, this might not be a real big problem like the title may seem. But I think my GCC is growing a quite obnoxious habit and I cant seem to figure out where it came from or how to stop it. Just a little back story: I got my first conure on October 16th, 2016 from my parents as a therapy kind of pet for going through cancer. Me and the bird seemed to have bonded as she's more comfortable with me rather than anyone else in the house. Then recently she's been acting more childish than she usually does. I had ran out of food for her so I ran to a pet store where I usually get it, they didn't have the specific food she has so I got something I figured she would like and the colorful looking food might entice her. But I don't think she enjoyed it all since she spent her time either looking at it, testing it, or knocking the the bowl off the cage(I have one of those bowls that hang on the cage rather than lock on the bar). She had never done that before. But I left her for a few days with the food to see if she'll get used to it and maybe begin to like it. But she still didn't seem to enjoy it that much as she didn't eat it frequently like she did in the beginning. So I went back to return the food and hopefully get her the one that she liked. With my great luck, the store convinently didn't have it so I got a bag of food that looked a lot like hers and the clerk said that it would be a lot better for her. So I changed out her food and water, and waited to see what would happen.

Just before I was going to bed and came into the room to start getting ready for sleep, she began to try and flip the bowl off for the hundredth time. I tried to ignore her as I didn't want her to get the idea that it could be a way of seeking attention. But after a bit of hearing a very annoying noise of the bowl clanging around. I moved the bowl to the other side of the cage and she didn't seem to try and flip it over. She hasn't eaten much of the new food either I don't think since I just got it today and put it in just a few hours ago. So I'm not too sure if she doesn't like the food or she just wanted a new change of what her cage looks like. Any ideas?

Sorry this is super long and probably very poorly detailed, bad tendency to ramble when frustrated. Oh by the way she has tons of toys in her cage(just wanted to put that out there because the picture only looks like she has one.

 

[SilverSage]

1) I order my food on Amazon. Super easy, and you don't have to worry about what your store does or does carry.

2) dish flipping may have nothing to do with liking the food. Every bird I have ever had (my flock is over 30 not counting fosters, boarders, etc) has LOVED flipping their dishes. The answer is to use dishes that cannot be flipped such as those which lock into place or are too heavy for her to move.


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[plumsmum2005]

Am enclosing a link FYI http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

Is that correct that you only feed dry food? If you care to share where in the world you are I am sure you will receive some more good suggestions of suppliers. It may be she doesnt care for the food or it may be a good game chucking the food pot? Do please have a look at the link. It is important that she eats regularly, so keep an eye on that please? Does she appear well otherwise and there are no red flags?

 

[JBassset]

Don't be afraid to try different foods. My conure eats anything I give him but the mac is very picky. Dish flipping... I wish. I get dish throwing.

Also, look at that link plum posted. Pellets are only about half of my birds diets. The rest is a variety of fruits and veggies. Usually when those are gone is when the dish flies.

 

[Anansi]

...Dish flipping... I wish. I get dish throwing...

Hahahahaha! My first laugh of the morning!

Solid advice in the above posts. Many birds take some time getting used to new foods, which is why a "cold turkey" transition can be difficult. Try to track down her accustomed food if at all possible. Ordering through Amazon, as Dani suggested, might be your best bet. Then, armed with food you know that she likes, you can work on broadening the variety of her diet. Fresh veggies and fruit will be a good place to start.

As for the bowl flipping, it could be an expression of her dislike for her food. But I think it more likely that it has become a way to entertain herself. You really just want to invest in bowls that can't be flipped. Once a bird discovers the joyous clang of a bowl hitting the floor, there's no going back. Good luck trying to put that particular genie back in the bottle! Hahaha! So just remove her ability to flip it all together.

 

[plumsmum2005]

...Dish flipping... I wish. I get dish throwing...

Hahahahaha! My first laugh of the morning!

Solid advice in the above posts. Many birds take some time getting used to new foods, which is why a "cold turkey" transition can be difficult. Try to track down her accustomed food if at all possible. Ordering through Amazon, as Dani suggested, might be your best bet. Then, armed with food you know that she likes, you can work on broadening the variety of her diet. Fresh veggies and fruit will be a good place to start.

As for the bowl flipping, it could be an expression of her dislike for her food. But I think it more likely that it has become a way to entertain herself. You really just want to invest in bowls that can't be flipped. Once a bird discovers the joyous clang of a bowl hitting the floor, there's no going back. Good luck trying to put that particular genie back in the bottle! Hahaha! So just remove her ability to flip it all together.

Yes so true, give Plum a metal bowl especially a shiny one and he is a bird possessed . On the ones where it is difficult to change ie his playstand have had to use heavy anchors in the bowl to ensure it stays put.

 

[ParrotLover2001]

Dish flipping, maybe he's trying bottle flipping.

I don't think it's related to not liking the food, maybe he wants attention, he knows that that will get your attention.

Maybe if you think it's caused by him wanting a change in he cage, try rearranging the toys once in awhile. I rearrange both of my cages once a week, I switch out some toys and perches for some that weren't in the cage. My birds flip any dishes, it throw dishes. But they do kick out any seed if they want to, and I don't have covers on the dishes.


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[Flboy]

Yes, if it can be moved, he will flip it! Play, aggravated, attention seeking are all reasons! My JoJo takes his cat balls, climbs all the way to the top of his cage. He then drops it laughing and goes back down after it! Any counter snack bowl is heavy ceramic or it is tossed!
Sit your baby on the top of her cage, hand her a small cat ball and start playing catch!

 

[tlizzle]

Am enclosing a link FYI http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

Is that correct that you only feed dry food? If you care to share where in the world you are I am sure you will receive some more good suggestions of suppliers. It may be she doesnt care for the food or it may be a good game chucking the food pot? Do please have a look at the link. It is important that she eats regularly, so keep an eye on that please? Does she appear well otherwise and there are no red flags?

Yes I only give her dry food. I'm not used to the whole bird owner thing since I've never done it before. Oh and I live in Arizona.

 

[tlizzle]

Dish flipping, maybe he's trying bottle flipping.

I don't think it's related to not liking the food, maybe he wants attention, he knows that that will get your attention.

Maybe if you think it's caused by him wanting a change in he cage, try rearranging the toys once in awhile. I rearrange both of my cages once a week, I switch out some toys and perches for some that weren't in the cage. My birds flip any dishes, it throw dishes. But they do kick out any seed if they want to, and I don't have covers on the dishes.


Sent from my iPod touch

I think she is just wanting a change in the cage more like because ever since I moved the bowl to the other side, she hasn't flipped it off at all. So maybe I'll go out and get her some new toys and just switch her stuff around.

 

[tlizzle]

Okay so quick update: Azula is back at it again. She had been going good for the past few days with not flipping her bowl. But today she's done it twice and I don't think it's going to stop any time soon. So I'm going to go back to the store again and find a bowl that bolts on. But the only other problem is that I don't know if she's been eating or not

 

[Kentuckienne]

Yeah, once they learn to do that ... Gus has a bowl that snaps into a bolted on holder, and one day he made eye contact, laid the upper curve of his beak up against the inside of the bowl, then flipped his beak sideways to send every pellet to the floor. It was hard not to react. He did it one other time, but didn't get an entertaining response, so he quit. I think he learned that during a previous administration ...

 

[tlizzle]

Yeah I'm going to hope that getting a bowl that bolts will make her stop because it's not really all that nice to hear a bowl fall in the early morning

 

[Kentuckienne]

Parrots are very particular about what they eat. If you change the diet, they might no recognize the new stuff as food, and starve to death with a bowl full of food. Usually the food has to be changed gradually, new things introduced one thing at a time.

If you think she hasn't been eating, it's worth making some phone calls to find a place that has it in stock, and go get some right away! She may be hungry! Get a good supply to last a little while, and then maybe change slowly to a different food. Our parrot likes Harrison's and Zupreem Natural, so we're lucky he at least gets that nutrition, because he doesn't like vegetables at all. Only fruit.

He doesn't like any new food. When I give him something for the first time, I put some in his bowl and some on a saucer, and I stand next to his bowl and eat mine. I make lots of num num noises. He watches me, sidles over to the bowl, looks into it, looks back at me, looks back at the food, looks back at me, touches the food with his beak, looks back at me, picks up the food and drops in back in the bowl, looks back at me, then maybe takes a bite. Some things took several tries before he decided he liked them. Some things he still won't eat! But he won't eat anything unless he sees someone else eat it. I know what all the pellets taste like by now. Harrison's is boring, the colored Zupreem especially the green ones are sweet, Roudybush is very hard....if you don't like the flavor, the parrot won't like it either. Good luck with getting dinner to stay in the bowl!

 

[tlizzle]

It seems like Azula is getting used to it now. I've just refilled the bowl right now after she knocked it off an hour or so ago and right now she's eating it. I'm just trying to get her to not throw the bowl now. But I'm sure she's beginning to like the food so far. I wasn't able to get a lockable bowl today because right when I was at the checkout line to get it, my mom called to tell me that my brother had been in an accident so I wasn't able to get her a new bowl this time

 

[GaleriaGila]

Thanks for reaching out. I'm glad you found us.
The Rickeybird will throw food, flip any dish he gets near, bathe in any beverage he can get to, and generally create havoc out of any food/drink venue.