Senegal Parrot Diet?

[mtdoramike]

I recently received Tiki my Senegal Parrot 5 days ago. The previous owner who had feed him and owned him for 11 months feed him which looked like a mostly seed diet. When she dropped off the bird and cage, she handed me the pictured container and said this is what I've been feeding him and he really likes it. Plus she added in fruits & vegitables.

My question is, shouldn't Tiki be on more of a pellet diet than seeds? I have found that Tiki doesn't care for quite a few vegitables or fruit and seems to love the seeds though. He will eat corn and loves it.

 

[Spiritbird]

Yes we keep fighting these people that have no bird knowledge and feed the birds seeds. Then when we get them it is very difficult to make the switch but not impossible. You need lots and lots of patience. I am doing that now with a Quaker I have had for 7 days now. I have wasted so much food because he has never seen fruit or vegies or even nuts before. You have to keep in mind that you are starting all over again in the diet area. Now I am feeding 50% pellets (Harrisons High Potency fine) and 50% Volkmans sunflower seed free seed neither of which you can find in a pet store. I offer all the other fruits, vegies, mashes, nuts and sprouts in small amts. I had a little bit of action today in that he put his beak in the dish. It is best to keep the seeds for a treat after the conversion. You should be getting the birds wt. also to make sure he does not lose to much. A good scale can be found at birdscales.com

 

[suebee]

my sene wont eat her pellets, if left to her own devices, also harrison super fine, but i normally cut a grape an put it wet side down for her an she will eat them as she eats the grape, (i take any seeds out just incase, as i read apple seeds were bad for birds etc)

also she will eat the pellets when she is in her cage an i am sat eating next to her cage, as long as there is no other foods, so i keep a dish of fruit an veg an a separate dish of the pellets, (and remove the fruit and veg bowl) but i always offer her a tit-bit of my plate that is healthy for her, when i am finished

she will eat cooked soft carrots, but throw raw carrots out of dish, no matter how fine the dice etc, she wont entertain an banana! i do not think my brother (was his parrot) offered her veg, so its all new to her, so i am going to try red bell peppers for her today and see what happens, infact i offered her some of my spicey chilli butternut squash soup an she loved it, though i've only let her have a few licks as a treat lol

she will also try something if she see's me eating it

 

[mtdoramike]

my sene wont eat her pellets, if left to her own devices, also harrison super fine, but i normally cut a grape an put it wet side down for her an she will eat them as she eats the grape, (i take any seeds out just incase, as i read apple seeds were bad for birds etc)

also she will eat the pellets when she is in her cage an i am sat eating next to her cage, as long as there is no other foods, so i keep a dish of fruit an veg an a separate dish of the pellets, (and remove the fruit and veg bowl) but i always offer her a tit-bit of my plate that is healthy for her, when i am finished

she will eat cooked soft carrots, but throw raw carrots out of dish, no matter how fine the dice etc, she wont entertain an banana! i do not think my brother (was his parrot) offered her veg, so its all new to her, so i am going to try red bell peppers for her today and see what happens, infact i offered her some of my spicey chilli butternut squash soup an she loved it, though i've only let her have a few licks as a treat lol

she will also try something if she see's me eating it

Tiki HATES, HATES, bananas. He will sling them away and wipe his bill on the perch then goes to get some watter to get the taste out of his mouth. But he LOVES grapes. I put grapes in a foraging toy and he will play with that thing for hours until he gets every last grape out of it. I also use a smaller foraging toy for his millet spray that I put in it. Tiki also loves the sweet peas & corn nibblets (the frozen kind that I thaw out for him. He will eat carrots IF THEY ARE COOKED, but raw one, out of the dish they go.

I'll be making a trip to Pet Supermarket (only pet supply in the area) for pellets for him as well as another cuttle bone and some snad paper perch covers. Walmart had hardly anything. The perch covers were to small.
He seems to be adjusting to me nicely. I can pick him with and he likes to get on top of my head and pick at my hair, what little there is of it.

He still will not let me pet his back or the back of his neck like his previous owner could do. But it's only bee a week since he has known me. But he's getting spoiled rotten.

 

[suebee]

awww sounds great i also found out today, red peppers, didn't like but them fresh beans, dwarf beans in a pod, nut really enjoyied and as for banana, as i was eating one, she took a crafty nip at, an now will eat it, but this was a rather ripe one

as for petting her some days she will let me and others not a chance, so i let her give me the que's, she will still bite me, though not hard now, she will step up onto my hand, but if she feels unhappy about it, thats when she nips, if she nips too hard i turn my back on her an she will fly strait onto my shoulder, then back to top of her cage etc but she's happy enough to come to me when she wants.

she hasn't touched her cuttle fish, but loves her kabob chew toy and anything i use to hold my hair back with, anything shiney/red

she is a charactor and a hand full at times, but we all love her even though we canbe wary of that beak of hers, she is willfull, will attempt to take food off my son, so i have banned him from eating chocolate when she is out.

 

[Chris Winkler]

That seed is the cheep seed sold @ walmart. I would at least give a better seed mix found at a pet store while you work on the diet switch..

 

[mtdoramike]

That seed is the cheep seed sold @ walmart. I would at least give a better seed mix found at a pet store while you work on the diet switch..

Thanks Chris, on the top of the container, it says that it came from Pet Supermarket. But I have seen what seems like the same or similar food container at Wal-Mart yesterday when I was there looking for sanded perch covers.

But yes, I will check out my local pet shop for a bird seed mixture as well as the pellet mix as well.

Here's a few pics of my little Tiki.