Trying to get Mickey to try new foods...

[MickeysMom]

I have been trying, with mixed results, to introduce new foods to Mickey. He is obsessed with sunflower seed, and would eat them exclusively if allowed.....

When we adopted him 3ish weeks ago, he came with a partial bag of some sort of seed/dried fruit mix. I went out and got a seed/dried fruit, pellet (Zupreem) that I mixed....hoping I could get him to at least try the pellet portion. No go...he picks the sunflower seeds out and most of the rest is discarded on the floor.

Fresh fruits and veggies are hit and miss also.... he is given a mix of fruit/veggies once in the morning and once closer to evening, sometimes he eats it, sometimes he throws it.....lol

He is not losing weight, and seems in good health, however I would really like to get him on a much better diet, any tips/tricks to offer?

Oh....he LOVES cheese! However I know that it should be limited, so he only gets a small piece every couple of days.....

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

 

[roxynoodle]

My vet says sunflower seeds have something in them that is addictive. So birds that love them get addicted to them like drugs. My Blue Crown conure would have been happy to also eat nothing but sunflower seeds and peanuts. My amazon was that way as well.

I had a very hard time getting the BC to try a pellet. In her case, it was the Zupreem Fruitblend I finally got her to try. Once she did, I moved pretty rapidly with reducing seed and adding more pellets each day until she was entirely on pellets. With the amazon it was the Harrison's I got him to try, and then did the same with reducing seed and adding pellets. I am also giving him a couple of healthier nuts each day like almonds or walnuts instead of peanuts.

As for other foods, you often just have to keep giving them everyday and eventually they will usually at least try them. They do have some likes and dislikes though. My conure loves lima beans but hates green beans. I don't think my amazon had any idea what veggies were, and now he dives into his bowl when I give them to him. We are still working on broccoli, but it took him a long time to eat a carrot, so he probably will eventually eat the broccoli.

You may also discover a bird has an aversion to certain colored foods. My BC would not eat anything orange, ever, including the orange pellets. Supposedly my amazon won't eat anything red, but he is eating anything with tomato sauce, so we will see. I haven't given him a red berry or red pepper yet.

Really really try to get him on pellets and off the sunflower seeds though. In the long run he will be much healthier.

 

[MickeysMom]

Thank you so much for the suggestions! I will go at lunch and pick up some of the fruit blend.

He will try things....but the ones he likes are.....

Rice, cheese, oranges, apples (sometimes), peppers, hamburger (home cooked not fast food, and in a small amount)

We have tried blueberries, walnuts, almonds, broccoli, grapes, oatmeal, chicken, eggs, green beans, peas....... the list goes on.

I agree, I want to get him transitioned over to pellets as soon as I can, but he is being very stubborn!

I think in his last home he spent all his time in the back room, with no sunlight and very very little interaction, eating the seed blend, I'm guessing no fruit or human food beyond chicken nuggets (yes they told me that was his favorite food!)....so maybe once he gets more used to being in front of the window, in the sunshine, seeing everything going on (he loves it by the way!), maybe he will start trying more things......little birdie steps I guess

On a related note, can they have gravys and sauces (on things or mixed in, not by themselves)? I've been keeping things somewhat bland, could that be part of the issue? He seems interested in our food, but I give him only the parts without the sauce/gravy.

 

[MikeyTN]

Out pf all my birds, Cockatoos are one of the harder one to transfer to pellets. It takes a long time! Take baby steps! Take away the seed dish and feed fruits & veggies in the morning. Get him on a schedule. Then you can work on getting switched over. I still give Java seeds cause he's pretty skinny. He's been to the vet prior to me picking him up, got a good bill of health except they say he's a bit on the thin side. So I give him what he wants for now to fatten him up a bit then I will start changing his food gradually. It took me many months to switch Dixie over to pellets and getting her to eat fruits & veggies. She does great now but she didn't used to be this way.

 

[BillsBirds]

Try cutting the veggies into tiny pieces. Often birds will not recognize them as food. Also, you could add a bit of cranberry juice, or other juice, to the pellets to make them more tasty. I also gring them up, and sprinkle on fresh food. Another thing to do is to make believe that you are eating the same food, and make a fuss about how good it is. Say, "Mmmm", and things like that. Try veggies different ways, like cooked or raw, warm or cold. They like them different ways. Don't give up. What they don't want today, they may want tomorrow.

 

[MickeysMom]

All great suggestions....some I have tried....some new, but all great!

I will just continue to work on it......I'm worried that he won't get good nutrition, however he has made it this far on seed, so I guess he will be ok for however long it takes to transition.

Thank you all again!

 

[jabbgard]

We are doing the same thing with our Mickey at the moment Hes doing pretty good about the fruits but the veggies on the other hand is a whole different story....And your right about the color thing....he refuses to eat the purple pellets....he eats green in the am and red in the pm....weirdo and he puts it in his water to make it soggy lol.....Last night I cooked speghetti and I was sitting on the couch eating and he was pitching the biggest fit cause he wanted some lol.....so I made him a little bowl and cut it up...OMG hilarious! He made the biggest mess but LOVED every second of it Good luck!

 

[MickeysMom]

Thanks jabbgard, seems we are experiencing much the same things with the new "Mickeys".

I'm actually going try some spaghetti with veggies mixed in tonight, and see how that goes!

I'm wondering if I should get the whole grain/wheat pasta? It certainly couldn't hurt hubby and I to eat better either....lol

 

[roxynoodle]

Some birds really like spicy food, but you want to be careful with salt, sugar and dairy products as far as gravies and sauces go. All of mine love spaghetti though. I can't even say that word in front of my conure without her going nuts!

I would not feed any hamburger though. No matter how well it's cooked it still contains trace amounts of E. Coli, and our birds are not large enough to deal with it. Even a large macaw only weighs about 3lbs. Your 'Too probably only weighs about 1lb. Even newborn human babies are considerably heavier. I have heard of birds getting ill and even dying from eating hamburger.

I can't imagine someone giving their bird chicken nuggets!

Have you gotten a full spectrum light bulb for Mickey? He would really benefit from having one. I buy mine from Feather Brite, but mysafebirdstore sells the Feather Brite bulbs as well in case you wanted to put in an order there for other things, too. She has a very nice selection of birds toys, and parts to make them, and all kinds of other nice things for birds. I attach them to my cages using clip lights. The clip lights are inexpensive and have long cords so I can get the lights up to the tops of the cages.

As for trying new foods including pellets, you can try eating the foods in front of the birds. That has always worked well for my Nanday conure. If I eat it, she wants it. So to get her on pellets, all I had to do was put them on a plate and start eating them myself. Then she wanted them, too. That didn't work well for my other conure. I think I was even at the point where I was begging her and telling her if she didn't eat them, she would die. Ok, I'm not sure if she understood me, but she did eat one, and then I got her on them.

 

[MickeysMom]

Some birds really like spicy food, but you want to be careful with salt, sugar and dairy products as far as gravies and sauces go. All of mine love spaghetti though. I can't even say that word in front of my conure without her going nuts!

I would not feed any hamburger though. No matter how well it's cooked it still contains trace amounts of E. Coli, and our birds are not large enough to deal with it. Even a large macaw only weighs about 3lbs. Your 'Too probably only weighs about 1lb. Even newborn human babies are considerably heavier. I have heard of birds getting ill and even dying from eating hamburger.

I can't imagine someone giving their bird chicken nuggets!

Have you gotten a full spectrum light bulb for Mickey? He would really benefit from having one. I buy mine from Feather Brite, but mysafebirdstore sells the Feather Brite bulbs as well in case you wanted to put in an order there for other things, too. She has a very nice selection of birds toys, and parts to make them, and all kinds of other nice things for birds. I attach them to my cages using clip lights. The clip lights are inexpensive and have long cords so I can get the lights up to the tops of the cages.

As for trying new foods including pellets, you can try eating the foods in front of the birds. That has always worked well for my Nanday conure. If I eat it, she wants it. So to get her on pellets, all I had to do was put them on a plate and start eating them myself. Then she wanted them, too. That didn't work well for my other conure. I think I was even at the point where I was begging her and telling her if she didn't eat them, she would die. Ok, I'm not sure if she understood me, but she did eat one, and then I got her on them.

Good, I'm not the only on who thinks my animals understand what I'm saying!

I did not even think of that with the hamburger!!!! I feel so bad now! He will never get it again.

I will check the site out. Question though.....he is in front of french doors, with the curtains open throughout the day...does he still need the light? The curtains on one side are partially drawn so that he has a darker area to go to if he doesn't want to be directly in the sun at any point.

 

[roxynoodle]

How old is the window? Windows made during the last 20 years or so that are of good quality actually block about 90% of the UV rays they need. I thought my conures were ok in front of windows as well, but they weren't. So on the advise of my vet I bought the full spectrum bulbs and have used them ever since. I put them on for at least a few hours everyday. One of my birds got sick from not having the UV rays and not processing her calcium. My vet was right that that was the problem. Right away she knew that bulb was going to help her and she would sit under it with her wings spread out like she was taking a sun bath. She started doing better pretty quickly and within a couple of months was back to full health. I have one for each bird.

 

[MickeysMom]

Probably about 16 year old doors.....I will get the bulb, I already have the fixtures I use one over the sump in my reef tank. I know for a fact he had no light other than overhead florescent for the 3 months he was with the last guy....so it definately can't hurt!

 

[roxynoodle]

I bought the clip lights from Walmart, actually, lol! They have good strong clips though and stay put. The over the cage lights companies sell and the floor lamps are all quite pricey. And the reviews of the Zoo Med floor lamps were all quite bad. It sounded like almost everyone's fell apart pretty quickly. I said, I'm not paying $80 for a crappy plastic floor lamp that will fall apart in 2 months anyway! I've been using the cheap clip lights for years now.

 

[KellyH]

I know it seems like such a waste, but don't give up on trying new foods or pellets. Sometimes it can take months for a bird to try something and decide that they like it. They also seem to like to have a choice in their bowl. I know my Amazon will pick out carrots and apple slices one day and the next day they sit in his bowl but he eats the snap peas and red peppers. Just don't ever quit trying to offer fresh, healthy foods. It also seems like they have to see something over an over again to realize that it's not going to bite them. Just like a new toy sometimes has to be introduced slowly and moved closer to the cage little by little with some birds before they will be brave enough to touch it or play with it.

 

[MickeysMom]

I bought the clip lights from Walmart, actually, lol! They have good strong clips though and stay put. The over the cage lights companies sell and the floor lamps are all quite pricey. And the reviews of the Zoo Med floor lamps were all quite bad. It sounded like almost everyone's fell apart pretty quickly. I said, I'm not paying $80 for a crappy plastic floor lamp that will fall apart in 2 months anyway! I've been using the cheap clip lights for years now.

Sounds like me! I have a reef tank, and have improvised quite a few things with food grade household items instead of paying top dollar for the branded fish stuff!

And conveniently I happen to have a hook already in the ceiling that I had a plant hanging from that I can clip the light to.... (also up where it won't be so easy for curious beaks)

 

[MickeysMom]

I know it seems like such a waste, but don't give up on trying new foods or pellets. Sometimes it can take months for a bird to try something and decide that they like it. They also seem to like to have a choice in their bowl. I know my Amazon will pick out carrots and apple slices one day and the next day they sit in his bowl but he eats the snap peas and red peppers. Just don't ever quit trying to offer fresh, healthy foods. It also seems like they have to see something over an over again to realize that it's not going to bite them. Just like a new toy sometimes has to be introduced slowly and moved closer to the cage little by little with some birds before they will be brave enough to touch it or play with it.

Good points.... I have been trying different mixed with the same, and cut to different sizes... so hopefully soon he will decide they're good!

 

[KellyH]

I know it's hard if you work, but I've also noticed that FeeBee, my amazon, likes to have fresh veggies in the morning on most days. But some days when he doesn't touch his bowl for 2 hrs. I'll trade it with his pellet bowl and he'll dive in like he's starving and I never fed him for days. Then the next day he wants his fresh veggies in the morning again.

One thing I found out right away is that he absolutely hates mixing wet and dry foods together. I have to offer either one or the other. Which is probably smart because we really shouldn't leave fresh fruit or veggies in the cage for more than 3-4 hrs. max. due to bacteria starting to grow.

 

[roxynoodle]

Yes, I use a separate bowl for the wet foods so I can take it out and wash it after a couple of hours.

None of my birds have ever tried to play with the clips for the lights or chew on them. But, yes, I could see some birds doing that. Rowdy's is actually clipped to a large copper wash kettle that is next to her cage. The other 2 birds have theirs clipped to the sides of the cages though near the top. They can't reach the cords.

 

[MickeysMom]

Mickey actually has 3 bowls in his cage....so he always has fresh seed/pellet available and fresh water.... then I add the bowl of fruit/veggies in the morning, and then again in the early evening....I leave them for about 1/2 hour in the morning, longer in the evening.

Should I take the seed/pellet out when giving him the fresh? He does go from bowl to bowl to eat/throw food

 

[Nakiska]

I don't know about the larger pellets, but when I started feeding our conure and tiels Zupreem fruit blend pellets, I soaked them for....I dunno...10 min's or so...they puffed up to twice their dry size and since all my birds like "warm" treat foods...they were very curious to try this "new dish"

They aren't crazy about the pellets but they will eat some of them soaked.

Interestingly...if left uneaten after soaking, the water will evaporate out of them and they shrink down to their original size and harden back up!

So...just keep offering variety and maybe try soaking a teaspoon of pellet in warm water and see...you never know...

Toni