Does your fid do this??

[ConureCrazy]

Warning: Long post!

Oliver, my senegal, has been acting strange with his food, lol. If he wants a treat, he screams for it. The treats I sometimes give him are these fruit bits I got from my local bird store. The lady that works there said only to give them to him a couple times a week, as they have some sugar in them and aren't the healthiest of treats, but Oliver grew up with these. His previous owner gave them to him and they're the only treats he really accepts. ANYWAYS, I rarely give them to him, but he's always wanting more. When he doesnt get what he wants, he looks through his food bowl for them. He throws food everywhere looking for his treat. When he doesn't find it, he bites the food bowl. The food bowls are plastic. (I know, not the best quality food bowls around, but he won't accept food in anything other than those food dishes... he's picky!) He's making these scratches all over the bowl and almost broke off a piece of it. Now it's a really bad habit and he's working away at it. I'm afraid that if it breaks, the sharp edges will hurt him somehow. He won't eat food in other dishes, I already tried. He just throws the food out until it's empty. I just think that he'll eat a piece of the plastic or something, or hurt himself if he breaks it and the edges where he broke it become sharp. Advice? Thanks. =)

 

[DebsFlock]

I'd try to convert him to stainless steel bowls. Maybe you could initially nest a stainless bowl inside the plastic or vice versa. Or look for sturdier plastic? Problem with plastic is twofold -- first he's wrecking it, and second, the surface scratches can encourage bacterial growth, so you'd have to disinfect it often. I expect he wouldn't eat the plastic and bird toys often have plastic parts, but it's not good if it's a kind of plastic that's apt to shatter. Plus you'll need to replace it often.

What about a foraging feeder?

 

[ConureCrazy]

Well, It's practitcally impossible for me to put the stainless steel bowls in his bowls that he has now. These are what he has:

So, the SS bowl doesn't fit. =/ I saw some really nice ones at my local bird store, but the thing to connect it is too big. I feel really dumb asking this, but what type of foraging feeder? Do you have a link? Thanks Deb

 

[DebsFlock]

Oh. Wow, I can't image that standing up to anything fiercer than a cockatiel. Our tiels cage came with those and I ditched them.

You might try the carboard foarging boxes that fit into an acrylic holder. It would mount on the side of the cage and have a similar "footprint". But I was thinking ANY foraging feeder in the sense that if he has to work to get it out, he may not dump it all on the floor....

Like these, but in the larger size for a Sennie:

 

[ConureCrazy]

Hm. I think my local bird store has some. I'll take a look. And I've tried so many different bowls, he only likes his tiny plastic one. :/ Argh... He either attempts to dump the pellets out, throw them all over, or not eat at all. I have to wash them very often (well the one with water) because I can feel the slimy dirtyness that settles at the bottom of the bowl. I'm not giving up, I'll keep trying. He's had these for over 2 years, I guess he's grown on them? It holds him up pretty well actually, the 2 1/2 months I've had him nothing has fallen. Gosh, Olly-Boy is pretty picky: Only tall men, only his white plastic dish, only his papaya fruit bits, and only newspaper. I love him anyways!

 

[DebsFlock]

Might be a case of whatever works..... it would never have occurred to me that they'd fixate on a particular feeding bowl! What happens if you put in an extra bowl of the new kind with his favorite treat and leave his regular food in the regular one? What does he do if you put the water in something different?

I fear even stainless steel will develop the slime and needs to be washed often, but it doesn't develop it quite as fast. Some people use a little apple cider vinegar to acidulate the water -- it's palatable and evidently even a small amount of it somewhat discourages bacteria. I tried it briefly and they drank it fine, but they tend to bath in the water. Conure salad is not my favorite thing... plus I wonder if the acid is really good for them in the long run, even in tiny amounts.