How to keep building momentum w/healthy eating for BFA?

[Kiwibird]

We got our rescue blue front amazon when he was about 10 years old (he apparently had 2 prior owners before us). When we got him, he was in pretty poor shape physically and had never been socialized whatsoever. We have now had him almost 5 years, and while he has taken quite well to socializing, but diet has been an uphill battle with this bird. I don't know that he was at any point fed a healthy diet for a parrot before we got him, because he prefers pizza and chips to fruits and veggies and seed. We have been "sneaking" him fruits and veggies since we got him (basically blending them up, and heaping them on human foods he will eat like breads and pastas or things like apple chips). He also was quite frightened of any type of produce in his dish that was larger (a slice of orange, a baby carrot ect...) and would simply fling anything smaller to the floor without even trying it. In the last month, he suddenly started taking an interest in the fruits and vegetables we are eating, and has actually been taking little nibbles off some of them. This is the first time in 5 years i have seen this bird try something he's suppose to be eating. We want to keep this going, and get him to keep trying new foods that are part of his natural diet (so far, he has sampled pineapple, a green bean, squash and a blueberry). Any tips to keep him going and trying new foods?

 

[melissasparrots]

In my experience, usually if a bird is refusing to eat their veggies, or not eating much of them, it means your letting him have too much seed and pellets. Why eat broccoli when you can have potato chips and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all day long? I ration the dry food for my amazons. They get about 1.5-2 tablespoons of seed and pellets combined total(about 1 tablespoon seed, 1 tablespoon pellets). If they eat all that and are still hungry, they get to stare into a bowl full of veggies. If they get fixated on a certain fresh food that isn't particularly nutritious(frozen corn or peas for my birds) then I start rationing that too so they can't pig out on their favorites.

 

[SpringCottageParrot]

Try weaving a bit of cabbage through the bars of the cage. If he starts to peck at it to remove it he might find he likes it. This worked partially with Casper - he will eat the fleshy stalky parts but not the green leaves where most of the goodness is.

 

[SpringCottageParrot]

and... we were amazed when we first gave Casper a fresh pea pod that he new exactly what to do with it. He carefully opens it along one edge and hooks the peas out with his tongue. Then he throws the pod onto the floor of the cage but goes and brings it back up later and eats all but the stringy bits.
The vet told us that we can only give him pea pods as a treat because they are very high in protein and sugar. Which is probably why Casper likes them - he still resists the temptation to eat anything that might be good for him.
We only give him eight grams of seed or pellets in his bowl with another bowl full of fresh fruit and veg. He tends to go between the two having a bit of each and seems to get all the moisture he needs from the fresh stuff because he very rarely goes to his water bowl even though it is changed twice a day.
This is a bird that was only fed on sunflower seeds with a bit of toast and marmalade for breakfast before we got him so it shows you will get there with perseverance.

 

[KellyH]

I use my zon's favorite person, my son, to model. I get my son to pretend to eat something and make sounds like he really likes it. Then I offer it to my zon. He will usually try it right away, but doesn't always like it or continue to eat it. But we do it over again in a few days and he'll usually try it again.

I also agree with limiting the pellets and human food. We have a routine. My zon gets fresh fruit and veggies in the morning. The his bowl gets replaced with a small amount of pellets at lunch time. He can pick at whatever he wants. Supper time he gets some healthy cooked human foods and has about one hour to eat what he wants. Then I replace the bowl with his pellets again after supper and it remains in his cage until the morning when we start again. Treats like walnuts or pistachios are only used for training or going back into his cage when asked.