How to stop wasting food?

Ellipsis

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A 25 year old, macaw.
My girlfriend's macaw Bob, loves to use his beak like a shovel and throw his food everywhere. I've been googling ways to prevent this, but mostly, I can only find solutions for smaller birds. Anyone have any solutions? Thanks!
 

wrench13

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Yeah good luck with that, some parrots are just flingers. You can try food cups that have a hood on them, might be tricky to find one thats macaw size but would certainly limit the flinging. Clear plastic sheet around the cage where the food bowls are might help, I;d keep them low to the floor of the cage. Be resourceful, cause you aint gonna change his eating habits.
 

Cindylynn

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I feed my macaw twice a day. Morning and afternoon. Period. You fling all your food, you're hungry til next time. He quit flinging after a day or two. BTW, he always has some form of food available. I put large fruits like apple, pie pumpkins, pomegranate, oranges on a kebab for him daily. Something he has to work at to eat. And he gets plenty of treats (hemp seeds) when he's out of his cage.
 

GaleriaGila

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What Wrench said! lol

But, hey keep on trying. Cindy has some good ideas.

38 years' of fighting and experimenting have produced little success on Planet Rickeybird. Even when I think I have a solution, today's macadamia nut may be tomorrow's little cannonball.
 

Hyacinthmacawlover

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Dear parrot lovers. I fell was in the hospital 5 months in a coma for 2 weeks. My brother was taking care of my birds. Daley was 23 years old he died. I had him 23 years. I had a funeral at pet cemet
My girlfriend's macaw Bob, loves to use his beak like a shovel and throw his food everywhere. I've been googling ways to prevent this, but mostly, I can only find solutions for smaller birds. Anyone have any solutions? Thanks!
Hello, the covered ones work great. My little African grey threw his food all over l put his ceramic bowl on the bottom. That worked for Mr. Rudy.
 

Cindylynn

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What Wrench said! lol

But, hey keep on trying. Cindy has some good ideas.

38 years' of fighting and experimenting have produced little success on Planet Rickeybird. Even when I think I have a solution, today's macadamia nut may be tomorrow's little cannonball.
Lol! Yeah, it's definitely not a fool proof method. Occasionally he gets a burr up his little orange butt and flings it all, or dumps the entire bowl. But on most days, he's good about not flinging or dumping. Lol!
 

SailBoat

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Jul 10, 2015
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Parrots are at the top of the food chain with a very wide cross-section of eatables. Plus, they common travel large distances in their nature range to eat those items at peak readiness for eating. Point being, they are wasteful eaters by our judgement, but sever a very useful role in their natural range as they move food from hard to get areas to areas of ease for the ground feeders.

We simply recycle our Amazon's food drops to the outdoor critters who are very pleased with the left-overs.

There is a very find line between controlling waste and edging around starvation, which can trigger serious behavior issues far beyond our belief they are wasting food. Foraging is a great method of engaging a Parrot that is playing with their food.
 

Hyacinthmacawlover

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Nov 8, 2022
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Dear parrot lovers. I fell was in the hospital 5 months in a coma for 2 weeks. My brother was taking care of my birds. Daley was 23 years old he died. I had him 23 years. I had a funeral at pet cemet
Parrots are at the top of the food chain with a very wide cross-section of eatables. Plus, they common travel large distances in their nature range to eat those items at peak readiness for eating. Point being, they are wasteful eaters by our judgement, but sever a very useful role in their natural range as they move food from hard to get areas to areas of ease for the ground feeders.

We simply recycle our Amazon's food drops to the outdoor critters who are very pleased with the left-overs.

There is a very find line between controlling waste and edging around starvation, which can trigger serious behavior issues far beyond our belief they are wasting food. Foraging is a great method of engaging a Parrot that is playing with their food.
I feed my crows all pellets leftover from night before and they get fresh pellets am and pm. I watch and the squirrel's and rabbits all love them. One night l had a possum!!!! It is a great idea so it is not wasted.. The crows are out there at 4 pm waiting for their food. I was sitting in back yard this summer it is the second time l heard them say hello!!!
 
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zERo

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My conure Tom eats what he wants from his chop for breakfast then goes under the bowl and pushes it out of the ring.
I always know when he done! A huge crash lets me know.

As far as a remedy agree with above, birds are messy, though if he ever flips the bowl something that can help is wrapping the ring holder in vet tape which holds the bowl in place sort of, doesn't stop Tom!
You have to replace it quite often though, as it gets dirty pretty quickly.
 

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