Is my ekkie starving?

[nostromosigningoff]

Hi all,

I am struggling to convert my ekkie to chop. He is an adult, we were told 3 years old, and came to us eating only Roudybush or seeds. I've been offering chop of all sorts, mostly in vain - he will eat grain and legumes but no veggie or fruit other than occasional mango. I decided to start reducing the pellets offered to push him to eat more chop. I think instead he ate more beans from the chop, and yesterday night started toe tapping and wing flipping, I'm guessing from too much protein in the beans. So I pulled the beans and all pellets today, offering only vegetable and fruit chop. He barely ate anything for hours; finally he gave in and ate some blueberries and chewed apart a raw carrot, and I'm fairly sure ate some of the carrot since I saw him going down to the bottom of the cage to eat pieces off a chunk that had fallen. His droppings look normal, with a nice solid mass, but this evening he went down the bottom of the cage to eat his own dried poop! I figured he was getting too hungry, and gave him back some Roudybush mixed with TOPS. He devoured the Roudybush and chewed up the TOPS, not sure if he actually ate any of that though.

What should I be doing here? How do I get this stubborn green bean to eat his veggies and fruits without starving him to death? How worried should I be that he was eating his own poop?

 

[wrench13]

I can only relate that it took MONTHS and MONTHS to get Salty to even recognize pellets as food and even these days he treats them more like a snack rather then his main food. SO take your time in switching, parrots are more then capable of starving themselves if their foods are not available.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Try offering the veggies in the morning, and their usual pellets in the eve. SOme birds are more likely to sample their new food in the morning. Good luck to you! Converting birds is SUCH a challenge at times (Glares at her cockatiel).

 

[nostromosigningoff]

Try offering the veggies in the morning, and their usual pellets in the eve. SOme birds are more likely to sample their new food in the morning. Good luck to you! Converting birds is SUCH a challenge at times (Glares at her cockatiel).

I will try this!!

 

[saxguy64]

I'll add my two cents, based on my own somewhat limited experience.

Sometimes they're just picky. And I mean about pretty much everything, not just food. So, aside from what veggies you're giving them, how it's prepared can make a huge difference. Raw, blanched, steamed, shape... Yeah, mine love certain veggies, but if I cut them up the wrong shape or size, they get ignored or tossed on the floor. A little experimentation goes a long way. And absolutely, time. I introduce something new, and offer it every day for a while for them to decide it might actually be food, and not some strange scary toxic item to stay away from. Sometimes they figure it out quickly, other times, months, or never. My first amazon years ago, a rehome, we were told he loved bananas. I thought, great, a peace offering to help him be more comfortable in his new home. Nope. No way, but after a year and ready to give up on them, and several other items, he went for it. Little successes make for happy days!

As mentioned above, yes, parrots can and will starve themselves if they don't have something they want to eat, so introducing new foods, like veggies, is a slow process, and you'll have to continue providing the familiar stuff as well.

I should add, my ekkie boy is kind of a horn dog, and I have to keep sugars to a minimum. So, mostly veggies for him, generally orange/red ones as he's not fond of many things that are green. I supplement with a few Tops pellets. I've also found purple grapes and sometimes blueberries will start him toe tapping, and it comes on fast. I usually figure out what I gave him that's different, and that goes away ASAP. The tapping takes several days to subside for him and it's heartbreaking to have to watch.

The same idea applies to other things too. Handling, bathing... All three of mine have specific demands about bathing. Specific perch for each of the two that like showers, not too much water, but has to be enough, not too hot, not too cold... Otherwise, they hug the wall and refuse to move, clearly not having it. Aaaaaaaand then there's my little grey, who made it super obvious that showers are not for him. Sorta tolerated it, once. Then back to his cage to dry, and got really mad about it and plucked his chest bare. (After months of progress on the life long plucking habit) Yup, giant water bowl for him, and he decides on a bath a couple times a week, but only if I'm not looking lol!

 

[kme3388]

Great advice above

Also think about the food you are eating. For an example I made corn on the cob yesterday. I’d never offered my Ekkie that. I cut off an end of one of the cooked cobs. I gave that to Nico. He devoured it! There were no corn kernels left on the cob. Interestingly he only ate the inside of the kernels. He actually threw the shells of the kernel to the bottom of his cage.

 

[Botsari]

Maybe try the classic method - veggies in the form of birdy bread. They usually will eat it, and over time you can slowly make changes to the mix of macro-nutrients and also the size of the veggie and/or fruit pieces can get bigger until the bird starts to recognize them as desirable food types in themselves.

You can even use the ground up pellets he already likes as one of the ingredients in the “flour” you use. I’m sure this method must sometimes fail, but it has worked spectacularly for me, including with a 28 year old bird that never had it before. He was crazy about it from day one. He now happily eats every crumb, including all the veggie and fruit pieces I put in it.