Throwing Food

[sheherazad]

Hi, I'm looking for advice.
I have a 19 year old African Grey that I've owned for 18 years. He suddenly has changed his eating behavior that I don't know how to deal with. I change his seed dish every night and have been for many years, I feed him the same feed mix that I have always fed him and I also give him a variety of fruit and veggies. Just recently he has started to throw all the food out so by morning there is very little left. He has never done this all the years I've had him. What's going on? Can anyone give me some suggestions?
By the way, I am very new to this forum. Thanks for any help.

 

[_Cass_]

I used to own a parrotlet that would throw her millet, seeds/pellets and everything all around the room. (though she always still had enough to eat). I always thought of it as a way for her to entertain herself. I didn't mind much because I vacumed and cleaned almost everyday because of my dads allergys. Maybe he's just having fun?

-Cass

 

[TexDot33]

could be a "just for fun thing" if he/she's bored ... what I would do is start to put a little less food in the dish at night so there's not as much waste, and hopefully if your grey empties out the food dish once he'll learn that he shouldn't do that ...

 

[Spiritbird]

From one grey person to another grey person. Welcome first of all to a wonderful forum. I suggest you take all food out of the cage just at bedtime and start fresh the next morning. Do you give your grey mental and physical stimulation? They need so much of that. Have you tried forgaing. Check out the parrot enrichment site. The link is located here under community at the top of the page. How much out of cage time does bird get? They love the puzzle toys. Even music and videos of other parrots are good. I teach my bird tricks for treats and she loves it. Hope this helps you and birdie.

 

[parrotqueen]

There are also wonderful mind-stimulating parrot puzzles that you can buy. I don't know the name of these, but you can hide food inside of a toy and the parrot has to turn knobs and press buttons to get to the reward. Just like SB said, Greys are very smart parrots that need a lot of mental stimulation. Try not to overfill the food bowl as well, to reduce waste.

 

[sheherazad]

Thanks to all that replied. I will try the trick of only giving him a small amount of food at night and give him more in the morning and see what happens. It could be he is just doing this for fun. I worry that he isn't getting enough to eat now but he is still active and doesn't look thin.
I know he isn't getting out as much as he should so I will work on that also. When I am back in the States I will look for some puzzle toys and check out the enrichment site. Thanks for the good suggestions.
Now I have to figure out how to get him to the States.

 

[antoinette]

Welcome on board, sure you going to enjoy the ride !!!!
Make sure the bird has enough toys to entertain and stimulate himself with.

How coincidental is this...... Yesterday I read your post, could not reply immediately.
THEN today out of the blue, Mishka, my AG, just over 2 years old, started throwing her pellets EVERYWHERE..... I was working in my office, when I hear them falling. Went and cleaned up (yipe something we always doing haha) a few minutes later, same thing happened. This occurred 5 times in total. I then changed some toys around in her cage ( I do this every month) then the pellet throwing stopped for a while. I reckon she was just looking for attention. Then I realized that I had forgotten to play her, her Cd's. When ever she's in her cage, a CD is played to her continuously. Once the CD began playing, the pellets remained where they should Lol.
Great day

 

[sheherazad]

That is a coincidence! What kind of cd's do you play? I have to say that my resources are very limited here. I ship in 75 lbs. of proper parrot food every year. Maybe I'll get online to see how I can get some more toys. I did bring some toys from the last time I was in the States, but Mickey already chewed those up.

 

[antoinette]

Typical birds, always destroying what we give them LoL. Keep the toys he has destroyed, collect them, and when you have enough make one from them.

I made a CD with my voice saying the words I have taught her.
When she says the word correctly, I added more words.
Eg: doggies then I added on doggies woof woof
then added on doggies are barking woof woof
then added on Jenny's doggies are barking woof woof
Go into video's check them out.
I reckon it's one way of teaching them, and stops them from becoming bored.
If you require assistance, on how to make the CD, using your computer, I will gladly assist you.

 

[HRH Di]

Jade, our RFM, threw a classic tantrum yesterday. I don't even remember what started it, we probably said No to something. But she was flying around screeching, landed on Max's perch and started tossing all of the pellets out of his snack bowl. I honestly expected her to flop onto the floor to kick and scream.

This is the only time I've seen either of our birds just throw their food. Your average 3 year old child had nothing on her tantrum yesterday.

 

[antoinette]

Jade, our RFM, threw a classic tantrum yesterday. I don't even remember what started it, we probably said No to something. But she was flying around screeching, landed on Max's perch and started tossing all of the pellets out of his snack bowl. I honestly expected her to flop onto the floor to kick and scream.

This is the only time I've seen either of our birds just throw their food. Your average 3 year old child had nothing on her tantrum yesterday.

We as humans have bad days, being offish and in a bad mood.....
Reckon the birds are allowed to follow suit !!!!! :53:

 

[justwingingit]

I guess all I'm doing is dittoing everyone else. My Grey, Simon, when let out, will open the door to her food dish and either throw food or pick up the dish and throw the dish and food. Now, when I let her out, I take the food dish out and set it aside until I'm ready to put her back in the cage. I was so smart! It only took me 9 or 10 times before I realized that if I didn't do that, she would keep throwing her food. And we're smarter than birds! HA HA

 

[antoinette]

I guess all I'm doing is dittoing everyone else. My Grey, Simon, when let out, will open the door to her food dish and either throw food or pick up the dish and throw the dish and food. Now, when I let her out, I take the food dish out and set it aside until I'm ready to put her back in the cage. I was so smart! It only took me 9 or 10 times before I realized that if I didn't do that, she would keep throwing her food. And we're smarter than birds! HA HA

9 or ten times for you to figure it out haha
Simon was testing you to see how long it took you to figure it out !!!

Are we really smarter than birds ????????/

 

[sheherazad]

Hi All,
The suggestion of not filling Mickey's food bowl as much seems to be working. He is now just his normal messy.

Antoinette, I will keep in mind your suggestion of recording my voice. I am not too techno-savvy so I may be in touch about making that CD. It's funny really because Mickey sounds so much like me as it is. People comment on that all the time.

 

[Ecclipse]

Hi Sheherazad, Hugo my parrot used to mess alot - when I say alot I mean I was always cleaning up after him. He has been getting over being sick and I have had to limit his fruit and veg intake and found that if I fed small amounts at routined times he would not tip the bowl. If Im busy and not giving him enough attention he will sit and actually pick up his pellets and throw them....silly billy He cherishes his fruit and veg now instead of taking it for granted and messing everywhere. I was in a panic when I had to stop feeding him fruit/veg to get his stomach right but the vet said that the high quality of pellets Im feeding him have everything he needs. Now he is getting his small portion of fruit/veg but is very well behaved. I also used to take away his fruit/veg away if I saw him lifting the bowl - hes healthy and the right weight. If it concerns you weigh him - Antionette does it and I have started.

 

[Hardway]

Hey guys! I'm new here and was viewing this thread because my female Sun conure is throwing most of her bowl of food that she shares with her brother Jack. I am changing their toys around often, cleaning their cage on a regular basis, and trying to teach them new sounds and in Jack's case, new words. They play often with each other and with me or my mom. They get their dried papaya or pineapple treats once a day since Punkin got a little on the chunky side because she bullied Jack out of his share. She had been doing this for weeks now and it's starting to get expensive because of how much food she is throwing. I've tried taking the bowl out of the cage for a bit when she does it, but that didn't work. Any advice would be much appreciated!!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Just a thought have you tried splitting the food into two bowls?

 

[Hardway]

They have a treat bowl and a food bowl. She doesn't mind sharing bowls. I've had Jack for the last six months and she has never had a problem with him. She just likes treats, and since Jack has birth defects, she takes advantage.

 

[Notdumasilook]

Just my 2 cents. Pay attention now to any potential weight loss. I have a lil birdie with some health issues and when hes slinging food from his food dish its an indicator hes got a "belly ache"... and pissed he cant eat. Just a heads up and hope its not a sign of a health issue with your bird.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Hi Sheherazad, Hugo my parrot used to mess alot - when I say alot I mean I was always cleaning up after him. He has been getting over being sick and I have had to limit his fruit and veg intake and found that if I fed small amounts at routined times he would not tip the bowl. If Im busy and not giving him enough attention he will sit and actually pick up his pellets and throw them....silly billy He cherishes his fruit and veg now instead of taking it for granted and messing everywhere. I was in a panic when I had to stop feeding him fruit/veg to get his stomach right but the vet said that the high quality of pellets Im feeding him have everything he needs. Now he is getting his small portion of fruit/veg but is very well behaved. I also used to take away his fruit/veg away if I saw him lifting the bowl - hes healthy and the right weight. If it concerns you weigh him - Antionette does it and I have started.

This is something that should be done by all at a regular time and day. It is one of the first indicators that something could be wrong.

Q: Parrots are not wired to accept or expect huge dishes of food, in the wild they have to fly many miles for a meal that will probably have to be fought for with other members of the flock so, should we give them little and often? I have noticed that Plum will chuck more the more food you give him, sometimes wonder if he is telling me "that's too much Mum!" WDYT?