What's a pomegranate?? Do they bite?? Why would you put it in my bowl!!

[camo]

So I keep meaning to get a pomegranate, but everytime someone posts and reminds me how much they love them my grocery store doesn't have any (no idea if it's a seasonal thing or just poor supply).

Yesterday I finally got one, and knowing the stories of how much they like them, I got the camera ready, well actually I only had my phone, so I apologise in advanced for the crappy video quality. I also want to apologise for the audio, please ignore my laboured breathing you can hear, I have an issue at the moment that causes a lot of pain (not after a pity party, just wanted people to understand what the annoying breathing was about)

Let's just say Gizmo's reaction was unexpected, so I have only one piece of footage of Pebbles, after she had already destroyed the pomegranate

OK the story starts with them each receiving a piece of Pomegranate, and some chop, Pebbles reaction was typical Pebbles, "what's this....it's in my bowl so I must be able to eat it, if not I will chew it to pieces". Gizmo on the other hand, looked in the bowl, and retreated to his swing, here is the footage, taken over a period of about 30min after the bowl first went in the cage.

Scene 1: What is that!?.....WHAT IS THAT!!? Why is that in my bowl?

[ame="https://youtu.be/AITAhgQPMik"]What is that!! - YouTube[/ame]

As you can see, he is fairly certain that it is something that's probably dangerous, and definitely should not be eaten. This went on for a few minutes, he wasn't panicked otherwise I would have taken it out, but it definitely wasn't (as far as he was concerned), the joy of all joys...something an eclectus parrot can't resist.

Scene 2: OK it hasn't moved, and I've assessed the area from every angle, so I'm fairly sure I can just eat around it

[ame="https://youtu.be/mhQJeiK14mc"]I'll just try and avoid it, take some chop and step back - YouTube[/ame]

You can see even as he steps back, he is still keeping an eye on the scary Pomegranate

[ame="https://youtu.be/LSmGvm0RX6w"]OK it's scary, but I can eat around it, this will work - YouTube[/ame]

I let him get comfortable with this, and then I turned the bowl, hoping he might try some of the Pomegranate.

Scene 3: Where there's a will there's a way

Having turned the bowl I thought he might try the Pomegranate, after all he has to lean over the Pomegranate to get the chop right?

[ame="https://youtu.be/Ovf08zsKigo"]Where there's a will, there's a way - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://youtu.be/hiZPx6lQ0Qs"]I'll just eat on this side - YouTube[/ame]

In typical Gizmo fashion, he had a better plan, who said he has to eat his meal from the perch.

Scene 4: Taking on the beast

I decided that if he saw me take a piece and give it to him, he might try some. He liked it, and eventually he thought he would have a go

[ame="https://youtu.be/VoWI362P1AE"]Maybe...no....definately no - YouTube[/ame]

OK....OK, nothing happened, just try again.

[ame="https://youtu.be/z10GhXfwo4I"]Maybe, no wait - YouTube[/ame]

This time he got a bit...success, try another piece....no, OK fair enough, best not to push your luck

At this point, I thought I had better get some footage of Pebbles enjoying the Pomegranate:

[ame="https://youtu.be/wYNB0Hux6SE"]Pebbles destroys pomegranate - YouTube[/ame]

Pomegranate?...what Pomegranate?...Gone

Scene 5: Oh....it's food....well why didn't you say?....Scared...I wasn't scared

[ame="https://youtu.be/G5c0pRV89is"]Gizmo, not so scary after all - YouTube[/ame]

Final scene: All gone

[ame="https://youtu.be/dlnHmluUtU0"]Gone - YouTube[/ame]


[FONT=&quot]So what's Gizmo's advice? If your giving your parrot a Pomegranate for the first time, cut it into small pieces, because they are really scary looking pieces of fruit:smile007:




[/FONT]

 

[SilverSage]

Lol! Too cute. The first time I fed my flock pomegranate I nearly had a heart attack when I walked back in the room and saw all the red splattered everywhere. Until I figured out it was the fruit...

 

[Anansi]

Hahahahahaha! Hilarity! Watching his fear of the unknown battling with the strong ekkie desire to EAT was too funny! Poor Gizmo.

And Dani, I could imagine the horror upon entering that red-splattered room! Hahaha!

 

[Christinenc2000]

That is so funny .
BB enjoyed his last night . Handed him some and warned up the steamer to clean the mess when he got done lol

 

[Birdman666]

Are you SURE he isn't part amazon?! Because that's how most Zons react to new stuff too...

And she is like: "BOY, GET OUT OF THE WAY, AND LET ME SHOW YOU HOW IT'S DONE... "

"Oh, so it's good then?! Gnoommmm, gnoomm, gnoommm... Hey, how come I didn't know about this stuff before?"

Fun stuff!

 

[Birdman666]

lol! Too cute. The first time i fed my flock pomegranate i nearly had a heart attack when i walked back in the room and saw all the red splattered everywhere. Until i figured out it was the fruit...

that's why it's strictly an outdoor food at my house...

 

[Allee]

Cute videos! I'm glad Gizmo overcame his phobia of pomegranites. Gizmo
and Pebbles are beautiful, thanks for sharing the funny story.

 

[JerseyWendy]

This was absolutely HILARIOUS!!! I laughed so hard at Gizmo's initial reactions to the scary looking thing in his bowl! And your titles and descriptions were so funny, too!

Pebbles went right to town on the Pomegranate, did she?

I'm certainly glad I found some of those 'on sale'. They're a huge hit over here.

Thanks so much for sharing these!

 

[chris-md]

Parkers reaction was the same way, Cameron. He came around to it in about 5 minutes. But I'm so impatient so my methodology is different. I pretty much scoop some on my finger and harass his mouth until he opens up. Dangerous but it works. Or if he's persistent over weeks, I'll make it the only thing he has access to. It's how I'm getting him around to tropical fruits. He usually won't touch kiwi/papaya/mango/pineapple, but there was a stretch of about 3-4 days where that was his only dinner option. He will now devour kiwi and can tolerate pineapple and papaya in doses. Mangos? Forget it. Still a work in progress.

 

[GreatBlue320]

Loved your post so much I decided to pick up a pomegranate while at the store today to see how Baxter would react!

His first reaction was just like Gizmo's... "Get me as far away from this deadly thing as possible"!

Then I read Chris's post about how he gets Parker interested in new foods. Decided to start eating the pomegranate myself while making yummy "this is fabulous" sounds. Of course Baxter can't STAND being left out from anything fabulous so he came around and I presented a seed to him.

Yep, he liked it! He went back to his dish for another after he demolished the first. But then, he walked away as if to say, "it wasn't all THAT!"

 

[Anansi]

"Wasn't all that"?!? Blasphemy! Hahaha!

 

[camo]

Thanks guys for all the replies and sharing your stories, it appears the first parrot to eat a Pomegranate must have been very fearless . I had no idea Pomegranate would be messy and although mostly they ate in the bowl, I have some cleaning to do today.

Pebbles went right to town on the Pomegranate, did she?

Pebbles absolutely smashed it, I got so caught up with Gizmo's reaction that Pebbles had practically finished It's possible Pebbles had had it before, although this generally is Pebbles nature. Even if Pebbles first reaction is to fly away, it's not long before she is back with an out reached beak to investigate "can I eat it, if not can I chew it to pieces" . If it's in the bowl she tries it, if she doesn't like it she will throw it out of the bowl

Here's a video I've put up before, but it perfectly demonstrates her nature. I had set up this action camera, it's the first time Gizmo and Pebbles had seen it. She had watched me install it on Gizmo's cage, and the film starts pretty much at the point I put her on top of her cage after letting her out.

[ame="http://youtu.be/JsczPTgN1AI"]Pebbles the Giant Eclectus - YouTube[/ame]

As you can see, no hesitation. This is not to say things don't scare her, but if she is comfortable in her environment, it doesn't take long for fear to turn into curiosity (this is something I find amazing about Pebbles, as when we first bought her home she was so scared and it took months for her to calm down and trust us).

If I had known Gizmo was going to react this way, I probably would have given it to them outside the cage, as Gizmo is very much a jealous boy , as scared as Gizmo might have been, there would have been no way he would have sat back and let Pebbles eat the Pomegranate by herself. I often use one to help teach the other, I think this is one big advantage of having two birds.

Unfortunately yesterday from the cage, Gizmo couldn't see what Pebbles is eating (the door to the food bowl blocks it). I thought it was something he should work through by himself though.

Here is a video of this morning. As you can see Pomegranates are now just yummy fruits....scary...pfff

[ame="http://youtu.be/V05rL6Yq6vI"]Scared...I wasn't scared - YouTube[/ame]

 

[drlisaort]

Wow, what a hilarious thread! All of you with your funny stories with "the pomegranate" totally made my not-so-fun day much cheerier (elderly beloved dog is declining). I have to say Oliver totally dove into the pomegranate the first time he ate it...but ...he'd eat anything and everything if he had the chance...nothing is not edible in his little bird mind.

 

[Anansi]

So sorry to hear about your dog, Lisa. Not an easy thing to watch, I know. Sending hugs your way.

 

[camo]

Lisa,

Also sorry to hear about your dog. I have two dogs who are both struggling now with age, I know the time is comming and I have no idea how we will handle this, they are both like our children, so I can only imagine what you are going through. My heart goes out to you!!

Cameron

 

[JerseyWendy]

Cameron, THANK YOU for 2 more awesome videos!! Gees, Pebbles wanted to eat the camera lens, yes? HAHAHAHA!!!! And it was GREAT seeing Gizmo dig right into the pomegranate.

Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. HUGS!!!!

 

[DexMom]

Love it!

I bought a pomegranate today for the first time. This thing is gigantic (they all were) so I hope Dexter likes it because he's going to have it for days and days. It will probably turn to mush before he finishes it, it's the size of a softball. My son said it looks like a baby head (because 11 year old boys are gross like that).

 

[Christinenc2000]

Love it!

I bought a pomegranate today for the first time. This thing is gigantic (they all were) so I hope Dexter likes it because he's going to have it for days and days. It will probably turn to mush before he finishes it, it's the size of a softball. My son said it looks like a baby head (because 11 year old boys are gross like that).

I just cut mine up in sections and give him a small section at a time. They last a long time in the fridge

 

[camo]

My son said it looks like a baby head (because 11 year old boys are gross like that).

Haha,

Yeh they are rather large. I was worried about it going bad, so they ended up with a quarter each, but there wasn't much left overs (little piggies ). Given how the last pieces were (no deterioration), I'm sure it would have lasted longer in the fridge (I had it in a zip lock bag).

 

[Flboy]

Well, I just tried the pomegranate challenge with my JoJo. Instant hit! Even as I was breaking it apart, she grabbed some and made a mess! Yay!