by Pajarita » Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:16 pm
As far as I can tell, I did give you specific and constructive advice so I don't know exactly what it is that you want. I am critical of everybody and harder on myself than on anybody else so if you are going to take offense to straight talking, you might not want to read my postings because I don't go around apologizing or 'dressing up' what I say. I give it to you straight.
Now, as to specifics, I told you that I thought that two teaspoonfuls of pellets are too little for a juvenile bird his size (my budgies eat more than that) but I cannot tell you exactly how much it should be because it depends on the diet as a whole. You know mention his eating legumes, which are a good source of protein but you had not mentioned them before when detailing his diet. Legumes are good as a protein source but, unless you are talking about peanuts or soybeans, they don't really contain enough fat. Aside from that, I don't believe that soy is healthy for animals and, to parrots, peanuts should be a super extra special treat so would never count on them to supply them with enough fat in their diet. Sunflowers do have fat and are not too bad if they are the grey striped kind and used as rewards but it's not recommended that an important nutritional item is represented only by a training reward or an occasional extra (as in what you have for dinner that night -which he should not be eating with you unless you have dinner one hour before sunset all year round), both protein and fat should be part of the daily diet in adequate amounts. You also cannot go by what a parrot likes or dislikes because they are not instinctual eaters (like passerines might be), they need to learn and become used to a good diet and the phrase 'an acquired taste' must have been meant for parrots so, although they do have personal likes and dislikes, they also depend entirely on what we offer them day after day. It is entirely possible that he doesn't eat enough pellets because he doesn't like them. I know that if I fed pellets to my birds for dinner, I would find most of them still there in the morning but not because they chose something else, they were not hungry or they thought that they were not good for them but simply because they don't like them. Have you ever eaten a good pellet? I have and it's like putting compressed sawdust in your mouth, bland and dry to the point that you need to work it and work it so you get enough saliva to make the bolus -and parrots don't even have any saliva to speak of! Now, if you want me to tell you exactly what to feed your parrot, I would recommend the same thing I feed and which I wholeheartedly recommend to every parrot keeper: gloop (recipe all over the place here) accompanied by raw produce (a different but only one type of fruit, one veggie and one leafy green -I have found that if you give a selection of, say, fruits, the parrot will pick and choose and end up eating the same thing day after day) with a small, measured amount (for a juvenile IRN, I would use 1/4 measuring cup but only 1/3 for an adult) of a good quality, low protein seed mix (I would use a budgie or half budgie/half tiel one). I feed no people food, no animal protein, no soy. And I don't believe the malarkey about fruits having too much sugar for them. Anybody who comes from a country that has parrots and has seen them feeding knows for a fact that parrots in the wild eat fruit as often and as much as they can (we had to fight them for the figs and collect them as soon as they ripen in February because, if we waited a single day, they would leave no ripe fig on the tree in a single day feeding). Fruit is part of their natural diet and what Nature meant for them to eat. I had an argument about this with Dr. Harrison (the one that makes the pellets) because where is the sense in limiting something that is part of their natural diet and instead feed a completely unnatural diet? People talk about sugar been bad but not all sugars are created equal. I would never give my parrots anything that has sucrose in it (and lots of pellets do!) but I have no problem giving them fruits because they were created to process it effectively and the content is so diluted by the high water and fiber content that it does not make them fat (I don't have a single obese parrot, mind you! - I have a couple that are a bit chunky but they are handicapped and old). I even use honey and organic maple syrup to flavor some of their meals, I use only a drizzle in a big bowl of gloop but you can taste the sweetness in it (I alternate, one day they get spicy gloop and the next fruity and sweet).
I don't think that putting birds outside is 100% safe. The direct sunshine is wonderful and I dream of the day when I can have an outdoor aviary connected to my birdroom so they can get the benefit of it but I don't know if a single bird would feel safe out there all by itself and without a flock protecting them (I have multiple parrots). And I would worry about contagion... Australia has a big PBFD problem in its wild birds.
As to interaction, yes, 5 minutes is better than nothing and 20 minutes are better than 5 but, unfortunately, all parrots need hours. The average recommendation is 4 hours out of cage and 1 of one-on-one but certain species need more (the little phyrruras and the psittaculas, for example) and they do better when they are interacted with at the times when they would in the wild (with the exception of the English budgie, all companion parrot species are undomesticated so their needs and 'schedules' are identical to the ones the wild ones have) and that means half morning, after breakfast and bathing/preening and before the noon rest, and mid-afternoon when they become again active after the noon rest and before dinner. Psittaculas are species that do particularly bad with little time and, if you read the stories out there of IRN's that have 'turned', you will see that they all have the same reason: not enough time spent with them or not enough experience with the species. They are never recommended for first time owners because they are not easy parrots and that's saying a lot because, when it comes to parrots, they are all very difficult to keep happy and healthy. But what's done is done and this is now your bird so I am sure you will try to make the best of the situation.