Questions & Advice about foot & beak dexterity!

[Viatrixa]

I've started to notice that Simo, our IRN, isn't exactly very dexterous or generally agile with his foot to beak co-ordination. Up to the point that he's even a little clumsy. For example, I'll offer him a treat: he'll grab it a bit too fast or not stably enough and ends up dropping it. Then he gives me this funny look as if saying "again, please?" So I hand the treat to him again, but this time I see he actually grips it a little better. Other times he'll grab a piece of food from his bowl and try and climb to his favorite pearch to eat it. I've often seen him drop this piece of food while in mid climb - he lets out a somewhat "annoyed" sounding squawk and then climb down to his food bowl and repeat the process, this time paying more attention to how he grabs the food / treat.

I haven't noticed anything that would indicate clumsiness while he's actually perched. Also, he sleeps normally and has no trouble locking his one foot onto the perch and such. When he climbs, he doesn't fall or misstep, but admittedly he looks just the tiniest bit clumsy and uncertain when he does so. He's climbed diagonally, vertically, horizontally, upside down, you name it - never falls but he always looks a bit uncertain.

When we let him out for a flutter, he simply just flies about normally (doesnt bump into things and such) and happily lands on the few perches we've scattered about our home (and the one that holds his cage open too). During stick training he will also touch it with precision and works out the easiest / best way to reach it. So, I don't think there's anything "wrong" with him like that. But, I was wondering if there are exercises or any training methods to help the lil guy improve his beak to foot co-ordination and his climbing?

OR, is it simply because he's essentially still a baby? Well, I'd rather refer to him as a teenager. But, he is only half a year old so is this simply because he's a young parrot? From what I -myself- can tell, there's nothing actually wrong with him (eg. neurologically and such, his reaction times are normal). But, I was wondering if anyone has any advice or tips on how to help improve his foot to beak co-ordination?

We oftentimes give him his actual food veggies in a foraging ball (he seems to honestly quite enjoy it, it's not a very hard toy to work but still requires a bit of effort) should we start using this even more? Or even hang it from the cage's ceiling so he has to actually hang on it and work even harder? Any suggestions would be welcome!

[Wolf]

I really think that there is nothing actually wrong with his dexterity, parrots are naturally messy when it comes to food and it is a pretty common thing for them to drop food from their beaks and foot. This is something that they do just as frequently as wild birds that have to forage for their own foods. It is also very common for them to take just one bite from a fruit or other food and drop the rest of it to the ground and then go and get another of the same food item, just to repeat this same process multiple times. We are much more accustomed to dogs and cat that do not normally act in this manner with their food, so although this is a normal behavior for a parrot it is something that we don't usually expect from them. Still if you think that practice will improve on this behavior you could make more foraging type toys for your bird, but I think that I would also look at the birds diet to make sure that it is receiving enough calcium, vitamin D-3 and beta carotene just in case. If you are feeding your bird any pellets then I would not use any vitamin supplements and would only use food item to increase the birds intake of these vitamins. I would probably give a little more broccoli for calcium, carrots for beta carotene and on days when the temperature is above 55 degrees F. to take the bird outside for about 15 to 20 minutes a couple of times each week for them to create vitamin D-3. Of course I would use a harness or a small travel cage for this.

[Viatrixa]

Oh... XD now I feel like an idiot for having wondered if he was clumsy. My husband also suggested than when he does this with treats he's being sneaky and will fetch the dropped treat from the bottom of the cage later. We do clean his cage of course but more than often before we do so he does scoot on down there and nom on what he threw down even if he has stuff in his bow. I'd imagine this a foraging behavior? I got the impression that while most parrots forage, IRNs like to do so in particular.

As for food, we vary between pellets and self made gloop / soup / smoothies (obviously just pure veggie & water based ones) He doesn't get too many pellets because the high soy content irks me a bit. We have very good veggies here in Finland so he gets nice fresh salads daily too. Calcium wise he gets spinach, kale, and broccoli - and as for betacarotene carrots, cooked sweet potatoes ( hear actual yams are bad). Seriously, the choice of vegetables in our grocery stores are amazing (our fruit sections tend to suck a bit though!). Ergo I'm not sure if he has a need for supplements? Should I still give him some, or are the veggies enough? The thing with pellets is that I learned on this forum actually that gloop is a better choice - so we sometimes give him that, and other times pellets.

As for him getting sunlight/daylight goodness, is it enough to have his cage be in front of an open window? We JUST moved to a new apartment (and by just, I mean the past monday!) basically the other side of our apartment has HUGE windows that span the entire side, so I could just basically open the window ? Our house is on the sunny side so on sunnydays the light comes through our windows. That having said, his cage isn't RIGHT next to the window but he definitely sees outside (and seems to love it, sometimes he spends ages staring outside, it's kind of cute.)

As awesomely as our little boy is doing, I don't think he's ready for a harness JUST yet. However, he is most definitely well on his way. I noticed that the move had a very positive effect on him too: he now doesn't flap or move away from us at all if we approach his cage calmly. He'll even remain in place and if offered a treat, he will take it quickly and without incidents. Sometimes he'll climb to his favorite perch and tap the rung of the cage until I actually offer him the treat from there.

That being said, I'm wondering if it's healthy / okay for him to be near that window? It's a window that extends from the ceiling to the floor (VERY good views!) his cage is not right next to it of course but he can most certainly see outside and the daylight reaches him.

But yeah; should I give him some vitamin/supplements anyway? He does have a very good choice of veggies daily and the occasional pellet day but i want to make sure he's super healthy. (if it's any indication, he's very vibrantly green and appears healthy as far as my newbish eyes can tell )

AARGH. I feel so silly / stupid asking all of these questions hehe, but to be honest I want him to have a healthy, happy long life. He is our precious dinosaur!

[Wolf]

The more that you learn about their behaviors the better you begin to understand them and the more likely it becomes that you can use these natural behaviors to enrich their lives. Knowing their eating habits is very helpful in teaching them to eat a better diet. All parrots are wasteful with their food and many of them, especially if they are naturally ground foragers or partially ground foragers will retrieve some of the food that they drop or throw down. My budgies are such a prime example of this that I don't use the food dishes any more, I put their food on a small white paper plate on the grating at the bottom of their cage and because of this they eat better and seem to enjoy it more. I also put some of my CAG's food on the bottom of the cage because she is a partial ground forager. IRN's fall into the ground forager category as well.

Putting your bird near a window is very helpful to them, but not so much for the UV benefits in sunlight as almost all of the window glass and window screens block most of the UV light from entering our homes. Still the glass does not impede the light of the dawn or dusk from doing its job in keeping their biological clock in tune and helping to keep the endocrine system properly regulated. There are also other benefits to sunshine even for us that are largely undocumented so a certain level of exposure to sunlight is good for us and our birds as well. Still we need to take our birds outside in a travel cage or harness for about 20 minutes a day if the weather permits us to do this so that they can get the UV light that enables them to produce the needed vitamin D-3.

Speaking of vitamins and such, please don't feed spinach or kale more frequently than once a month and even then is limited amounts as they are both very high in iron and this can harm your birds liver. Birds don't need very much iron. I don't feed pellets at all to any of my birds and a big part of the reason is the amount of soy and soy products that are used in them. So I do provide a vitamin / mineral supplement for them about once a week. I only give them about 2/3 of the recommended amount once a week and count on the rest of their diet to provide the rest.

[JaydeParrot]

how old is he, long have you had him, he may just need more time to practise at being not clumsy,

[Pajarita]

Hi, Jayde, nice to hear from you, again. Yes, I seem to remember that he is still quite young and they are always a bit clumsy and in a hurry when young - like kids

[Viatrixa]

I'm utterly sorry for reviving up an old thread, but I thought I'd just write up a little update!

Ever since I posted this he's honestly improved miles and leaps. We've started to give treats to him in more challenging ways (other than touch the stick with the beak). He's now quite the talented grabber - and his dominant foot is usually a little discolored now too. Not because of anything bad - he just grabs peppers and carrots with it a lot. It's kind of funny to see.

[Wolf]

Updates are a wonderful thing. I will bet that he is left footed, too, most parrots are.

[Chantilly]

It is also very common for them to take just one bite from a fruit or other food and drop the rest of it to the ground and then go and get another of the same food item, just to repeat this same process multiple times.

Haha yep!

I'm utterly sorry for reviving up an old thread, but I thought I'd just write up a little update!

Ever since I posted this he's honestly improved miles and leaps. We've started to give treats to him in more challenging ways (other than touch the stick with the beak). He's now quite the talented grabber - and his dominant foot is usually a little discolored now too. Not because of anything bad - he just grabs peppers and carrots with it a lot. It's kind of funny to see.

Awesome Getting bug and strong weightlifting those carrot chunks up to his mouth

[Pajarita]

Yes, of course he is getting better! There is always a learning curve with them and, as smart as they are, they always get better. My male Senegal, Sweetpea, says the same thing every time he gets carrots: "Cutie! Cutie! Get your carrot! Get your carrot!" Obviously something that he was told many times in the past but it cracks me up every time he says it.