Hello,

[Topsy42]

Hi, we are lucky enough to share our home with Alfie an African grey. alfie came to us around 2 years ago and as complete and utter novices we didn't have a clue of how care for him other than feeding him and keeping him clean. His previous owners told us that his routine was quite simply changing his food and water daily and letting him out of his cage for an hour.
It didn't take us long to realise that they didn't know this little bird at all and we had quite a learning curve ahead of us!
We were told that he didn't like fruit or veg but would occasionally accept a green grape when he actually loves a dish of fruit and veg to forage through and will run to his cage when he sees his dish being brought in
We were told he doesn't like to be handled when in actual fact he's at his happiest on my shoulder while I go about my normal day and adores going in the shower.

One thing we are completely struggling with is getting him on a pellet diet, when he came to us he was on a cheap seed diet (the one where nuts and seeds are in their shells) we tried everything we could think of to get him on to pellets but have completely failed, he's now on tidy mix seed which seemed to be the best we could find and appeared to be thriving on it but unfortunately he is currently poorly (although recovering) with a respiritory tract infection which the vet believes has been caused by peanut shells. Tidy mix doesn't contain any obvious shells of any kind but I also appreciate that it's nigh on impossible to avoid any shell finding its way into the product. Does anyone have any tips on changing him to pellets please and also advice on which pellets are the best? We don't know for sure how old Alfie is but if his previous owners were right he's nine.

[Wolf]

Well as far as his age goes unless he has a closed band on his leg then there is no way to get an accurate age.
As to his diet and respiratory infection, I believe that the fungus responsible, if it is related to peanut shells is aspergellosis, which is actually very common and found pretty much everywhere. It is usually not much of a problem unless the birds immune system is already compromised. Don't quote me on this just yet, as I could be somewhat off as to the particular fungus involved, although the rest should be accurate. Pajarita is better with this than I am as she has much more experience than I do. Any way I think that it would be wise to look at more than just the diet to find out why his immune system was so weakened to allow this fungus to get a foothold and result in an infection.
I feed my birds fresh raw produce first thing in the mornings which is a fruit, a vegetable and a leafy green, this is followed by gloop, a cooked homemade food, consisting basically of 40% cooked whole grains, 40% cooked mixed vegetables and 20% cooked white beans and lentils. They are given enough of both of these types of food to last the day and then I give them a good quality seed mix for dinner which is removed every night when they go to bed for the night. I also give some probiotics about every two weeks and keep a source of calcium in their cages all the time. If you feed the foods mentioned above then switching your bird to pellets is almost as simple as substituting pellets for the seed mix. Almost as simple, but not quite. You would start by adding pellets to the seed mix and slowly reduce the amount of the seed mix. I am not a fan of pellets and do not feed them to my birds.

[liz]

Welcome to the forum and thank you for not listening to the previous human. You have really enriched his life.

I serve a variety of "gloop". Mine is whole organic grain and couscous that I soak in boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes. Lately I have been adding whole grain pasta to it. It softens in the same amount of time. Then I add carrots, peas, corn and white beans.

Rambo does not like it. Myrtle hangs on me until I give her a spoon of it. My cockatiels have their own room and I feed them on a tray on the floor so the handicapped ones can get to it. While I am on the floor changing food, Phoenix, with the mutilated wing is right beside me and waiting. As soon as I move the others come in.

[Topsy42]

Thank you both for your replies, we'll definitely try him on a gloop mix, currently his fruit and veg are all served raw, do you serve the gloop warm or allow it to completely cool? Also we currently leave seed available for Alfie constantly and serve his fresh food in a separate dish, should we be removing his seed at night? His weight is currently stable at 494 Grammes and the vet is quite happy that he's at a healthy weight.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum, Topsy and Alfie (do you know for a fact it's a he?). Yes, you need to take the dinner seeds out either after he falls asleep or before the sky is barely lit because, for one thing, you should never free-feed protein and, for another, you can't transition him to a healthier diet if he has high protein available all the time.

Wolf is correct. Aspergillus is EVERYWHERE, on grains, on seeds, on our hands, our clothes, our shoes, the air that breathe in, etc. It's absolutely and completely ubiquitous in nature but a healthy immune system takes care of it with no problem. Aspergillosis (the disease) takes hold when the immune system is depressed (and any kind of stress, physical or emotional does it) or if the body is exposed to high levels of it for a prolonged period of time. Now, I don't know what kind of light you use for him or what kind of light schedule but poor lighting and a human light schedule do depress the immune system as well as neglect (which it seems he had for many years prior coming to you) and a bad diet (which, apparently, he also had for years).

Now, although bird people consider peanuts for parrots anathema, they are not bad if one offers them as treats and makes sure they are roasted (never give a parrot a raw peanut or a mix with them in it), human grade and fresh (buying small bags of the roasted in the shell in the supermarket takes care of the problems) but, all in all, tree nuts (peanuts are not even real nuts) are more nutritious and safer.

I don't feed pellets. I have done many years of research into parrots diets and have reached the conclusion that they are not the best dietary option for them. For breakfast, I feed gloop with raw produce and a good quality seed mix for dinner with an extra nut or two for the larger species. Once a week, I supplement with a 1.5 times daily dosage of a multi-vitamin/mineral powder.

Now, as to your bird, if he has been on a seed/raw nut diet for so many years, I would start by giving him the multivitamin/mineral supplement daily for a couple of weeks to build him up while I switch him to a better diet (although I see that you have already started this).

I assume your vet gave him an antifungal and an antibiotic (this is the normal protocol for fungal infections) and asked you to bring him back for a follow up to check the titers (aspergillosis is not easy to cure and birds which are under constant stress end up having the chronic form of it) but I would also give him immune system boosters like Echinacea (but for only 5 days and rest for 2), food high in vit C (citrus, broccoli, strawberries), ginger, turmeric, oregano (which you can use as flavorings for the gloop) and cat's claw; food high in betacarotene (they need it for their respiratory system to stay healthy because, without it, they can't produce the phlegm that cleans it) like carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, etc. I would also give him a good probiotic 2 hours after he gets his medicine and eats his breakfast (most of the immune system reactions start in the intestines).

Please let us know of any questions, doubts, clarifications...