Hello from Canada

[Pajarita]

At this point I just want to welcome you to the forum. Please feel free to ask all of the questions that you want to and we will try to answer them.
How long have you had her? What is her name? Do you have any pictures of her that you could share with us? What does she eat and do you know what her favorite food is yet?

Hi! Her name is Melilah and we have had her for about 6 weeks now. I am still giving her the food that was given to us when we got her which is a mix of seeds and pellets, and am gradually adding in Harrison's pellets and some Nutriberries. She also gets some extra stuff, like a bit of toast each morning with some peanut butter, chicken bones, trail mix, sweet potato, eggs, rice and whatever fruit I can get her to actually eat (she seems to like blueberries and oranges the most).

I'd love to share some pictures, but when I try to post them, it says the dimensions are too large (they are just standards pictures taken from my ipad). Any advice on how to upload them? Thanks!

Well, I don't know where they got the Melilah from but I think it's a wonderfully pretty name! Now, please don't take this as a personal attack or anything but my parrots diet is one of my personal worries and something that I have researched A LOT for the last 20 years and since my first rescue was diagnosed with high uric acid so it's the subject that I always insist on touching with new owners.

Please, no chicken bones. African Greys are classified as herbivores and that means they don't digest animal protein as they should. Chicken bones have marrow which is pure animal fat and protein, real bad for herbivores which do not have a natural mechanism to get rid of the bad cholesterol (Nature never evolved it in them because they would not consume it in nature). Same thing with eggs - high animal protein and bad cholesterol. There isn't a single species of parrots that eats eggs in the wild. Not a single one! Nutriberries are nothing but seeds stuck together so, if you are already feeding seeds, the nutriberries are not really adding anything positive to the diet. Toast is good, especially if it's a good quality multigrain (white is nothing but simple carbs). Peanut butter is very high in omega 6 which are the 'inflammatory' ones (they are not bad per se but they need to be a small portion compared to the Omega 3 so, unless the bird is eating A LOT of omega 3 rich food, you are creating an imbalance by feeding peanut butter). Sweet potatoes, blueberries and oranges are GREAT! Excellent nutrition! Just make sure the blueberries are organic because they are on the 12 dirtiest list (there is a list of the chemically dirtiest and cleanest produce available put out every year and that's what we, parrot keepers, use as a guideline for what we can buy 'regular' and what needs to be organic). My grays LOVE juicy stuff like cantaloupe, watermelon, ripe pears and peaches, etc. Rice is good but it cannot have any salt, oil, butter or anything. There is a concern about arsenic levels in rice... brown is the worst when it comes to this while white is better but, unfortunately, white rice is nothing but simple carbs (I use Lundberg's -California brand that consistently read the lowest in arsenic levels- red and black in my gloop or Thai Basmati if I need to get a bird to gain weight).

Now, as to pellets... well, you will find that many people will recommend them and they are certainly better than seeds if one goes by an either seed or pellet only diet but, personally and after my research, I don't think they are the best dietary option for parrots. I (and others here) feed gloop which is a dish made out of whole grains cooked lightly (al dente so they are a bit soft on the outside but still hard inside) mixed with pulses (I use small white beans and black lentils) and chopped or small-sized frozen veggies (because frozen is most nutritious). This is served at room temperature accompanied by raw produce (one fruit, one leafy green, one veggie) for breakfast and all day picking and, in the evening (about one hour before sunset), they get a good quality mix of seeds and nuts for dinner (dinner is measured so they get enough to fill up their crop and taken away either after they fall asleep or before they wake up completely to prevent them from eating high protein in the morning). See, the thing with parrots is that they crave high protein (and that's why they love chicken, eggs, seeds, nuts and even pellets) but when you feed them too much, they end up with all kinds of medical issues: fatty liver disease, high uric acid, gout, obesity, high cholesterol, cardio vascular problems, etc. And that's why a comprehensive physical with complete blood work (CBC, avian chem panel and bile acids) is essential when they get to be a certain age and have not been eating right (which yours, apparently, have not her entire life).

As to whether it's a female or a male, you can visually tell with Congos but I don't think you can with Timnehs because I have checked mine for the difference you find in Congos and it's not there (mine is DNAd a female, by the way - both my CAG and my TAG are). And they are both broody right now (they are short day breeders) so they are been VERY affectionate -which I love because, with them, is not the norm

[Vieve]

Thanks for all the advice! I have not tried giving her melon yet, but I will give it a shot - I think she would like that. I like the idea of the food mixture you make as well. I think Melilah would like that more than the pellets. As for the chicken bones and eggs, they were suggested by our avian vet. She said they are onmivores?

[Pajarita]

Nope. There are only three species of parrots that are classified as omnivores (Keas, Antipodes parakeets and Golden Winged conures) and, in my opinion, there is a fourth one on which the jury should still be out (the Vasas). All the others are classified as herbivores. Avian vets mean well but the truth is that they don't study parrot nutrition, their expertise is on anatomy, physiology, pathology, etc. Their texts books have a very small chapter on avian nutrition and that's it. But, in all honesty, there are so many different species of birds that are kept both as pets and in zoos that it would be impossible for them to study every single dietary ecology of every single species... Just think of the incredibly wide range they would have to cover from carnivores, to piscivores, to insectivores, to insecto-herbivore, to herbivore and every single species with different nutritional needs, some with more protein, some with less, some with more fiber, some without any, etc. And all of them been seasonal eaters! I've only been studying a few species of parrots and it has taken me over 20 years to begin to scratch the surface because it's not only what they eat in terms of, say, fruits or nuts, it's also the nutritional values of each item, how they interact, whether something can be eaten on a daily basis or just sporadically, different types of protein or fiber, preparation method: frozen, fresh or cooked, etc. It's a VERY complex subject.

Many years ago, everybody said they were omnivores (and I can tell you my theory of why people came to this conclusion, if you wish) and, if you look in the internet, you will find as many references to them been omnivores and herbivores but if you go to the ornithological classification, you will find that with the except of those three, they are herbivores. And, when in doubt, always go to nature and see what they eat in the wild. African grays do not eat meat or eggs, they usually list their diet as consisting of 'fruits, nuts, leaves, bark and flowers' and they add that they 'may' consume insects. There was a story going around the birdsites years ago (I don't know if it's still going around, I don't really go to any other site) that grays had been observed eating carrion in the wild but, when pressed for details, nobody had any! Everybody was just repeating something they had read in another site, nobody had seen or could link a picture, a video, a name, a field or study, a wildlife biologist report or anything that was even semi-credible. The whole thing was highly questionable because, for one thing, fresh carrion is NEVER found in the wild... the predators that brought down the prey usually have to guard the leftovers after they feed day and night from the scavenger species - and they often have to fight real hard for it! And the only species of birds that can eat spoiled meat are vultures, hawks and eagles -all carnivore species so, I ask you, what were the chances that a flock of grays had 'happened' upon a fresh kill that was completely unguarded? None.