Mouth eating?

[socal_sarah]

Hi folks, got yet another question about my new Cracker.

Yesterday, I decided I was hungry while he was sitting on my shoulder. I got my Wheat Thins & kippered herring out and started munching away. Much to my surprise, my dearest Cracker tried to pick some out of my mouth with every bite. He did the same again tonight with smothered chicken & rice, to the point he nipped my cheek when I wouldn't turn towards him to have a taste.

I know that we've got bad bacteria in our mouths, but this is also the only way I've found so far for him to even want to try something new.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[marie83]

Loads of ways to tempt him but if that really is the only thing that tempts him cant you just pretend to eat it? Parrots are smart but if you "pretend" well enough you can fool him.
I am begging you to stop feeding from your mouth, once a birds sick it can be really hard to diagnose and its still too often that it isn't caught until its too late. Hope I don't sound rude but I've been kept awake most of the night because of my sick parrots and they have been suffering for well over a year now, its unrelated to them eating from the mouth because they don't but thats not really what I'm getting at.

[hnhobu]

I too have a bird that only wanted to try new food when it was coming out of my mouth, so I feel your pain. I've fed every bird I've ever had out of my mouth and they're all alive and well or passed for other non-related reasons but, now that I know that human saliva is toxic I've stopped doing so with a few tips and tricks.

The first thing I do is what Marie advised. I eat whatever I want him to eat and act like it's the best thing in the world. There are times when he gets so jealous that he'll fly down off his cage and follow my into the kitchen and around the apartment because he wants whatever I have, and then once he gets it it seems like he can't get enough. This is what we did when we were transitioning him to Pellets and it worked like a charm.

If that method fails and I'm desperate enough I will wipe my lips off with a towel to remove excess saliva, invert them into my mouth to prevent my bird from getting his beak into my mouth, and then stick a tip or the stem of whatever I'm trying to feed him into my mouth just to hold it, and he'll nibble off of the part that's not touching me. This is something that could be considered risky if not done with extreme care, so unless you completely understand what I'm talking about I wouldn't even try it.

And last but not least, Cassette often eats with us as our kitchen table. I don't recommend this for most people because most parents are trained well enough to do this without making a mess of everything! Since the bulk of our diet is vegetables, he always has his own plate of whatever is for dinner to get him familiar with it. He rarely if ever eats off of it, but he is definitely curious. After dinner I'll put the little plate on top of his cage and he'll nibble at it a bit.

Hope this helped!

[lifesazoo33]

As has already been said, I wouldn't feed out of your mouth. If he is starting to become nippy about when you are eating, and won't eat what you are offering him, then maybe when you eat, you should either keep him in his cage, or on a play area.

In order to get my parrot to accept new foods, pretending to eat them did not convince him that it was good food. He would have to hear the crunching and chewing of food in my mouth (and sometimes even see my dogs eat some - apparently he thinks I might poison him ) What I have started doing is having 2 small pieces in my hand (without showing him that you have 2 pieces). I eat one piece, and then offer him the other one. This usually gets him to eat the food, and then I don't have to do it again when offered in the future. Hope this helps.

Don't let him become the boss of you

[Strawfrawg]

My tiel always wanted to try food from my mouth, but according to my old vet up at Cornell University Animal Hospital human saliva is toxic to birds, as others here have said, so the answer was "no". I did get him to try new things by pretending to eat it first...it wasn't hard to fool him and if he saw where the food was coming from he wanted off the plate anyway. I'd say just try to fool him. If the threat of toxic saliva isn't enough, the other concern is having a bird that nips at your mouth. Not a great habit for a beak to get into!

Like "Hnhobu", I let my tiel eat at the table, off the edge of my plate at first and later from a plate of his own. I really enjoyed having a true family mealtime and it allowed me to monitor how well he was eating healthy fresh foods. It went miles toward helping him try new things, too. I plan to train my new Senegal to do this and you may find it will encourage your bird to try new things. My boyfriend's Sennie always ate with him and was willing to try any new food that was presented. Good luck!

[socal_sarah]

Thanks for all the replies! I knew it was bad & I've been turning my head away so he can't get to my mouth. I've thought about putting him away but haven't done it yet. I have tried having a separate spoon for him, which he completely ignores. He also won't get near the plate or bowl that I'm eating from either. I'll try the fake-out approach & see if it works on this smarty pants.

On a funny side note, Cracker has brought to my attention that I evidently smack my lips quite a bit while eating. He started doing yet while I was eating dinner. It was both funny and embarrassing.

[GreenWing]

Yeah, please don't do it. Don't risk your bird.

[socal_sarah]

I tried the fake-out approach at lunch time when I was preparing the fresh fruit & veggies for my baby rats. It worked with a piece of apple and a smidgen of sliced ham! Couldn't believe it, but what a blessing that you guys suggested it! Here's to hoping I can get Cracker to realize that I don't feed animals (or kids) yucky stuff, only yummy stuff!