by Pajarita » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:16 pm
1. I keep hearing about "gloop". Is this the best thing to be feeding her? If so, is there a recipe for it?
You are going to find lots of different opinions on this. Personally, I think it's the best food we can provide in captivity because it's low in protein and fat, contains veggies, it's easy to switch them to it (they all like it), it's not dry or processed (read 'dead') like pellets, you control the nutrition and quality of the ingredients (pellet labels never give you an exact value, it's 'more than' or 'less than') and it's a great medium to add supplements and herbals into their diet.
There is no real recipe so you can experiment with your own but it's, basically, a dish of cooked whole grains, pulses, some selected and highly nutritious seeds and veggies. I use wheat kernels, hulled barley, kamut, oat groats, wild/red/black/brown rice, black lentils (but you can use the regular ones, too), small white beans (I recommend using only these because they are the lowest in the bad lectin that all beans have), a bit of flax seed (and, during breeding and molt season, I add sesame and some chia, too), chopped broccoli, blue kale, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, peas, corn, chopped green beans, white hominy and one other ingredient that varies from batch to batch but it's most often artichoke hearts, followed by Brussels sprouts but it can also be palm hearts, yucca, beets, etc. The trick is to cook the grains al dente and for it to have a nice texture (at least, that's the way my birds like it best). There is also chop (same but with raw veggies), mash (aka as kitchen sink -same but a finer texture because they put everything through a food processor)
2. Her calcium intake was mentioned on another post. Her egg shells do seem to be pretty thin. How can I fix this? How do I get her to take a calcium supplement?
In her case, I would suggest 5 days of Calciboost (you get it on the net), rest 2 and then another 5 days.
3. How much should I be feeding her a day?
I feed mine gloop (3/4 to 1 measuring cup) and raw produce (I doubt she will eat much of this if she is not used to eating it before but try corn on the cob lightly steamed so it's still crispy, raw broccoli and apples -these seem to be everybirdie's faves) and about 1/4 cup of a lower protein seed mix (like a safflower-based cockatiel mix)
4. She needs her claws trimmed, but I have no idea how it's done, or how long they're supposed to be. Input?
I only trim one of my cockatoos claws because he has this habit of grabbing your hand real hard but, if her claws are real long, you could try trimming them yourself (she won't let you if she is not used to it) or asking the vet to do it for you.
5. Should I put some kind of small rock or something on the bottom of her cage for her to rub her beak and claws on?
My birds use rocks from my garden (I wash them first) and tree branches for this but they also get large cuttlebones.
6. My husband was going to build her a natural wood "playground" for the top of her cage for her to climb on. Is this a good idea, and if so, what would be a good kind of wood to build it from that she won't destroy? (We live in Pennsylvania).
Yes, it's a VERY good idea and you can use any non-poisonous wood but don't look for her not to 'destroy' them, the best part of using tree branches is the fun they get from peeling the bark off and chewing them.
7. Since her feathers are still growing back, she hasn't attempted to fly, so we don't know if she can. Should we watch her as if she is a fall risk? Should we keep her close to the floor when she's out of her cage?
You can put an old quilt on the floor around her cage and cover it with newspapers. I would not try to keep her close to the floor, birds like to be as high as they can (it's ingrained into them by nature as it's the safest place when it comes to predators)
8. She has been spending a lot of time sitting on the bottom of her cage. Is this because of her eggs? Will she stop doing that if I clean out her cage and throw the eggs away?
Yes, brooding does that to them and don't throw her eggs away until she has completely forgotten them.
9. She still nips and tries to bite people if they come near her (including me). It doesn't always happen. She is fine for my husband. She seems to like big guys. She did bite me pretty good on my thumb one day as I was changing her food dish. She bit down and started shaking her head. If it had been any of my other fingers, I had probably ended up at the ER. How do we break her of this? How do we get her to handle easier? I always speak to her calmly and lovingly....she's my little buddy and I want her to trust me.
You need to bond with her but she is now overly hormonal and has chosen your husband so, although you can start now, you won't really get a whole lot of results until her hormones begin to dissipate.
10. How often should your bird see the vet? What do you do if you don't have an avian vet in your area?
It depends on the condition, age of the bird and degree of knowledge you have when it comes to symptoms and signs of problems. In your case, it seems to me (correct me if I am wrong) that she hasn't been taken to one in a long time if ever so I would be making an appointment for a physical as soon as possible. I don't know where you live in Pa but there is the avian clinic at PennU and, if you live in Monroe County or near it, I recommend Dr. Jodie Santore (she used to be in Homestead Veterinary in Jonas)
) instead of filing them down.
