Worst thing you've seen someone feed their parrot?

[liz]

Don't say Dorp. He might return.

[Pajarita]

Raw meat...that's a new one. Maybe it's because a lot of people think greys resemble vultures slightly...
MB usually gets to sample what I'm eating, and generally I eat pretty well but sometimes I splurge. So he gets junk occasionally. If we go to Starbucks he gets a puppachino (not the whole thing). He would be an absolute fatty if I let him..his personal favorites include ice cream, mashed potatoes, pasta, pizza, and buttered toast (and really only the buttered part). The worst thing people can feed their birds is seed mix (or better yet straight sunflower seeds and millet) long term causing all sorts of metabolic issues, fatty liver disease, problems secondary to obesity, and nutritional deficiencies. A balanced diet with a french fry or two occasionally won't hurt anyone.

You really need to learn more about parrots physiology and dietary ecology, my dear. Your bird has a very unhealthy diet because anything that contains animal protein is not good for them (they don't have any mechanism to get rid of bad cholesterol as it doesn't exist in their natural diet).

[TooLove]

Raw meat...that's a new one. Maybe it's because a lot of people think greys resemble vultures slightly...
MB usually gets to sample what I'm eating, and generally I eat pretty well but sometimes I splurge. So he gets junk occasionally. If we go to Starbucks he gets a puppachino (not the whole thing). He would be an absolute fatty if I let him..his personal favorites include ice cream, mashed potatoes, pasta, pizza, and buttered toast (and really only the buttered part). The worst thing people can feed their birds is seed mix (or better yet straight sunflower seeds and millet) long term causing all sorts of metabolic issues, fatty liver disease, problems secondary to obesity, and nutritional deficiencies. A balanced diet with a french fry or two occasionally won't hurt anyone.

You really need to learn more about parrots physiology and dietary ecology, my dear. Your bird has a very unhealthy diet because anything that contains animal protein is not good for them (they don't have any mechanism to get rid of bad cholesterol as it doesn't exist in their natural diet).

I'm quite well-versed in both of those things. A study involving Quaker parrots that experimentally fed a diet with 1% cholesterol for up to 8 months found significant atherosclerosis starting at 2 months and advanced lesions starting at 4 months. I fully understand that they are not good for birds. They're not good for us either. By no means do those foods comprise anything but a miniscule part of my bird's diet and very rarely at that. I would much rather encourage him to try things and have him be an adventurous eater than be coaxing him to try foods. He happily tries anything that I offer him and you can rest assured that he eats an extremely well-balanced and healthy diet. And as a vegetarian who consumes limited dairy, the animal protein he gets is extremely limited.

[Pajarita]

No, no, you can't compare omnivores with herbivores when it comes to bad cholesterol. Our bodies are meant to eat it, just not as much as people do nowadays, while theirs is not. That's a big difference!

But, if you want him to try new things, why not make all those new things healthy? My birds eat a very large variety of things but no people's food and absolutely no animal protein except for organic graham crackers made with sugar cane juice instead of sugar and then only for super duper special occasions (maybe three times a year -they'll get some for Christmas) and grated hard boiled eggs (organic, vegetarian, no hormones/antibiotics and free range) during breeding season (also, maybe three times during the entire season).

[TooLove]

No, no, you can't compare omnivores with herbivores when it comes to bad cholesterol. Our bodies are meant to eat it, just not as much as people do nowadays, while theirs is not. That's a big difference!

But, if you want him to try new things, why not make all those new things healthy? My birds eat a very large variety of things but no people's food and absolutely no animal protein except for organic graham crackers made with sugar cane juice instead of sugar and then only for super duper special occasions (maybe three times a year -they'll get some for Christmas) and grated hard boiled eggs (organic, vegetarian, no hormones/antibiotics and free range) during breeding season (also, maybe three times during the entire season).

I'm not comparing. I'm just saying it's bad cholesterol for a reason: it's good for no one. He gets all healthy things and tries healthy new things all the time. There's a greater incentive to do that, however, when occasionally those new things are exceptionally delicious. You misunderstood me, I think. He gets "bad food" a few times a year at most. In teeny tiny quantities. My level of concern is very low, but I appreciate your good intentions.

[liz]

I share what I can with the little beggers. Yes they get a French fry now and then. I have a damaged pancreus due to my Auto Immune so it is not very often. Sometimes we have sandwhiches for lunch and they will get a bite of my bread or a veggi out of it. The begging never stops so I have started to use the word "mine". They are starting to catch on.

Rambo's last mom gave him jelly beans and handfuls of cheese curls.

[Pajarita]

No, no, you can't compare omnivores with herbivores when it comes to bad cholesterol. Our bodies are meant to eat it, just not as much as people do nowadays, while theirs is not. That's a big difference!

But, if you want him to try new things, why not make all those new things healthy? My birds eat a very large variety of things but no people's food and absolutely no animal protein except for organic graham crackers made with sugar cane juice instead of sugar and then only for super duper special occasions (maybe three times a year -they'll get some for Christmas) and grated hard boiled eggs (organic, vegetarian, no hormones/antibiotics and free range) during breeding season (also, maybe three times during the entire season).

I'm not comparing. I'm just saying it's bad cholesterol for a reason: it's good for no one. He gets all healthy things and tries healthy new things all the time. There's a greater incentive to do that, however, when occasionally those new things are exceptionally delicious. You misunderstood me, I think. He gets "bad food" a few times a year at most. In teeny tiny quantities. My level of concern is very low, but I appreciate your good intentions.

Phew! Thank goodness for that! Your list of his 'personal favorites' worried me something terrible!

[JaydeParrot]

I'd say about twice a month, my sennies get a piece of chicken about the size of a single peanut, just because I've heard that they eat bugs in the wild, so I figure a little occasional tidbit of chicken meat shouldn't hurt, they always seem to enjoy it.

The worst thing I've seen a parrot fed was a Ducorps Cockatoo in a pet shop, it kept screaming so two of the workers would keep 'rewarding' it by going over and giving it a crisp from a Walkers crisp packet. On what must have been the 3rd time at least I couldn't contain myself anymore, I walked over to the guy, smiled and said "I heard of guy who killed his pet Macaw like that". The pet shop guy stopped feeding the Cockatoo and asked me what I meant. "He shared a packet of crisps with his macaw and it died" I continued, "Parrots can't take the salt content, it kills them very quickly". The staff member's eyes widened, he pulled the crisp away from the Cockatoo, said "Oh, thanks for that", and quickly walked back to his desk.

The Cockatoo had also been dipping his crisps in the water, the water couldn't have been very good either, but it was never replaced during the hour I was there. It's one of my fondest wishes to have that place shut down or at least prevented from having parrots- that place is near every parrot lover's worst nightmare- but I don't really know where to start.

Anyways, that's my little rant over and done with... Does a little bit of chicken twice a month (as mentioned above) sound alright with everyone?

[liz]

I don't know if it is okay but I know they will steal to get it. Rambo took a piece of chicken off my mother's plate. Myrtle suspiciously waited until my back was turned. She was chewing a chicken bone to get the marrow when I caught her.

[Pajarita]

Jayde, I have heard the 'they eat bugs in the wild' argument over and over in birdsites but, although I am sure that they ingest an occasional bug every now and then, it begs qualifying. For one thing, most companion parrots (with the possible exception of Vasas), are qualified as herbivores and that means no animal protein. Think cows or horses, both also herbivore species, they graze all day long and I am sure that they consume some insects in the process but you would think somebody giving them a hamburger as a treat crazy, wouldn't you? Treats for them are apples, carrots, stuff like that. Now, even if we taken into consideration a certain number of insects they might consume in the wild (maybe a little worm inside a fruit or something like that), the difference is that insect flesh contains NO bad cholesterol. Chicken bought in supermarkets, on the other hand, not only have more cholesterol (have you ever seen the huge lumps of yellow fat they have under their skin?) than a chicken raised the right way, they usually also have all kinds of nasty things in them - like antibiotics, hormones, etc. So, please, do try to find something else that they like just as much and it's not bad for them. Have you tried to give them oven fries? My birds adore them! They are just regular fries (leave the skin on, it has lots of good stuff in it) you spray with olive oil (make sure they are coated all over) and sprinkle with a bit of chili powder or paprika (I use the Hungarian one because it has a very nice and distinct smoky flavor) before you put them in the oven (they should be golden all around so they are nice and crispy). Offer them a warm one right out of the oven and you'll see!