diet frustration!

[DanaandPod]

Food dehyd ration maintains nutrients? I'm definitely going to try the oven method till I get a dehydrator. Thanks everybody.

[DanaandPod]

Low and behold I was preparing carrots, green peppers and cranberries to dry in my oven. And, I heard some chomping noises. Mr. Nosey was on the cookie tray eating cut peppers which he would never touch before. I could tell he wasn't as thrilled as if they were blueberries. However, he ate more than one.

[Wolf]

That is great, and now you have a taste tester to make sure that you all have the best food you can produce. Just be careful about having too many cooks in the kitchen.

[JessiMuse]

that's amazing! I guess he decided he should try and steal some while you weren't looking.

That's another tactic that I found works well. Eating or preparing it with him out, but WITHOUT his own serving. They think they're getting something special when they steal it.

[Wolf]

Based only on what I have read stealing the food is part of how a parrot's parents teach them what to eat. It seems that after the baby parrot flrdges, but before it is own its own the parents take it out to forage so that it can learn where to find the food. Then they leave the babies on a branch while they go and get some of the food, which they bring back to the branch and begin eating it in front of their babies without giving them any of it, they then bring more of it back and again begin eating it until the baby bird tries to take it from them, then after the babies try to steal it a few times the parents make sure that the baby is able to steal a piece from them.
I have never seen then do this, I have only read about it. I do try to incorporate it into how I tell people to get their birds to try new foods as I figure that the way the parents do it is probably the best manner to do it ourselves.

[seagoatdeb]

Low and behold I was preparing carrots, green peppers and cranberries to dry in my oven. And, I heard some chomping noises. Mr. Nosey was on the cookie tray eating cut peppers which he would never touch before. I could tell he wasn't as thrilled as if they were blueberries. However, he ate more than one.

Thats great you have found one way he will try things.

The best method I know to teach parrots to eat veggies and fruits is by watching another parrot eat them. If you eat with them it can help for sure. I have tried every trick to get Gaugan, my redbelly to eat veggies and fruits, she was my most picky eater. Teaching her to playfight with me and then using veggies to play fight with her was one of the best working methods. Sometimes feeding slighty warm, would get her to eat it. I also found that continuing to offer a vegetable or fruit will often result in them eating it sooner or later. Adding a little Ceylon cinnamon, or other spice they like can encourage them to eat too. I have even used rewards for eating vegetables, (a piece of nut) until she has learned to like the vegetable without reward. It took time to get her to eat a good amount of veggies and fruit. Now she can hardly wait to get her mix in the morning. She likes fresh vegetables better than most frozen, but will eat either. My Meyers eats everything, so he is very easy. Because of him eating so Gaugan could see him, Gaugan even started eating mandarin oranges which she has always refused before.

[Wolf]

I like to use the principle of parrot see, parrot do. I have used it rather extensively for years, long before I ever had any birds. It is a principle that works all across the board regardless of the animal that I want to train. I have found that if I start with them as babies and let the older animals do the teaching then by the time they really start listening to me, most of the training has already been done for me.

[Pajarita]

Food dehyd ration maintains nutrients? I'm definitely going to try the oven method till I get a dehydrator. Thanks everybody.

No, it does not. Artificially drying preserves fiber, vitamin A and iron but it destroys vit C and phytonutrients completely and greatly reduces virtually everything else. And, when it comes to parrots digestion, their dryness is 100% unnatural (parrots diets need to have high moisture).

[JessiMuse]

Well, I use it to try and get them used to such foods in the first place. Then eventually get them into eating the foods fresh and raw.

[Pajarita]

Well, if it's just a tool, I guess it's OK but, personally, I would much rather use, say, a birdy bread to get them to eat healthier in a hurry and just take my time getting them used to the frozen/thawed or fresh produce.