LOOKING FOR GOOD GLOOP RECIPE!!

[seagoatdeb]

Depending on how your lifestyle is and how much you are home with the parrots there are many ways to feed. i give the raw vegetables in a dish by themselves and will leave it out for many hours. If i make cooked grains, pasta, beans and/or lentils, or raw sprouted seeds, then they will be seasoned and served on their own, and thrown away in a few hours. My parrots love turmeric and cinnamon the most for seasoning. Fresh fruit is thrown out in a few hours, except for ones like peppers. Same with frozen, vegetables, I thrown them out in a few hours. It isnt so much making a gloop/chop as it is making sure they get the adequate nutrition each day.

They also get some of what i eat that is healthy for them, so this morning i made a green raw smoothie, just a simple one, but one on my favorites. it was Pear, kale, and sprouted almond milk blended together to make a smoothie. So my parrots got a piece of pear, some kale, and sprouted almond, but they also got to have a sip of the smoothie. This was a snack treat, since they had already had their morning veggies......they eat before i do. Sunny loves his pear, and Guagan is "iffy" about it, but they both love to chew on my garden kale and sprouted almonds. There veggie mix which today, is raw brocooli, cauliflower and carots just stays in there dish to snack on all day. In the evening they get fruits with more veggies and some of what i eat that is good for them.

This is what works well for me.

[Pajarita]

I use spices every day on their gloop but I give them unseasoned the very first day I make it. I use chili powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, oregano, rosemary, thyme, garlic, black or white pepper, paprika, ginger, etc.

My senegals came to me as adults with not good diets but they became very good eaters. Although they would gladly munch on a red Swiss Chard stalk, they are not really big on leafy greens but they do like their veggies and fruits and eat them every day. I think it's all a matter of timing, presentation, sharing and persistence... If you catch them hungry (early in the morning as long as they don't have seeds to eat all day long) and eat in front of them as if you did not care whether they did or not, eventually, they will want what you are having (they are 'contrary' that way )

[seagoatdeb]

My parrots are not very partial to store bought greens, in comparison to the ones i pick fresh from the garden. I have Kale and Collard Greens all year in the garden and I usually pick them a little bit of the newest juicy growth. They are always less picky of their favorite foods and greens is not usually one of a parrots favorite.....lol

[Pajarita]

Yep, leafy greens is the hardest thing to get them used to eating in a regular basis UNLESS we are talking about cockatoos, tiels, budgies, lovies, etc. The little ones usually like the greens (they are natural granivores and that means greens and grass seed) and, although I don't know why cockatoos love greens, I can attest to this fact because all five of the ones I've had were (and are) GREAT 'salad' eaters.

[ms pato]

I use spices every day on their gloop but I give them unseasoned the very first day I make it. I use chili powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, oregano, rosemary, thyme, garlic, black or white pepper, paprika, ginger, etc.

My senegals came to me as adults with not good diets but they became very good eaters. Although they would gladly munch on a red Swiss Chard stalk, they are not really big on leafy greens but they do like their veggies and fruits and eat them every day. I think it's all a matter of timing, presentation, sharing and persistence... If you catch them hungry (early in the morning as long as they don't have seeds to eat all day long) and eat in front of them as if you did not care whether they did or not, eventually, they will want what you are having (they are 'contrary' that way )

So nutmegs and garlics are completely safe?

[Pajarita]

I don't use a lot of anything, just a sprinkle and only about once a week or every ten days (there are so many different spices that one doesn't really need to repeat them that often) as well as only fresh, very finely chopped garlic and I have been doing it for over 20 years without any bad effects on them so, yes, they are safe. The only thing my parrots don't like is curry powder so I never use it even though it has turmeric that is so very healthy for them...

Oh, and I also use unsweetened grated coconut to flavor the gloop.

[seagoatdeb]

all spices are very potent so we are talking about tiny amounts for flavoring.

[Wolf]

With as much as I have learned here on this forum and through my own research, and taking into account how much I do not know, I really wish that I could say that anything is completely safe, but I can't. There are many things that we should be able to say are completely safe for our birds , but due to the methods that we use to increase the productivity of our farms, worldwide, and at the current levels of pollution of not only our air and ground but of the water supply as well, the best that I can say is that they are relatively safe and with spices in particular a little bit goes a very long way.
I am far more confused and afraid of the amounts of our food are GMO foods without our knowledge and this is even more prevalent when it comes to our animals foods, and why I only feed human grade foods where possible and then like so many other have to also be concerned about the dirtiest of the organically produced foods. I realize that this is just my opinion and is perhaps a bit overboard, but it is still what I think about everytime I purchase any foods for my animal family members.

[Pajarita]

I don't think it's 'overboard' but then, I am a maniac when it comes to what I feed my animals.

[seagoatdeb]

Not overboard at all Wolf, I shop at health food stores here that only stock non GMO fresh food and the other foods are clearly labeled as GMO free. Any meat is grass fed and free ranging. It costs more, but its worth it to me.

I remember telling my daughter why she should not eat foods that are full of artificial ingredients. I said to her "would you eat it if the chemicals were taken out and put in a pile instead of hidden in the food?"