Transition from Seed and Water

[Stubbs'sGirl]

Hi all, I recently was given a Quaker Parrot. He's pretty well adjusted and healthy, but definitely needs some work. I've never had a bird before, but am learning as fast as possible.

He originally screamed A LOT, but with proper cage placement (in corner in the living room with lots of people watching time), a strict bedtime, transitioning of toys in and out, and lots of time outside his cage he's becoming a pure delight.

He's super vocal and loves to sing/talk, mimick me, and has picked up several phrases! He's tons more work than my cats or dogs, but just as entertaining.... if not more. I'm definitely becoming his "attached to" person, but he's still nice to anyone who comes over and lets just about anyone hold him.

My problem is.... he doesn't want to be food adventurous at all. So far he loves scrambled eggs and pasta, but NOTHING else. I give him a seed mix (what the previous owner gave him) and water and these two treats, but I know the eggs are a high fat food and can't be fed often.

I have tried so many different fresh foods to no avail! I don't think this is a health issue as he really is pleasant and well adjusted now with the changes to his routine, I think he's just SPOILED on the good stuff and the good stuff only.

I've not yet tried pellets, can someone recommend something for me? How else can I get him to start enjoying more fresh food? I just got an air popper and plan to try air popped corn later, but I'd also really like to get some fresh veg into his diet.

What are your opinions of steamed vs fresh vs roasted?

Please, please share some things that may be able to help me get some variety into his diet! Thanks in advance bird lovers.

[Stubbs'sGirl]

And because I'm a proud mommy..... here's my baby! Mr Stubbs!!!!

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Getting all ruffled for picture time!

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Happy to have woken me up for the morning, lol....

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[marie83]

He is gorgeous, well done for the progress made so far.

Personally I use harrisons pellets and used liz wilsons article to convert my birds onto it. http://www.northernparrots.com/successf ... et-blog43/

Don't feel you have to follow it strictly, tailor it to your bird if need be. My cockateil wont touch anything wet or damp so the mash idea didn't work. a similar process will help your bird try fruits and veggies too. Personally I don't think its a good idea to feed roasted veg but steamed/cooked/raw etc are all good. Just be aware that certain things like avocados are poisonous and some things should only be given in moderation.

What I will say is don't give up no matter how long it takes.

[Stubbs'sGirl]

Thanks for the link to the article! I'm going off to read it now!

I have another question slightly off topic, but while I have your ear.....

When searching for toys very few specify that they are for Quaker Parrots, but I see a lot that say they are for African Greys or other medium parrots. Isn't a Quaker about the same size as a Grey?

[Stubbs'sGirl]

Thanks for the article, it was a funny albeit informative read. I'll head over to the pet store today and pick up some pellets to start trying to converting him over. I'll be sure to report back and let you know about my progress!

Does anyone else have any other methods that have worked for fruit and veg sampling? I love what the woman in the article said about only having tried to get her bird to enjoy broccoli for 30 years before she took to it, LOL!

[pennyandrocky]

hello, mine prefer hot food so i give them steamed veggies it helps if they see you eat them.scrambled eggs with shell are said to be good i cook it for mine 2-3 times a week and alternate fruit,cereal or yogurt.seeds are high fat and should only be treat especially if he's not flighted.

[GlassOnion]

I would suggest Harrison's pellets as well. They smell 'green', which I love!

Have you tried making mash? Just put a bunch of veggies and pasta/rice and red pepper flakes into a food processor until everything gets as fine as it could.

I would also suggest hanging/weaving vegetable chunks through the bars of the cage or with a stainless steel skewer. Often, birds like chewing chunks off the veggies and learn to like the taste of it. This also works as foraging if you randomly place the veggie chunks in the cage.

What I do for my guys is make bird bread. Look up 'bird bread' on google and you'll get lots of recipes. It's pretty much a loaf baked with ground pellets, grains, flour as base and blended vegetables. I try to put in lots of colorful veggies like peppers, yams, beets, carrots, etc because vitamin A is very important for a parrot's wellbeing. Blending the veggies is quite important because if you chop them up, the bird can pick out what he likes and doesn't like.

[Stubbs'sGirl]

Thanks for the tips! I appreciate all those already made and those to come!

After posting this I was also thinking.... a lot of times what I will do is take Stubbs pieces of things while I am cooking or after I have cooked. I try to hand it to him while he's either in his cage or crawling around on top of it or put it in his bowl. I never though to skewer them or treat them as foraging treats.

I did have some luck this morning when I had lunch and was reflecting on this post again. I brought Stubbs over and put him on the tv tray where he was super close to me watching me eat. I was having Shredded Wheat Minis cereal and Fiber One cereal with chopped up strawberries. I have previously tried giving him all those things individually by handing them to him when he was on top of his cage. He just takes them and throws them down or ignores me altogether, but this time.... this time!!!!! I had him right there and he tried it ALL!

He liked the shredded wheat very much and was left with a very messy beak, lol, he also dug into the strawberries although he didn't seem to care for the Fiber One cereal which is just fine with me.... PROGRESS!!

Do most of you find you have more success by "bringing the bird to the table" with you or could I be creating bad habits?

[Grey_Moon]

Depends do you mind having him there?
Then nope, and its a *wonderful* way to both bond and get him to try healthy/new fresh foods while trying to get him over on to pellets. Jacko eats off my plate every morning, afternoon, night n every snack she sees me having (she decided she likes pistachios this way).

As far as toy size (my bird is a rescue so maybe she's quirky) as long as its not dangerous (example tiny parts with a macaw etc) bigger or smaller is really up to you, your budget and Mr. Stubbs (LOVE the name). My timneh girl prefers smaller toys most of the time so for me 'quaker/conure' size works awesome, so an 'african grey' which is btw a lot bigger than your quaker (unless you're talking a small timneh and a big quaker) should work fine.

Pellets are a good idea, and you can also pick up some vitamin powder to sprinkle on his fresh food to nourish him in the meantime. I like the idea of organic, personally though I wasn't crazy about the harrisons at all---a lot of corn, peanuts and sunflower seeds for that price organic or not. But that's up to you---if you can get TOPS (Totally Organics Pellets) i'd vouch for those instead (they're better ingredients and less costly).

[pennyandrocky]

that's how they eat in the wild our birds always eat with us as long as you don't mind changing your diet.you'll have to look up toxic foods for birds and eliminate from what your sharing.for example we can no longer include garlic in cooking and if we do i have to cook something different for them since they're used to hot food at dinner time.