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Post by beccilouise on Jun 5, 2016 4:17:11 GMT -5
Hello everyone! Just a quick one. Maya is doing really well all round. Her diet now consists, daily, of:
- KAYTEE's rainbow cockatiel sized pellets
- Lafebers Nutriberries in garden veggie/summer orchard/tropical fruit/el paso flavour, normally about 5 or 6 nuggets a day
- sprouted mung/adzuki beans, chickpeas and green lentils
-boiled sweet potatoes
- green beans
- broccoli
- boiled peas
- boiled baby sweetcorn
- carrots (she has these every couple of days because she seems to get bored of them if she has them too much)
She also has boiled eggs on some weekends, some boiled pasta on occasion and she likes to share my fruit and fibre (I checked with the vet, he says it's perfectly fine because it's whole grain, but to watch how much of the dried fruit she munches because of the sugar, she tends to go for the grain), and she likes a bit of brown seeded toast. When I'm feeling particularly indulgent, I put a little bit of peanut butter on it.
The vet says her diet is pretty well rounded, but I'm concerned by the lack of leafy greens. However, I have tried Maya repeatedly on both broccoli leaves and kale. She is not a fan. I do, to boost calcium, have a calcium block in her cage and sprinkle crushed oyster shell over her veggie mix. Has anyone got any tips for persuading a stubborn quaker to eat her leafy greens? Or any suggestions for anything else I can add to her diet? Thanks all!
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Post by biteybird on Jun 5, 2016 6:16:57 GMT -5
Sorry, I've no worthwhile advice in this area...Bonnie resists all attempts at eating anything I want her to eat (unless I trick her into believing she's stealing it - maybe you could try that).  I really think Maya's diet sounds fine. At least she is getting benefit from the broccoli itself. Maybe you could try silverbeet (or spinach)? Sometimes Bonnie likes a slice of cucumber, although I realise that it contains a lot of water. |
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Post by beccilouise on Jun 5, 2016 6:55:40 GMT -5
Thanks biteybird, silverbeet sounds good. I think spinach has chemicals in that prevent the birds from absorbing the calcium, and also Maya made her feelings VERY clear the first time she ever saw spinach! She has red peppers occasionally, which have magnesium in them, and she also loves apples and occasionally has grapes. The stealing trick might work. I'll have a go...
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Post by cnyguy on Jun 5, 2016 19:55:13 GMT -5
Spinach contains oxalic acid, which impairs absorption of calcium (in people as well as parrots). It's not a problem if spinach isn't eaten often. Spinach has lots of nutritional benefits, so it's fine to feed it to parrots occasionally. Some parrots just refuse to eat leafy greens-- aaron's QP Cupcake is one of them here on the Forum; he's mentioned that a few times. Ralph is pretty good about eating his green vegetables, but he does tire of them sometimes, so I vary what he gets. Scooter the Grey is just learning to like things like kale and Swiss chard. My advice is always to keep offering the vegetables you want your parrot to eat, and eventually, there may be success-- but it may take lots of time and lots of wasted food to get there.  |
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Post by julianna on Jun 6, 2016 12:54:11 GMT -5
Oscar loves the romaine lettuce. Perhaps as a trick you might try making yourself a sandwich with lettuce in it... and see if Maya will take a bite that way. They love to eat what we are eating.
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Post by lesley on Jun 6, 2016 23:58:08 GMT -5
Hi Becci, Coco is also stubborn when it comes to greens. I feed him very similar vegies to you and just keep on trying to persevere. I found that when I feed him on the kabob stick he tends to sample more. I think I will try Julianna's tip as I seem to have tried disguising it every other way. They really are really stubborn hahaha.
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Post by biteybird on Jun 7, 2016 6:14:13 GMT -5
Yes, they're very stubborn and know what they want - or don't want! I tried doing lots of lip-smacking noises whilst pretending to eat something I wanted Bonnie to eat...it actually worked a bit. So "never say die"! |
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Post by beccilouise on Jun 7, 2016 8:38:00 GMT -5
hahaha, the charade we go through to try and persuade our birds to do things! David walked in the other day as I was pretending to play excitedly with Maya's new foraging perch. She was on top of her cage, looking at me like I was nuts, and David just burst out laughing! A kabob stick is a really good idea, I might try that Thanks guys! |
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Post by aaron on Jun 23, 2016 9:49:29 GMT -5
Yeah, as Gary pointed out, Cupcake does not eat leafy greens... Although we have had some limited success with steamed spinach. But for all intents and purposes, Cupcake's diet is completely devoid of leafy greens, and she seems fine. Feathers look good, no stress bars or signs of malnutrition, etc.
Honestly, I think that sprouts alone (just my non-expert opinion) can provide almost all the nutrition a bird needs. I think the diet you've described is more than adequate.
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Post by Jasper's minion on Jun 24, 2016 0:05:51 GMT -5
Maya's diet sounds terrific. I'd be happy if Jasper ate even half of those things! He's very fussy and seems to have an intense dislike for anything green. He eats pellets and like an apple every couple of days which I put on a kebob thingy and hang from his cage. He will eat potato or sweet potato and sometimes pasta or rice when he has dinner with us every night. I made zucchini slice for the family last week ad gave him some hoping he wouldn't see the zucchini, but he picked right around it!
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Post by biteybird on Jun 24, 2016 1:54:55 GMT -5
I think Maya's diet sounds fine, too. Bonnie will not touch broccoli or green beans, or nearly anything green (with the exception of cooked peas). She's a Carbs bird (loves cooked potato, white rice and bread/toast), but seems to be doing well. I might try the sprouts again, as she wasn't interested in them much a while ago. The Nutriberries sound good - I haven't seen them for sale anywhere here in Australia yet, but I guess I could order them online. I'm sure Maya is in the peak of health thanks to your diligence, Beccilouise! |
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Post by lesley on Jun 24, 2016 4:31:00 GMT -5
It's good to see that we aren't in the minority when it comes to fussy stubborn behavior. I think that we all try hard to ensure they are in good health. I have recently come across some dehydrated vegies made by Trill that you can add to their food. I have tried this and Coco seems to like it, hopefully this will make a bit of good difference too.
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