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Post by grace51 on Dec 2, 2017 20:37:49 GMT -5
I am a new member. My daughter found a Quaker parrot in the street and brought him/her home. To make a long story short he was sick; we brought him/her to an aviary specialist and is now doing well. However the problem we are having is that he/she is a very picky eater. We have bought numerous bird food etc. Harrison's, zupreem, hartz for medium birds. My daughter says all he/she wants is the sunflower seeds. I have given him/her apple, edamame, regular peanuts. I have tried other greens but to no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions. Thank you.
Grace
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Post by biteybird on Dec 2, 2017 22:20:35 GMT -5
Hi Grace, and welcome to you and your quaker (& daughter!).  There are heaps of posts in the Diet section about how to transition birds onto pellets - it can be quite tricky and time-consuming. It may be that your quaker has never eaten anything but seeds/sunflower seeds. That will make things harder, but it can be done. Sorry - this is a very rushed reply - but I'm sure others will chime in with advice when they see your post. Keep offering a variety of foods - one day he/she may try some and like it, you just need to be persistent, keep offering bits and pieces (I mean just leave them in the cage for a couple of hours) and be prepared for a bit of food wastage. You may have to resign yourself to giving him more seeds than is advisable, intitially, at least while you work out how to approach changing his diet/coming up with a transition plan. *There are some toxic foods: e.g., DON'T give avocado as it will kill. It's great that you took the time to rescue your little friend and take him to the Vet. Please let us know how he/she goes! |
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Post by cnyguy on Dec 2, 2017 23:11:12 GMT -5
Welcome! You do have to be persistent when introducing new foods to a parrot. Keep trying, and offer the same foods prepared in different ways. A lot of parrots who are unused to eating pellets will accept softened ones. Soak the pellets for a short time in good quality water or unsweetened fruit juice, then offer the softened pellets. Both my parrots enjoy the soaked pellets, though they eat the dry ones too. Ralph's favorite food is fresh green peas, but both Ralph and Scooter the CAG eat a variety of vegetables. They both like cooked garbanzo beans (chick peas), served just slightly warm. Many parrots like cooked sweet potatoes (neither of mine do, unfortunately; sometimes they'll reject something, no matter what you do). You can try eating some of the same foods while your QP looks on. Parrots usually want to share foods that their human friends are enjoying. |
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Post by julianna on Dec 5, 2017 13:06:44 GMT -5
Howdy... Hope things are going well with your new friend. Cnyguy just reminded me that yes... warming the food just a little helps. Oscar (my Quaker) is not fond of corn nibblets however, if they are warmed up a little... he loves them.
Oscar helps himself to whatever he likes from my dinner plate. He knows not to go into the plate and if he finds something he likes, I will move it over to the edge so he can help himself. He loves loves loves pasta. lol... Did I say he loves it?? lol. His favorite is spaghetti but he will eat all kinds of pasta.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
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Post by grace51 on Dec 5, 2017 14:40:27 GMT -5
Thank you all for your input. Ollie loves apples, pasta, edamame, sweet potatoes. I will keep trying to feed him different foods. I will take your recommendation to soak pellets in water to soften them up. We just got him to sleep in his cage. I'm assuming that he was always outside. He was found on the streets of The Bronx. He has plenty of room in his cage. He doesn't like to play with any toys I bought for him. We have no idea how old he is or if he is a he. I will keep plugging along.
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Post by julianna on Dec 6, 2017 13:27:05 GMT -5
Don't worry about him not playing with the toys. Most Quakers prefer things like an empty toilet paper roll, a piece of Kleenex, or cardboard. They love to tear things up. My Quaker has never played with his toys and I have tried so very many different ones.
Just be really patient with the little guy... it takes them a long time to trust people and to get used to their surroundings. Keep talking softly to him to reassure him that all is well. They like some music or maybe you could sing to him. You don't need to know the words to the song... just make up something. Give him lots of eye contact and attention.
Good Luck.
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Post by Grace on Dec 7, 2017 17:49:19 GMT -5
Ollie eats his poop. Is this normal? We have had him since August and he still is not sociable. Only to my daughter where he resides. Who knows how long he was on the streets before we found him. We are going to try to warm his pellets and see if that helps.
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Post by cnyguy on Dec 7, 2017 21:34:00 GMT -5
Ollie eats his poop. Is this normal? No. Often it may look like a parrot is eating poop, but what they're actually doing is cleaning whatever it fell upon. Rarely do parrots really eat their droppings, but it isn't a normal thing to do. |
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Post by biteybird on Dec 8, 2017 3:24:37 GMT -5
Our Bonnie looks, at a casual glance, like she is eating her poop, but really she nibbles it to break it up and then pushes it out of her sleeping hut (I know....she poops in her hut...EWWW! I think it's because when she 'backs up' she doesn't go back far enough). So your Ollie may not be actually eating it - maybe try to have a closer look when he does it? |
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Post by grace51 on Dec 8, 2017 14:08:15 GMT -5
Thank you all for your input
My daughter will tAke closer look to see if Ollie is actually eating his poop.
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Post by julianna on Dec 10, 2017 14:36:49 GMT -5
When my Oscar used to poop on me, I would wipe it off and then he would go back and literally make a hole in my clothing to get rid of it... lol. I have thrown away so many clothes because of the holes and that is the big reason I have trained him to stop pooping on me.
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