Need tips from members!!

[LAAnnie]

Just took my IRN PeeGee to vet for checkup, and was informed she is overweight! Vet says she is eating too much safflower seeds (those little white seeds she loves) and nuts, not enough veggies! Vet also says PeeGee's favorite foods (apples, corn, grapes) are low in vitamin A.

Bottom line is, I need to find a way to get this fussy bird to eat more broccoli, carrots & other yellow-orange fruits & veggies that are high in Vit A, and less seeds. She is very picky, anything she doesnt like gets tossed on the floor.

anyone have any tips for getting IRN's to eat the right foods? Thanks, all!

[ScarletKnight]

i think it was imran from this forum who suggested this ( the one with archimedes as the his banner and is site admin) take what ever u want and smarsh or broil food. chop it finely do anything and include it with reg food parrot might take it. do it little at a time not like u give it a whole head. build it up mix it. i did it with my irn ( still to be named) and he started eating stuff now. Good luck let me know if you need more advice i have had ringneck since i was baby so i can tell you other tricks. as per fruits goes ure parrot should already like tropical fruit research it and see which 1 has high vit A. since they are from atropical area.
scarlet

[Melika]

Remove the safflower seeds from PeeGee's food completely, and only use them for treats. That can help to begin with.

Have you offered carrots? I tend to slice them first in half so you have two short "carrots" and then make little sticks. It's easier for ringnecks to grasp that way.

You may need to only feed apples, corn and grapes once or twice a week. Your vet is right, they do not have the highest nutritional value when that's all your bird eats. Try feeding different fruits and veggies on the other days.

Seedless grapes are mostly water, similar in value to watermelon. I rarely feed grapes to my birds.

ScarletKnight is right, mashing things together can really help. You can also try birdie bread.

Here's a good article about what foods are healthy and why: http://www.landofvos.com/articles/feeding.html


You may need to offer foods for a while before PeeGee decides she might eat them after all. Be persistant. ^_^

[Lisa's Tiki]

Tiki used to hate carrotts, but now he loves them. At first I started slicing them in circles and steaming them and he would nibble on them a little. I would also chop up small pieces and cook them in his scrammbled egg and he had to eat them that way, because you couldn't pick around them. After awhile I guess he found out that he does like them after all and now if I give him the little baby carrotts, he devoures them. I place about 5 little baby carrotts in his dish before I leave for work and by the time I come home there is very little evidence that carrotts even exsisted! Just keep putting the food in his dish mixed with other foods that you know he likes and eventually he will try it.