Any Suggestions for Feeding a Fussy African Grey Parrot?

Question

I had a question a few weeks ago about tips for an African Grey Parrot I had taken in. He was a wee bit unhappy and feeling neglected and had pulled all the feathers on his legs, back and belly.

I have now had him for 6 weeks and he has a soft down all over his body and tiny red tail feathers coming in (shh don't tell him) he still pulls the odd one now and again, but on the whole is fine.

He seems to be happy, he whistles sings, talks away, barks like the dog and says Ouch!! when he feels tempted to pull, BUT he is a seed addict. He came to me that way.

I can get him to eat peas, pomegranite, pear, banana, the odd bit of corn and a wee bit of scrambled egg or cheese, but everything else gets thrown at me, he wont even try it. I am supplimenting his diet just now to make sure he stays healthy, but has anyone got any tips to get hm to move to something healthier than seed.

Oh if I take away his seed he wont eat - he is that stubborn!!!

Answer 1

The fact that you have already got him to try new things is a great start. Take no notice if he throws some things at you. Keep offering them to him , try eating them in front of him and offer him some of yours.
Try him on boiled and mashed sweet potato, fed lukewarm. Most birds enjoy warm mashy food as it reminds them of being fed as a baby. It is high in vitamin A which helps to boost his immune system and is a useful aid if you ever need to mediccate him. All of my parrots love their 'baby pudding' (as my blue fronted amazon calls it) and will gulp it down and not even notice medicine in it.Pomegranates are also very good for parrots. See if you can get some lychees from tesco or sainsburys. You will have to half peel it for him but once he has learned how yummy they are you will eventually be able to give them as they are. With parrots, half the enjoyment is getting the food out of the skin or pod. I feed mine peas in the pod when I can get them. Try those little 99p a pack mange touts and baby corn from any supermarket. To help you get adventurous with his diet I have posted a link for you below. It's one of my favourites.
As for the seed. You probably know that african greys suffer from hypocalcaemia which can kill them. Sunflower seed hinders the absorption of calcium whioch makes the problem worse. However, if you soak the sunflower seeds for 24 hours, then rinse well and feed them, they change from a bad food, to a good food. Also try sprouted wheat which is great and full of healthy wheatgerm. It is early days for him, and part of the battle is just getting him to try new things. Since he is already trying things you are on to a good start. Mine also love low fat yogurt and as this is high in calcium this is also good.Try also almonds in the shell. They are easy to get open, provide entertainment for the bird and the almond has lots of calcium in.
Try not to offer much fruit as it contains nothing more than sugar and water. Aim fro dark green leaft veggies and anything coloured yellow, red or orange as these are highest in vitamin A.
Please don't feed pellets. They were a marketing ploy by American poultry feed manufacturers and contain little more than grain, and chemicals. The parrot was never evolved to eat dried grain. Their beaks are so shaped because they like to hull seeds and nuts. The bird has to drink massive amounts of water to try to balance the liquid in the body which has been absorbed by the pellets. Besides, feeding the same old thing every day is simply not stimulating for parrots. To change to a pellet diet, the parrot owner has to literally starve the bird into submission.There have been many cases of birds getitng kidney problems after being forced to eat pelleted diets. Again I have provided links below. Pellets were designed for lazy parrot owners (which you are not) in order for them to feel good about not being bothered to provide a balanced natural diet. The people who developed tham didn't think "oh here is a way we can do some good for parrots" they thought "here's a way we can use cheap ingredients and make massive profits".

Answer 2

I have a few answers. We just adopted a orange winged amazon, from a family that couldn't care for her anymore. She didn't like anything that wasn't in the shape of her red pellet food. So we had to start taking that food away and fill her bowl up with carrots, lettace, grapes, oranges, and maybe a sunflower seed. (She loves to shell a sunflower seed.) Well anyway. Once she noticed that her regular food was gone she was like." Wow, whats that. It looks good." The bowl would be gone in less than ten minutes.

Now when she sits on our shoulders anything we put in our mouths, a pretzel, a sandwich, a spoonful of cereal, she is always interested. So we give her a little bite. Then we go get her carrots, shes in love with her carrots, and we start munching on them. Then she wants some. Its funniest thing you've ever seen. So I guess my point is once you show them what kind of healthy food there is out there, they always wanna try everything to see if its any good. So good luck to your African Grey, and I'm glad that he's getting feathers back. Hope this works for you!

Answer 3

I just got a 3 month old Grey myself! He's almost completely weaned, and the breeder gave me real clear instructions on what to do, so lemme share em with you. The first thing I did was get a spoon, and hammer/bend the two sides up, so you get a sort of makeshift shovel. The tip should be narrower than the base. You can scoop up the food with it, tilt your birdy's head back and pour the stuff in. You can buy the ready-made shovel at a pet store, but it'll set you back about 20 bucks, so you might as well get a spoon and bend it yourself! Try not to use a syringe, because you might accidentally release the food down his windpipe (its left side) instead of down the gullet (on its right). Have some towels & newspapers ready cuz it's gonna get messy! What kinda porridge did he give you? Is it plain? I think instead of porridge, go to a petstore and get a bag of bird food in powder form for weaning babies. Mix about a spoonful with 3 spoons of hot-ish water till you get a paste that's thick enough to trickle down the spoon him but not too runny.. Test it on your wrist to make sure it's not too hot! If you wanna feed him porridge, about 4 spoonfuls should be more than enough! Oh and try giving your Grey bananas. Mine absolutely adores them because they're soft, easy to chew and really tasty. And I read somewhere that spinach isnt good for Parrots, so stay clear of them. That, and chocolate, onions, coffee and apple seeds (they contain arsenic). And try to not feed it too much salty stuff. Good luck with your new baby!

Answer 4

Wow! You have got a picky parrot!

The only thing my African Grey won't touch is Banana. He cowers from it, even the small slices (whoever heard of a parrot with a banana phobia?). He loves grapes, oranges, apples and nuts, so try them on yours. Buy the seed with dried fruits, peppers and monkey nuts in (mainly sunflower seeds btw). Ours loves that mix.

Hope that helps, if you have any more Q's, contact me through my 360 page!

Answer 5

A Jamie Oliver cook book should provide you and the parrot with a veritable host of delicious meals to enjoy. However, I don't think that African Grey Parrots get much scrambled egg, cheese or peas in the wild!

Answer 6

What works for my cockatiels and should still work for something smarter- pretend you are eating the pellets/ fruit whatever and that you are enjoying it immensely. Keep pushing him away if he tries to snatch any to taste it. Then go do something and he will probably try to snatch it from your plate. It has worked every time with my birds, and they get so angry that I am eating something and not letting them!
Another way is to mix some pellets in with the veggies he likes and maybe he will eat them. Possibly start out with very small pellets and then move up to Parrot sized.

good luck!

Answer 7

My Grey came to me eating only seeds too. Try mixing in some pellets w/his seeds. My grey loves Zupreem. The organic kind, it's tan I forget the exact name. It may take a while but just keep slowly taking his seeds away. My grey would eat nothing but seeds now he eats everything!! We have to lock him up when we eat cause he begs for food! Good luck!

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Always have vegetables on hands. Saute a big bag of frozen mixed vegetables in extra virgin olive oil and garlic. Add some red pepper as well as turmeric for additional flavor and separate into portion-sized containers for your fridge.

Answer 10

Here is a thread on seed conversion. I have found this to be a very helpful forum. I know it is for quakers, but lots of people on there have many different birds, african greys being one of them. Good luck.

http://www.quakerparrots.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1366