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Bedtime Difficulties

M_Riddly

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Ok so my baby goffins Leo really dosent like bedtime. Wow. I know. That's a new one. A cockatoo who dislikes being put up for the night. Haha.

I try to make it not distressing for him by cuddling him right before I put him away and doing it quickly so he dosent see me too much (I cover his cage at night). He just is super reluctant to step off of me onto the cage perches or even the floor. I have to practically force him to get off. While it's no problem for me to do that while he is still young. I am worried it might become a problem when he becomes an adult or even a hormonal teenager. I know that's years in the future but still. Progress takes time and I would like to make bedtime more enjoyable for him. When I close the door he climbs the bars of the side of the cage and goes back and forth sideways. Like swaying but it's fast and almost panicked. Any suggestions?

I should preface this bird is not in the least bit food motivated. This may be because he is a baby or just the way he is. Only time will tell on that one. I have heard it isn't uncommon for a Too to not be super food motivated and enjoy praise and attention or petting and loving over a food reward. I would totally cuddle him through the cage bars when I close the door if I physically could, but I'm still working on vibrating my molecules through stuff Barry Allen Flash style. Haven't quite gotten it down.

Also if anyone could give me some insight on getting my bird to eat his fruits and veggies??? He HATES fruits. If it's sweet then it's not for him. He accidentally got a bite of banana when he was trying to take a chomp of lettuce and his bottom jaw hooked a piece of banana.....long story short he now will attack bananas. Only when they are put out for him to eat. He is holding a grudge on them for not being lettuce. That being said he will accept carrot sticks, green beans, and romaine lettuce, not as food, though. They are just toys to chew up. He ingests none of the veggies. I have tried chopping and mincing the veggies and only got an upturned beak. How do I get the veggies to go down his throat???
 

Mizzely

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My Hahns was like that with bedtime. What I ended up having to do was train her to step up onto a perch and then the perch was the transfer to the cage.

How big is the cage? Sometimes that can be a factor also.

Australia birds tend to not care for fruits in general, so I would skip them and focus on veggies. Some tips from my blog:

Serve less, not more. Remember that birds only eat about 15 to 20% of their body weight daily. For Jingo, I usually only give him 1 to 2 tbsp of chop a day because I also want him to eat pellets. If you provide your bird with a large amount of food, they tend to pick their favorites. Offering less may encourage them to eat what they are given.

Eat with your bird. It is instinct for birds to avoid things they don't recognize as food. They learn safe foods from their flock, and in our homes, you are part of the flock! If they see you eat it, it shows them that it is edible and safe. You can also even try just sitting next to them while they eat, as eating is a flock activity.

Vary the presentation. Sometimes they don't like the way things are cut, or the bowl, or the temperature. Try offering it warm, or cold. Try cutting up things in different ways - for example, carrots can be diced, cut into coins, or sticks. Sometimes a new shape will encourage them to eat. Try a plate vs a bowl. Some birds really like to eat veggies on a plate on the cage floor, while others prefer a bowl at the top of their cage! Eventually you will find a willing combination!

Try not letting ingredients touch. Some birds prefer that their food is not all mixed together and would prefer that their carrots and peas don't touch! Try offering a plate with things dividing vs mixed together.

Offer first thing in the morning. Birds tend to be hungriest when they first wake up. Try offering chop as the first meal of the day!

Let them "steal" it off your plate. Do you have a bird that won't eat anything given to them, but will eat anything you are eating? This trick works on Jingo every time! I let him think he is stealing something tasty off my plate, and he will eat it everytime! Stolen food must taste better.

Mix in favorite foods. While they will likely pick out their favorites first, veggies tend to stick to each other in a chop and they may accidentally fall in love with whatever is attached to their favorite food! If nothing else, it makes a positive association that can help bridge the gap.

Make bird bread. You can use a pre-made mix like Harrison's to add veggies to, or make one from scratch using low glycemic flours. Add in veggies and your bird ingests the veggies and hopefully gets a taste for them! This has worked well for me with pellets as well.

Make veggies fun. Put them in a foraging toy, hang them up on a skewer, or weave them through the cage bars!

Try smoothies. Some birds love nothing more than to drink down a tasty smoothie! Take your chop and blend it into a drink and see if they will eat it that way. You can also make it into a puree (think baby food consistency) and feed it on a spoon for a nutritional bonding session,

It will be messy. No matter if they love or loathe chop, it will be messy. This is also natural. One of the things parrots do in the wild is help things in the top of the trees make it to the ground. This feeds the tree itself, as well as insects and animals that can't reach them. It is an important part of the jungle, but unfortunately the behavior comes inside with them!

Patience. It will take time for some birds. Keep offering! If you stop offering, there is no chance for your bird to accept it.

 

M_Riddly

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He has no aversion to putting the food in his mouth. He just dosent view it as food. To him it's as edible as a block of wood. He just chews it to bits and dosent eat the bits. It's all a game to him. I tried feeding it to him in the morning when I first got him out of the cage and then again after he ate some of his seeds and his appetite was started up. It's just a chew toy to him.
 

Mizzely

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He has no aversion to putting the food in his mouth. He just dosent view it as food. To him it's as edible as a block of wood. He just chews it to bits and dosent eat the bits. It's all a game to him. I tried feeding it to him in the morning when I first got him out of the cage and then again after he ate some of his seeds and his appetite was started up. It's just a chew toy to him.

Well as I said:

Eat with your bird. It is instinct for birds to avoid things they don't recognize as food. They learn safe foods from their flock, and in our homes, you are part of the flock! If they see you eat it, it shows them that it is edible and safe. You can also even try just sitting next to them while they eat, as eating is a flock activity.

Will he eat bird bread? As that was another one of the tips I listed.
 

M_Riddly

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I've tried that. And no. He just tears or crunches that up too. He has never tried to eat my food. I tried eating some and then giving it to him. Same result. Chew toy. He isn't in any way afraid of the food. He will sometimes eat a tiny piece of the green bean and I mean the internal bean inside the pod. I've tried plucking out the beans but then he won't even touch them. Picky bird.
 

Mizzely

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Well hopefully someone else has some ideas, as those are all of the tricks I've used for my flock over the years!
 

M_Riddly

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I wish I could just eat something and him register it as food. Lol. I'm going to try making more birdie bread tomorrow but maybe cooking it as varying lengths of time. My tiels only eat WELL DONE things. As in crunchier than cement. No squish for them lol. Won't even eat walnuts. They are too soft. I gotta bake the life out of anything I want speckles to eat. Luckily pellets are crunchy. Maybe Leo might like something softer or harder??? We will see tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
 

Icey

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As for the night time ritual. Do you put him in to bed the same time every night?
Is he getting too much sleep? How many hours sleep is he getting?
If he's moving back and forth, he wants to be out. You are giving him cuddles at night and he wants more :)
 

cassiesdad

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@sunnysmom might have some insight for you...:)
 

M_Riddly

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He gets 11-12 hours of covered time. I put him to bed at the same time ever night. I know he doesn't hate the cage completely because when I woke him up the other day he was playing with a toy. I just want him to not see me putting him away at night as some sort of negative thing. Heck. I love sleeping at night. Probably one of the best things I do every day.
 

iamwhoiam

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My Bare-eyed used to cry when I put her to bed. At first I would go to her and then I realized that I needed to leave her alone. She finally grew out of it. She is now 26 and when she is out of the cage and I am holding her it's very difficult to remove her. She just wants to stay on me. I actually have to pry her off and then I reward her with some scratching/petting and verbal praise. Food doesn't necessarily motivate her either. Just have to tell her it's time to go in the cage and slowly remove her. I have to be extra careful with Cody because she has a history of stress seizures.

My Goffin's, Keno, is food motivated. It's not easy to get her back into her cage either and sometimes I have to use a dowel or perch to get her to climb up and go back in but I can also tempt her with some of her favorite treats such as walnuts, almonds and cashews. She knows how to step up but she likes to run away and climb back on her cage (not going inside, though) or another bird's cage (not a good thing) and then it's hard to get her off via "step up" onto my hand. Throwing treats into her cage or using the dowel has been helpful.

Both my Keno and Cody like veggies but they are not into fruit that much. Cody will pick out the banana chips from her seed mix but won't eat fresh banana. Neither will eat berries. Sometimes they will eat apple or pear. You can try to mix fruits and veggies in bird breads and mashes. However, neither of my 'toos will eat those although Cody loves quinoa so can sometimes mix other goodies with that but most of them time she will toss the extras and just eat the quinoa.

Keep trying with the fruits and veggies. Eat some of those while sitting with or next to Leo, make a game out of eating fruits and veggies to try to get him more interested (seems he is already playing with them, though), and don't give up. Are you serving the veggies raw? Have you served cooked veggies? Both my 'toos like mixed veggies. I buy the frozen ones and microwave them.

Cody gets covered at night because it's easier for her to go to sleep with a cover over the cage. I only cover the sides and the front of the cage. If I don't cover her and turn off the lights when it's generally time for bed she will start screaming. Used to cover Keno's cage, because she would scream after I turned off the lights but she would just chew holes in the cover and then peek out. I used sheets as covers and tossed a lot of them due to their Swiss cheese appearance. :D Now I just let her scream for a bit, say "Goodnight" to her again and she quiets down.

How old is Leo now?
 

sunnysmom

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Goffins and bedtime. LOL. It's a challenge. Routine is really important typically. The problem with routine and a smart goffin is he or she knows what's coming and can evade it. :rolleyes: The biggest thing I've learned with Elvis (who I've had for a little over a year) is to get him in his cage BEFORE he gets tired. Once he gets tired, like a child, he is going to fight me going to bed. I still haven't mastered it. Some nights are easy. Some aren't. I play with him about an hour before bed. Like really play. Have him flying, hopping, dancing etc. At some point he then will go back in his cage to get a drink and usually a cashew. I then just lock the cage when he goes in. I'll let him finish what he's doing. Drink, eat a little, etc. And I'll have him just hang out in there for 15-20 minutes. Then, I'll cover him up. I sing him a "night night" song. I know it's silly but as soon as I start singing it he usually settles down. I also have a white noise machine for him. That seems to help also.

As for fruit- really just keep trying. I know people don't like birds in the kitchen, for good reason, but I have found that if Elvis sees me preparing food, like chopping up peppers, etc. he is more interested in trying it then if I just give him something in a dish.
 

cassiesdad

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Elvis was definitely a challenge at bed time...we'd give him a play workout in the evening...then it was "quiet time"...we'd have him go back to his cage and we'd tell him "It's Quiet Time"...it was very rarely quiet though. E would yell and screech...after a half hour to 45 minutes, he'd calm down, and we'd say "good night", cover him, and turn his "music" on. (white noise machine)
 

sunnysmom

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Elvis was definitely a challenge at bed time...we'd give him a play workout in the evening...then it was "quiet time"...we'd have him go back to his cage and we'd tell him "It's Quiet Time"...it was very rarely quiet though. E would yell and screech...after a half hour to 45 minutes, he'd calm down, and we'd say "good night", cover him, and turn his "music" on. (white noise machine)
What? My angel bird yelling at bedtime? I can't imagine. ;) At least he spared you the 3:00 a.m. screaming fits. At least I hope he did........
 

cassiesdad

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What? My angel bird yelling at bedtime? I can't imagine. ;)
The thing is that we expected it and we worked around it. It became part of Elvis's bedtime routine...:)
 

M_Riddly

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Luckily for me, Leo dosent scream that much at bedtime. Maybe he will let out three or four of his adorable little honks but he understands that I'm not getting him back out at night so he doesn't really try at screaming. He understands his efforts are in vain. Lol. He really hates it when I make his veggies "small". I tried feeding him chop the other day....not a fan apparently. He likes his veggies in sticks. Not a problem for me though. It's easier to cut sticks than chop. He dosent really eat much though. I found he seems to like tomatoes. Are those ok for them to eat??? He likes the seeds and jelly like stuff. Also peeling the skin off of the slices. I only let him eat a little because I've never heard of a bird eating tomatoes so I didn't want to let him eat something he shouldn't eat.
 

BareEyedMama

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I have an 11 y/o rescue Bare Eyed (its a total surprise, i know ;)) and what I do to get her to go in her cage at night is put her inside, close the cage, then turn off the light but I dont leave quite yet. She does the same thing your goffins does when put up so I just stand there or sit there with her for a couple minutes in the dark. Then I cover her cage and after its on I rub the sides of the cage and talk to her.
Total time: 5-10 minutes. I sneak out after she calms down. Works like a charm with minimal screaming, dancing and escape attempts.
 

NirAntae

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My Goffin's was the exact same way with fresh foods. She had great fun tearing them to shreds, but as far as I could tell, never ate a bite, no matter what I did... and I tried everything. Maybe it's a Goffin's tendency? XD I kept on giving it to her, though. I figured maybe she was getting a little of it even if it didn't seem like it, or she'd eventually start figuring out they were food and not toys... (I only had her for a little over a year and a half before unexpectedly having to somewhere I couldn't have birds and had to find a new home for her :( )
 
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