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Does Anyone Else Have A Picky Cockatoo? Help!

scrape

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My Sulfer-crested Too Lovie seems to be picky with his food. He can like something and then change his mind! He is not very motivated for nuts, but sometimes he is. Even if he likes it he can still throw it out. I want him to gain weight, but he doesn't make it easy! Even though I believe he eats what he needs, I feel like his breastbone is more prominent than it should be. He does not exercise those muscles much. He typically gets mash ( usually a new ingredient everyday) in the morning and TOPS pellets in the evening with treats whenever. I have tried oatmeal on a spoon, almond butter with his food, different fruits, finely chopped nuts in food. I leave him in his cage to eat in the morning alone, because if I take him out he won't eat. He'll just start playing. He goes through times where he does like this stuff, but he just doesn't seem to really love anything. Any suggestions? I want him to enjoy his food. I was thinking I might ask the rescue he came from for their mash recipe, maybe he will prefer it.
 

April

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I think @Shezbug has the same problem with her Too as well. Maybe she'll have some ideas for you.
 

Shezbug

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Birdie is not motivated by any foods at all, there’s no way to bribe him to cooperate with anything lol. He will always happily eat sunflower seed, green peas and peanuts (I don’t buy the peanuts anymore so he no longer has them) and now he will also eat some of the pellets I mix with his seed which eases my stress. He also eats a few more seeds now other than sunflower.
He will go through stages where he loves the chillies I grow or the mini capsicums I get and he will eat some of them as he tears them up and then all of a sudden he wont touch them. He ate a good whack of fresh picked mandarin yesterday so I gave him two to destroy and eat, more hit the floor than was eaten but he did eat a decent amount.
I’ve noticed he’s not ever up for a big variety of foods in a short space of time but he does kind of enjoy a binge on what he decides is not offensive so if he shows interest in something I give him a good serve of it.

A year ago he literally wouldn’t go near any foods that weren’t peas, sunflower or peanut so any progress with him I take as a huge win. If I added a few bits of carrot to his bowl of peas he’d refuse to eat anything so introducing new foods has been a long winded challenge.

As he does now eat a decent amount of a good pellet with all the added vitamins and nutrients he needs I don’t stress anymore about his lack of fresh food variety.
I give him fresh edible foliage and veg now more as enrichment than meals and he is slowly trying and accepting more fresh foods.

I have no actual advice to help I’m sorry, Birdie is still such a massive mystery to me and just when I think I’ve worked something about him out he proves me wrong lol.
I’ve recently decided to not kill myself with stress and worry over how different his diet, enrichment and activities are to Burt and even Squeak- any steps forward with him are a bonus and I’m taking this whole thing as a long trying marathon so hopefully in five years time I will be able to say he ate carrot instead of just throwing it at me lol.
 

Mizzely

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For Ripley he tends to be more interested in food he has to work for. Does he like to forage at all?
 

Toy

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Jasmine, my U2, has always been on the skinny side. She eats well, but doesn't gain weight. She eats all her pellets, nuts, veggies, seed mix, etc., daily. She plays in or on her cage, the parrot tower & outside in the aviary. She bounces, flaps her wings, climbs all over. She is healthy.

I met a U2 once that was half the normal size. I was shocked to see how tiny she was. She had been a rescue. She was also on the skinny side. The new owner tried everything to get her to increase weight, but she never did. I would guess some are just prone to be thin.
 

Icey

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Dolly came to me on an all seed diet. I have been mixing zupreem fruit and plain pellets in to her bowls and she is enjoying them.
She gets lots of fresh fruit and vegetables everyday like Frankie does and is enjoying it.
However, she can be really fickle at times and just toss everything you give her. It's almost as though she will only eat at certain times of the day; treats or not.
As long as she is getting a good mix and eating I am happy. I'm so used to feeding Frankie, my macaw lots of variety through the day and there's no comparison to what Frankie and Dolly eat.
 

sunnysmom

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Elvis could care less about food. He goes through stages too. He used to love almonds in the shell. Now he won't touch them. His current fav is cashews. He is on a pea kick right now. I will cut them open and he will pick the peas out. He will eat squash if I hold it for him but only the middle part. He also likes the insides of peppers. He won't eat the pepper part. I just keep trying different things. Freeze dried vegetables were a hit for awhile. He tends to like to eat more if I eat with him.
 

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Maybe try chopping large bites for the whole foods instead of small ones ..sometimes they like bigger bites then smaller ones :)
 

scrape

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Birdie is not motivated by any foods at all, there’s no way to bribe him to cooperate with anything lol. He will always happily eat sunflower seed, green peas and peanuts (I don’t buy the peanuts anymore so he no longer has them) and now he will also eat some of the pellets I mix with his seed which eases my stress. He also eats a few more seeds now other than sunflower.
He will go through stages where he loves the chillies I grow or the mini capsicums I get and he will eat some of them as he tears them up and then all of a sudden he wont touch them. He ate a good whack of fresh picked mandarin yesterday so I gave him two to destroy and eat, more hit the floor than was eaten but he did eat a decent amount.
I’ve noticed he’s not ever up for a big variety of foods in a short space of time but he does kind of enjoy a binge on what he decides is not offensive so if he shows interest in something I give him a good serve of it.

A year ago he literally wouldn’t go near any foods that weren’t peas, sunflower or peanut so any progress with him I take as a huge win. If I added a few bits of carrot to his bowl of peas he’d refuse to eat anything so introducing new foods has been a long winded challenge.

As he does now eat a decent amount of a good pellet with all the added vitamins and nutrients he needs I don’t stress anymore about his lack of fresh food variety.
I give him fresh edible foliage and veg now more as enrichment than meals and he is slowly trying and accepting more fresh foods.

I have no actual advice to help I’m sorry, Birdie is still such a massive mystery to me and just when I think I’ve worked something about him out he proves me wrong lol.
I’ve recently decided to not kill myself with stress and worry over how different his diet, enrichment and activities are to Burt and even Squeak- any steps forward with him are a bonus and I’m taking this whole thing as a long trying marathon so hopefully in five years time I will be able to say he ate carrot instead of just throwing it at me lol.
Lovie dislikes carrot too. They are so complicated! I at one time had pets rats and they never turned their head at food! Lovie is a bit food-motivated, I am able to use walnuts to work on harness-training. But not to the level my cockatiel was. Felix looked forward to treats. I will have to try more whole foods, so far he will ignore it or throw it off. Maybe I should shake things up with a different brand of pellets. That is interesting about the binging, the next phase I will double down on it. He has lived at the rescue for a long time so he must be eating enough to satisfy him.

For Ripley he tends to be more interested in food he has to work for. Does he like to forage at all?
He forages for nuts. Sometimes he isn't motivated and won't. I free-feed pellets and mash. I usually give most of his nut foraging toys when I am gone because that is when he thinks he has nothing better to do lol.

Jasmine, my U2, has always been on the skinny side. She eats well, but doesn't gain weight. She eats all her pellets, nuts, veggies, seed mix, etc., daily. She plays in or on her cage, the parrot tower & outside in the aviary. She bounces, flaps her wings, climbs all over. She is healthy.

I met a U2 once that was half the normal size. I was shocked to see how tiny she was. She had been a rescue. She was also on the skinny side. The new owner tried everything to get her to increase weight, but she never did. I would guess some are just prone to be thin.
It's interesting how different they can be. From what I know, Amazons are perch-potatos, I have yet to meet a thin one! And then cockatoos, mine would rather play than eat. Does her weight ever fluctuate at all? I will have to go around feel more kneel-bones around the bird rescue. I guess I feel hesitation because the director told me their bone should be flat or nearly flat to the skin around it and his is not.
I am glad I'm not the only one with a picky Too!:Sarahs:


Dolly came to me on an all seed diet. I have been mixing zupreem fruit and plain pellets in to her bowls and she is enjoying them.
She gets lots of fresh fruit and vegetables everyday like Frankie does and is enjoying it.
However, she can be really fickle at times and just toss everything you give her. It's almost as though she will only eat at certain times of the day; treats or not.
As long as she is getting a good mix and eating I am happy. I'm so used to feeding Frankie, my macaw lots of variety through the day and there's no comparison to what Frankie and Dolly eat.
Lovie is very similar. Sometimes he will just drop treats right there if he isn't in the mood. I think feeding him outdoors he seems to eat more. I think I am comparing his tastes to other species too much. I thought parrots loved fruit, but Lovie will only not throw one or two.

Elvis could care less about food. He goes through stages too. He used to love almonds in the shell. Now he won't touch them. His current fav is cashews. He is on a pea kick right now. I will cut them open and he will pick the peas out. He will eat squash if I hold it for him but only the middle part. He also likes the insides of peppers. He won't eat the pepper part. I just keep trying different things. Freeze dried vegetables were a hit for awhile. He tends to like to eat more if I eat with him.
Lovie could be Elvis's apprentice. He went through a pellet phase sometime in the winter. He was eating a bunch of them, would nearly clean the bowl. Not anymore. He consistently likes peas... at least so far. I have not tried freeze-dried veggies. Do you eat the same thing as him and share? Or just eat at the same time?


Maybe try chopping large bites for the whole foods instead of small ones ..sometimes they like bigger bites then smaller ones :)
I will give it a try.
 

Shezbug

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From what I keep hearing and seeing green peas seem to be a fav of many Toos.
 

scrape

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From what I keep hearing and seeing green peas seem to be a fav of many Toos.
We have a winner!:wewin:Peas for life!

Has anyone tried peas mashed?
 

sunnysmom

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Lovie dislikes carrot too. They are so complicated! I at one time had pets rats and they never turned their head at food! Lovie is a bit food-motivated, I am able to use walnuts to work on harness-training. But not to the level my cockatiel was. Felix looked forward to treats. I will have to try more whole foods, so far he will ignore it or throw it off. Maybe I should shake things up with a different brand of pellets. That is interesting about the binging, the next phase I will double down on it. He has lived at the rescue for a long time so he must be eating enough to satisfy him.


He forages for nuts. Sometimes he isn't motivated and won't. I free-feed pellets and mash. I usually give most of his nut foraging toys when I am gone because that is when he thinks he has nothing better to do lol.


It's interesting how different they can be. From what I know, Amazons are perch-potatos, I have yet to meet a thin one! And then cockatoos, mine would rather play than eat. Does her weight ever fluctuate at all? I will have to go around feel more kneel-bones around the bird rescue. I guess I feel hesitation because the director told me their bone should be flat or nearly flat to the skin around it and his is not.
I am glad I'm not the only one with a picky Too!:Sarahs:



Lovie is very similar. Sometimes he will just drop treats right there if he isn't in the mood. I think feeding him outdoors he seems to eat more. I think I am comparing his tastes to other species too much. I thought parrots loved fruit, but Lovie will only not throw one or two.


Lovie could be Elvis's apprentice. He went through a pellet phase sometime in the winter. He was eating a bunch of them, would nearly clean the bowl. Not anymore. He consistently likes peas... at least so far. I have not tried freeze-dried veggies. Do you eat the same thing as him and share? Or just eat at the same time?



I will give it a try.
Eat at the same time usually. Sometimes we share.
 

scrape

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Eat at the same time usually. Sometimes we share.
I will give it a go! He usually begs me to share, so I haven't been eating around him unless I am eating bird friendly food.
 

Wally&Eva

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Birdie is not motivated by any foods at all, there’s no way to bribe him to cooperate with anything lol. He will always happily eat sunflower seed, green peas and peanuts (I don’t buy the peanuts anymore so he no longer has them) and now he will also eat some of the pellets I mix with his seed which eases my stress. He also eats a few more seeds now other than sunflower.
He will go through stages where he loves the chillies I grow or the mini capsicums I get and he will eat some of them as he tears them up and then all of a sudden he wont touch them. He ate a good whack of fresh picked mandarin yesterday so I gave him two to destroy and eat, more hit the floor than was eaten but he did eat a decent amount.
I’ve noticed he’s not ever up for a big variety of foods in a short space of time but he does kind of enjoy a binge on what he decides is not offensive so if he shows interest in something I give him a good serve of it.

A year ago he literally wouldn’t go near any foods that weren’t peas, sunflower or peanut so any progress with him I take as a huge win. If I added a few bits of carrot to his bowl of peas he’d refuse to eat anything so introducing new foods has been a long winded challenge.

As he does now eat a decent amount of a good pellet with all the added vitamins and nutrients he needs I don’t stress anymore about his lack of fresh food variety.
I give him fresh edible foliage and veg now more as enrichment than meals and he is slowly trying and accepting more fresh foods.

I have no actual advice to help I’m sorry, Birdie is still such a massive mystery to me and just when I think I’ve worked something about him out he proves me wrong lol.
I’ve recently decided to not kill myself with stress and worry over how different his diet, enrichment and activities are to Burt and even Squeak- any steps forward with him are a bonus and I’m taking this whole thing as a long trying marathon so hopefully in five years time I will be able to say he ate carrot instead of just throwing it at me lol.
Second session of recall training (only one day so far) was the most pathetic thing ever haha they definitely didn’t come, just wanted to cuddle, kept running into my hands and crevices, wanted to use my phone, wanted to sleep with their dad. Pretending not to see treats. Didn’t fly once. Hahha we just laughed and gave them hugs cus they must have missed us as we have been in the other room for 2 days, spending time attempting to train, flying, learning to like their cage and toys. They’ve gotten attention but not the way they are used to in our bedroom, meaning just hanging out for hours and cuddling and being babied.

I’ve noticed their food differences, I hope they don’t get any aversions. So weird how they switch on ya. Like toddlers. Tricky little things, well, yours aren’t so little haha
 
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