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Does anyone else have a problem with parrots pilfering your food?

aDORYble

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I usually put aside a bit of human food that she can eat. For example, scrambled egg or egg white with no salt, a piece of crust, berries, etc, that goes in the cup on her stand or on a little plate. Lately however, she’s grown bolder about crossing from her stand over to my shoulder, running down, and snatching bites of what Im eating. A bit of toast, fine. But of course I don’t want her to ingest something that isn’t good for her.

How do you guys curb this behavior?

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Ripshod

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Put extra in her cup then as soon as she shows any interest in what you're eating eat from the cup with her.
All I can think of, sorry.
 

SandraK

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Put extra in her cup then as soon as she shows any interest in what you're eating eat from the cup with her.
All I can think of, sorry.
That's usually why we hide when we're trying to eat people food. Even with a bowl/plate of their own sample platter whatever is on our plates MUST be better!
 

Toy

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Giver her, her own plate next to yours. My B&G eats with us a lot & she has her own plate with foods she can have. If she tries to eat off my plate I push her beak away & tell her to eat her own food. If you don't want her doing that then move the stand away or put her in her cage during meal time. One thing you can't teach a parrot is "no". To them no just means keep trying, LOL.
 

Yoshi&Raphi

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Yes Yoshi is a massive food thief, he has to go in the cage if I can’t share.

The more I don’t let him eat something the more he wants it just like a typical bird :cautious::lol:.

Today I was eating crackers and he flew on to my plate grabbed a little bit and ran away before I could it off him.
 

Lodah

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Pilo is a real sneak! We always share treats and he gets extra in his cage when we are eating... but that doesn’t stop him from landing on my shoulder, asking for big kisses and then attempting to grab something whilst I am occupied! Such a ham!
 

hrafn

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My macaw, Taco, has a hilariously apt obsession with tacos and burritos, and will do everything in his power to sneak a piece if he ever sees me eating one. Generally, if I'm eating something that's potentially dangerous for the fids I'll avoid eating in their rooms, or put them in their cages with their own special treats to eat so they don't feel left out.

Luckily for Taco, there's nothing in my tacos he can't have, so I'm honour-bound to share.
 

aDORYble

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Be thankful that you don't have tiel companions - they think nothing about walking across your plate of food or even standing in it while they pick at what they want. :bvryafd:
Haha, I actually do have a couple of tiels! I got them from a rescue and they weren't hand tamed. They like a little interaction but nothing much, and they've never taken an interest in my food.

My macaw, Taco, has a hilariously apt obsession with tacos and burritos, and will do everything in his power to sneak a piece if he ever sees me eating one. Generally, if I'm eating something that's potentially dangerous for the fids I'll avoid eating in their rooms, or put them in their cages with their own special treats to eat so they don't feel left out.

Luckily for Taco, there's nothing in my tacos he can't have, so I'm honour-bound to share.
What do you make your tacos with out of curiosity? If it's beef or pork I cannot eat it, but otherwise it would be cool to have a meal where I don't have to say no to Dory about any item!
 

hrafn

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What do you make your tacos with out of curiosity? If it's beef or pork I cannot eat it, but otherwise it would be cool to have a meal where I don't have to say no to Dory about any item!
I use black beans, peppers, corn, salsa, lettuce, cashew "cheese", and cauliflower "meat" that's basically just baked cauliflower and spices like cumin and chili. No guac in the bird rooms of course. Acidic fruits aren't great (to my knowledge) so I give him pieces with less salsa, but everything else is fine in moderation. I'm vegan so a lot of my food is parrot-friendly purely by accident, which is nice because the flock can share with me. :)
 

aDORYble

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I use black beans, peppers, corn, salsa, lettuce, cashew "cheese", and cauliflower "meat" that's basically just baked cauliflower and spices like cumin and chili. No guac in the bird rooms of course. Acidic fruits aren't great (to my knowledge) so I give him pieces with less salsa, but everything else is fine in moderation. I'm vegan so a lot of my food is parrot-friendly purely by accident, which is nice because the flock can share with me. :)
Ooooh that sounds great! I'll have to try for sure. Honestly cauliflower is one of my least favorite vegetables XD! But perhaps I've never had it prepared in a good way. Thanks!
 

aDORYble

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By the way - do any of you get your birds blood tested or something to make sure their diet is ok and they're perfectly healthy? Dory seems fine visually, but sometimes I get a little paranoid haha.
 

macawpower58

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Mine are always after what I'm eating.
My macaw is very gentlemanly, and always asks first, he'll say 'umm, looks good' when he's asking.
My Goffin on the other hand will try and snatch it from my mouth if she can.
She's even gotten my lip once or twice. No Too on my shoulder while eating!
My Zon just fluffs and looks hopeful.
 

Faun

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Oh my gosh Athena would dive into my plate when I first got her. It took alot of patience but finally she accepted her own bowl/plate. I got her a tree stand with one of those removeable bowls. Best investment ever! She loves it! And now we have dinner every night and shes learned to fly right to her bowl so cute. I usually make her quinoa in advance or sometimes a little oatmeal or rice and then heat it up and sprinkle on whatever veggies Im having.
 

harpy

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Be thankful that you don't have tiel companions - they think nothing about walking across your plate of food or even standing in it while they pick at what they want. :bvryafd:
Yes! My birds are so naughty! Griffin my Cockatiel will literally stand on my plate and help himself if he can. Siren my Ringneck will literally sit on my shoulder and try to snatch food as I go to put it in my mouth :laughin:


I use black beans, peppers, corn, salsa, lettuce, cashew "cheese", and cauliflower "meat" that's basically just baked cauliflower and spices like cumin and chili. No guac in the bird rooms of course. Acidic fruits aren't great (to my knowledge) so I give him pieces with less salsa, but everything else is fine in moderation. I'm vegan so a lot of my food is parrot-friendly purely by accident, which is nice because the flock can share with me. :)
Yummm that sounds awesome. I'm vegan too so my birds each mostly what I eat too :laugh: Of course no avo, onions etc

I usually eat coconut yogurt, berries, seeds (chia, flax etc) in the mornings. That's Siren's favourite to try and steal lol
 

tka

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Leia is usually pretty good and ignores me eating. However, she does like to lick cutlery and I have to be careful about her not coming into contact with saliva. She has stainless steel toys but no, she desperately wants to play with my spoons.

However, one evening she made as if she was going to grab my fork so I went to take it off her, and then the little turd STOLE AN EDEMAME BEAN OFF MY PLATE AND FLEW AWAY WITH IT. I can't work out if it was just opportunistic or whether it was actual deception, which suggests that she has theory of mind. Kids don't develop this until they're 3 or 4 (if I remember correctly) so I'm secretly hoping that my girl is very smart even if she is a little thief.
 
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aDORYble

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Leia is usually pretty good and ignores me eating. However, she does like to lick cutlery and I have to be careful about her not coming into contact with saliva. She has stainless steel toys but no, she desperately wants to play with my spoons.

However, one evening she made as if she was going to grab my fork so I went to take it off her, and then the little turd STOLE AN EDEMAME BEAN OFF MY PLATE AND FLEW AWAY WITH IT. I can't work out if it was just opportunistic or whether it was actual deception, which suggests that she has theory of mind. Kids don't develop this until they're 3 or 4 (if I remember correctly) so I'm secretly hoping that my girl is very smart even if she is a little thief.
Wait, is there something wrong with saliva? I’m freaking out a bit now because something (very gross) that Dory does- I guess because she saw me removing and putting in my invisalign when I first got her, now sometimes when I yawn or am talking, she’ll randomly rush and stick her head in my mouth and try to pull it from my teeth D:
 

hrafn

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Wait, is there something wrong with saliva? I’m freaking out a bit now because something (very gross) that Dory does- I guess because she saw me removing and putting in my invisalign when I first got her, now sometimes when I yawn or am talking, she’ll randomly rush and stick her head in my mouth and try to pull it from my teeth D:
Yes, mammals like us have gram negative bacteria in our saliva that birds do not carry, and their bodies are not equipped to fight. It can be very very dangerous for them.
 
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