Happy Dance, Paco ate squash!

[Snowghost]

Well after two years, I'm not surprised that Paco is finally tired of his heated up broccoli and peas (frozen) So I'm like now what? Of course he likes banana's, cucumbers, and now he likes green grapes but we all know they cause watery poo! To him I think its a texture thing. Anyone else notice this? If its mushy no deal. Cold? Not happening. So I offered him slice of yellow crook neck squash, oh H@!! no. So I nuked a sweet potato, only 5 min, keeps it firm, chopped up a little broccoli, and guess what? Small pieces of squash. Boo yah he gobbled it up!!! I have a confession, I did wait a little bit longer and wait til he was little hungrier then usual, hey it worked. I really think his feather plucking issue is related to one, stress, which I try to reduce by routine and second, diet.

Hope to continue this journey of discovery and love with my boy!

 

[BirdG1rl]

That’s a huge step! Well done to you (and Paco!)

 

[Snowghost]

I still need to improve his diet any suggestions?

 

[BirdG1rl]

Hmmm…my birbs always go crazy for kale. Maybe try that? I find that there are a number of ways you can improve your bird’s diet.
1. Focus on the orange veggies and fruits and the dark leafy greens.
2. Present them in different ways: for example, my tiel Rocky will only eat kale when it’s dunked in cook water and clipped to the side of the cage. He won’t eat it blended, shredded or in any other way. He’s quite the fusspot!
3. Sprinkle seeds over the veggies or fruits-maybe the bird will take a nibble of the vegetables as well while eating the seeds.
4. Another thing that works for me is on hot days I freeze a carrot stick or a leaf of Romanian lettuce and pop it into the cage-Rocky especially will tear apart the whole thing and it’s a great way to cool your birbs down!
I hope you find these tips useful!

 

[Snowghost]

I don't want to sound like a downer but I have tried everything. Any kind of leaf veggie he is afraid of it. I tried seeds, herbs and nope he won't touch it. As I stated I think its a texture thing for him. I thought about small pieces of squash since its not soggy. I can smear sweet potato on broccoli and he will eat it. When I tried the squash in a slice like a cucumber oh hell no. So I chopped it into small pieces. Maybe I'll try other root vegetables. (thought just came to me) Beets and carrots maybe, or some fresh string beans, he likes them canned, not raw. Gees mother's think a toddler is a pickie eater they should have a parrot! LOL

 

[BirdG1rl]

Maybe @Zara can help?

 

[Zara]

Gees mother's think a toddler is a pickie eater they should have a parrot! LOL

If he´s enjoying the sweet potato, then you may have luck with carrots. Cook and present them the same way as the S.P´s he´s enjoying.
Or try baby carrots so he can hold them nicely in his foot.

Have you tried sprouted seeds?

Remember to keep offering things over and over again, even if he doesn´t eat it the first time, it´s not to say he doesn´t like it.

 

[Snowghost]

To be honest I'm running out of ideas. He ate a lot more squash this morning. I have to hide it in the broccoli. Tried to skewer food, nope, sliced and chop, no go. I've tried sprouts, he's afraid of them. I'll just keep trying different things. S.P?

 

[macawpower58]

Mine love scooping the peas out of sugar snap peas.
In the beginning I had to slit them open so they knew the peas were there.

Another is corn on the cob sliced in 'wheels'. Just big enough to hold a slice and nibble the corn off.
The left over corn goes back in the frig for the next wheel day.

Another favorite is cooked (al dente) veggie pasta.

 

[Shannan]

My Walter is a lot like your Paco as far as food and recently I have found that he likes the texture of canned pumpkin so I am thinking about trying puréed baby food ( is this a good idea?)

 

[Snowghost]

Mine love scooping the peas out of sugar snap peas.
In the beginning I had to slit them open so they knew the peas were there.

Another is corn on the cob sliced in 'wheels'. Just big enough to hold a slice and nibble the corn off.
The left over corn goes back in the frig for the next wheel day.

Another favorite is cooked (al dente) veggie pasta.

Ah now maybe sliced wheels of corn might work. He's afraid of a cob, my Amazon and Cockatiels would tear up some corn now. He loves the al dente veggie pasta, however I was worried they weren't as healthy as I thought they were. I only give him the beets, spinach and carrot ones and gobbles them up.