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How to stop birds from throwing food out of the cage?

PunLover

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Hello, I have a simple problem here: My Budgies tend to throw larger peices of food they don't like out of the cage, even if others in the cage do like it. I have a cage tidy wrap around the bottom but that doesn't help much, especially since sometimes they aim it at me. Getting sultanas stuck to your feet can be a problem if you accidentally walk them out of the room, where my mum has her dog as an indoor dog. If I get a feeder with a hood, then that makes it harder for the birds to share and eat. Is there anything I can do? I can't just not give them their fruit and nuts, of course. XD
 

Shezbug

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Gosh you get nicer stuff thrown out at you than I get lol.

I don’t have the same issue with my little bird, I’m not sure how you could fix the problem without seeing your set up. I’m wondering if a big feeder in the middle of the cage would be better than bowls on the wire- or maybe even a hanging feeder that is positioned in the centre?
 

PunLover

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I've tried other feeders, I even tried a stainless steel bowl and they wouldn't go near it for so long the treats I put in went mouldy. =[ So all I've got are the two clear containers that hang from some doors in there, and without multiple they'd fight when eating. As it stands, Chitters bangs the cage door to scare off others if he wants to eat. I need to get a new SD card reader before I can post proper pictures, too. The only one I have that shows a feeder was one I took of Discourse being a derphead. There's two of these in the cage, and they of course prefer the one higher up but will chase others away. There's two bonded pairs in here, the bonded pairs have no issues eating together but not with one of the other pair. No actual fights, mostly just Chitters picking up and letting go of the door to bang it if he can't get in. ChitChat rarely eats due to Discourse feeding her, but that means he eats most of the time.
 

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ParrotNuts

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Maybe use a geed catcher mounted to the cage? Its hard on legs but still it may help..... :)
 

PunLover

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The cage is very similar to this one, but I did take out two bars from the top right door to fit in a special enclosed bird bath. There's many perches of different kinds, a bridge, two swings, and I hung up a hanging bowl for their water. I used to put water in the bottom right door, but they kept pooping in it. Chatterbox in her separate cage still poops in her water too. XD
 

PunLover

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Are they any seed catchers that can reach up to 1.5 feet in front of the cage? That'd definately work. =D
 

Shezbug

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I’d guess a couple of these (larger than budgie size is what I’m thinking for your situation) might be a solution.

 

Shezbug

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You are in Aus yeah? I am assuming you are given the link for the cage is an Aus site.
 

PunLover

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Yep, definately Australian. XD I have 5 adorable fluffy budgies in two cages, one was separated due to aggression. One of the two pairs in the big cage is an English Budgie, that's Discourse, and I really badly want a picture of him when he fluffs up to sleep or groom himself because he honestly looks wider than he is tall when he does.
 

flyzipper

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I'm afraid you're going to have to stop allowing your budgies to read Avian Avenue; they've clearly read that sultanas are very high in sugar and should be reserved for treats, rather than food (and they're doing their best to let you know). :)

I'd restate the question...
  • from: How to stop birds from throwing food out of the cage?
  • to: How to minimize the negative ramifications of food that is inevitably thrown out of the cage by birds.
Two options (and I'd suggest both with your Mum's dog in the next room):
  • Block it (see example below).
  • Don't feed them anything that's poisonous to other members of the household (i.e. Mum's dog)
I've used this grass weave product to create more coziness where my little one sleeps, but it could easily be used around your bird's eating stations...
1611720965748.png
 

PunLover

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Okay, I didn't know that about Sultanas. I mix their food up myself, filling their containers halfway with Vetafarm Finch and Budgie crumbles, then a thin layer of seed, and topping the rest off with Trill Fruit and Nut mix and Trill Veggie mix. They usually only end up with 3 sultanas a week, but if that's still too much, I'll take them out completely. It's usually just the big stuff they throw out, being sultanas and almonds. They all have their likes and dislikes, some of them won't eat the nuts, Chatterbox loves veggies and ignores most fruit/nuts, and if I give them Vetafarm parrot essentials, they get pegged at me all day by everyone. XD If you have any recommendations for changes, let me know. One of the reasons I tried that stainless steel bowl was I was going top put fresh fruit in it once a week, but considering they ignored treats in it... Well, they don't like them. They also won't eat fresh fruit and veggies, usually pushing it out of the bowl. They also get millet sprays once a month as treats.
 

Shezbug

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Try hanging leafy greens from the roof of the cage while they’re dripping wet.

Try to limit the fruit or even omit it and switch over to veg.
What nuts are in that trill mix? From memory they were mainly peanuts? Either way I know I decided I’d never buy the fruit mix after reading the ingredients but I do use the veg one.
Pick fresh safe grasses and weeds for them instead of fruit and again hang it wet from the roof of the cage.
Budgies love greens and they love wet hanging stuff.
 

PunLover

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Hm, alright, I'll definately stop buying it. No wonder they don't like it. Thanks so much! =D
 

PunLover

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Well, if it's not good for them, then why would I bother? XD I want my birds to live happy, healthy long lives. No more Trill Fruit and Nut mix. <3 I hope hanging up a large wet kale leaf will help them get the nutrients they deserve.
 

PunLover

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Thank you so much! I do have a bottlebrush tree outside too, but I limit how much I give them as wild Lorikeets and other birds eat from there and I'm worried about bringing in desieses.
 

PunLover

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I can pick Aphids around here easily, we have a lot of rose bushes. <3
 

flyzipper

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Well, if it's not good for them, then why would I bother? XD I want my birds to live happy, healthy long lives. No more Trill Fruit and Nut mix. <3 I hope hanging up a large wet kale leaf will help them get the nutrients they deserve.
The suggestion to chop things into smaller pieces can be applied to anything we feed if they're discarding big pieces. :)

Birds are often fickle eaters, especially when we change their diet, so it may take some experimentation and patience to find the right combinations of: items, sizes, mixture, temperature, location, time of day, etc, etc.

Even then, things will be tossed on the floor. ;)
 
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