I'm a Meyer's Newbie. And I have some questions....

[MAM]

I have had Gordon (previously Fred, but I changed my mind) for four days. He's 4-5 months old. I love him to pieces. He's so sweet and gentle. He has 'bit' me a few times (it didn't hurt, or break the skin I'm still waiting for a real bite) but overall he's such a wonderful bird! But he doesn't play with his toys. He sits on his rope perch when he's not hanging out with people. And I don't know what food to give him? He likes apples and pistachios. And he picks the sunflower and millet seeds out of his food and eats them. But he doesn't eat too much of anything else. I have tried (banana (he nibbled but I don't think he liked how sticky it was), cooked broccoli (again, nibbles but no real consumption) pineapple (which he wouldn't even taste) strawberries (which he ate some of but didn't finish) and cooked cauliflower (which I think he did eat, but I didn't see him do it). He just likes apples and pistachios. No other nuts. And I am not sure what else to offer him. Or how to offer it to him. Should I give him big chunks? Should they be small slices? Should I try celery? Carrots? I'm really approaching this by offering him things I like, but maybe he would prefer things I don't really eat. And how much should I be giving him? He eats about a fourth of an apple a day. And he would eat all of it probably but I don't know how much is too much. I don't want to offer him so much food and have him waste it all, but I want to make sure he gets enough. I tried doing all the necessary research, but reading about something and applying it in real life is not so easy. I appreciate any and all advice. I want to take good care of my baby and give him his best life.

<a href="

http://imgur.com/AV2InsM

"><img

 

[Gokha]

I’m not an expert in birds diet, but ideally your bird should eat pellets 80% of the times, they’re nutritionally balanced and many have vitamins and minerals in them that are essential for bird’s health. The other 20% could be vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts. Have you tried giving him the pellets? I’d recommend Harrison’s Maximum nutrition pellets. Birds get a really pretty plumage after being on those pellets for some time
Apples are great, but not as an all time diet, it’s still a fruit with sugars in it.
btw if you don’t find Harrison’s pellets, get the ones that are not colored and don’t have sugar in ingredients

 

[MAM]

@Gokha Thank you! He has not had pellets. I have been trying to find some but all my local stores sell seed mixes. I will look into Harrison's!

 

[iamwhoiam]

Congrats on getting Gordon. He is very cute.
My Pois like cooked mixed veggies (corn, carrots, green beans, and peas). They are not fans of broccoli. When it comes to fruit the only fruits they have liked are apples and pears. Don't give a lot of apple. It's mainly water and a lot of sugar. Don't give up on trying a variety of veggies and fruits. Sometimes it takes a while for our bird friends to decide to try something new. I have a bunch of picky Pois and even though I've tried berries, bananas, sweet potato, broccoli, etc. they won't eat any of those. As for pellets mine get Caitec Oven Fresh Bites medium size. You can break them up if they seem too large for Gordon. When my red-bellies were babies they got Zupreem pellets but I stopped using those several years ago. I don't give sunflower or pistachios. Be careful with the amount of pistachios you give. I had issues with aspergillosis and young red-bellied parrots due to tainted pistachios. You can also check out birdie breads and mashes and offer those. Harrison's sells a few different bird bread mixes TREATS / BIRD BREAD-Harrison's Bird Foods and you can also purchase mixes, mashes and healthy treats from Avian Organics or Things 4 Wings . Unfortunately none of mine will eat bird bread or mashes but they do like the Avian Organics baked treats.
What brand of seed mix are you using?

 

[Nikomania]

Hi and welcome! It is important to introduce as many food varieties as possible while he's still young. Personally I would avoid giving him the apple and sunflower seeds as the apple contains way to much sugar and sunflower seeds are like crack for birds.

A healthy diet should consist of primarily fresh veggies, preferably organic, sprouts, a small amount of fruit, pellets, and some good quality seeds, a couple of nuts and millet. If your baby migrates towards seeds I would only offer them once a day and leave them in his cage for only a few hours to start while you try to switch him over to a raw diet.

Veggies that you might want to try are sugar snap peas cut up in between each pea, sweet potatoes (try cooked mashed to start), leafy greens such as kale, chard, cilantro, parsley, carrots, broccoli, green beans, etc. Some birds like these steamed while others will enjoy them raw. If Gordon likes sweet potatoes, but you're having difficulty getting him to eat the leafy greens, you can cut the greens up and incorporate them into the sweet potato. That's actually what I do for several of my flock.

Keep the fruit to a minimum, especially while you try to convert him over to fresh veggies. It takes time, experimentation and even putting his food in places where he'll 'discover' them outside his dish.

As for the toys, do you have any swinging items for him? Any balsa wood toy items he can learn to chew? My meyers love both.

Good luck!

 

[MAM]

Congrats on getting Gordon. He is very cute.
My Pois like cooked mixed veggies (corn, carrots, green beans, and peas). They are not fans of broccoli. When it comes to fruit the only fruits they have liked are apples and pears. Don't give a lot of apple. It's mainly water and a lot of sugar. Don't give up on trying a variety of veggies and fruits. Sometimes it takes a while for our bird friends to decide to try something new. I have a bunch of picky Pois and even though I've tried berries, bananas, sweet potato, broccoli, etc. they won't eat any of those. As for pellets mine get Caitec Oven Fresh Bites medium size. You can break them up if they seem too large for Gordon. When my red-bellies were babies they got Zupreem pellets but I stopped using those several years ago. I don't give sunflower or pistachios. Be careful with the amount of pistachios you give. I had issues with aspergillosis and young red-bellied parrots due to tainted pistachios. You can also check out birdie breads and mashes and offer those. Harrison's sells a few different bird bread mixes TREATS / BIRD BREAD-Harrison's Bird Foods and you can also purchase mixes, mashes and healthy treats from Avian Organics or Things 4 Wings . Unfortunately none of mine will eat bird bread or mashes but they do like the Avian Organics baked treats.
What brand of seed mix are you using?

It is just the seed mix they sold in bulk at the bird store. The lady recommended it to me. It's got seeds and dried fruit, banana chips and dried peas in it. But Gordon doesn't eat those.

 

[MAM]

Hi and welcome! It is important to introduce as many food varieties as possible while he's still young. Personally I would avoid giving him the apple and sunflower seeds as the apple contains way to much sugar and sunflower seeds are like crack for birds.

A healthy diet should consist of primarily fresh veggies, preferably organic, sprouts, a small amount of fruit, pellets, and some good quality seeds, a couple of nuts and millet. If your baby migrates towards seeds I would only offer them once a day and leave them in his cage for only a few hours to start while you try to switch him over to a raw diet.

Veggies that you might want to try are sugar snap peas cut up in between each pea, sweet potatoes (try cooked mashed to start), leafy greens such as kale, chard, cilantro, parsley, carrots, broccoli, green beans, etc. Some birds like these steamed while others will enjoy them raw. If Gordon likes sweet potatoes, but you're having difficulty getting him to eat the leafy greens, you can cut the greens up and incorporate them into the sweet potato. That's actually what I do for several of my flock.

Keep the fruit to a minimum, especially while you try to convert him over to fresh veggies. It takes time, experimentation and even putting his food in places where he'll 'discover' them outside his dish.

As for the toys, do you have any swinging items for him? Any balsa wood toy items he can learn to chew? My meyers love both.

Good luck!

I will try this! As for toys, I got several wooden block toys that hang from his cage and a sort of woven thing... he hasn't played with any of them. I stick his apple slices between the blocks. I will try it with carrots!

 

[malibu]

I would feed 35% pellets, 15% seeds/treats and the rest veggies, fruits and other fresh foods. For my lovie I feed her fresh foods in a variety of different ways. The key is to keep it interesting so some things I leave whole like snap peas and some stuff I finely chop. Experiment with your bird to see what she likes and how she likes her food.

For toys same concept, just experiment with different textures, sizes, colours etc. For example my bird loves balsa, sea grass and finger traps. try ordering one of each style of toy to see what your bird likes. For example one foraging toy, one noisy toy (if there are bells make sure you clean often), one soft wood toy and maybe a toy with some harder wood.