Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!chuq
From: chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Cockatoo feeding problems
Message-ID: <33215@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 17 Jul 89 13:24:07 GMT
References: <20519@cup.portal.com>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Life is just a Fantasy novel played for keeps
Lines: 65


>	I have an 18 month old non-domestic male Umbrella Cockatoo that will
>not eat fruits and/or vegetables, which apparently they are supposed to con-
>sume regularly.

This is unfortunately not unusual.

>We have tried mixing particles with his seed and no go.

This isn't a good idea. The fresh stuff can spoil fairly rapidly and take
the seed with it. Better to use a separate cup for the fresh things, since
it can be cleaned easily that way.

>Hand feeding usually works, except for the fruits and vege's.  Anybody who
>may suggest alternative methods or specific types of food (fruits & vege's)
>please contact me.

Until you convince the bird to eat fresh fruits, consider adding a vitamin
supplement to either the food or water. Not a bad idea, anyway.

Teaching a bird to eat food sounds like it should be trivial, but it isn't.
Some birds just don't take to new things very happily and you have to coerce
them. One thing that helps is to try a wide variety of foods to find the
ones he wants. Another is to make sure that the foods are always available
in some form or another so the bird can get to them when he feels like
exploring. It's not uncommon for you to have to waste food for a few weeks
before the bird touches it, by the way.

What I've been able to do is convince my bird that his fresh food cup is
where all the neat stuff goes. Anything that goes in there is usually
immediately tried (I know -- I'm lucky.). That doesn't mean she'll like it,
but if she thinks it's a reward, she'll try it. She will also try it if she
sees mommy or daddy eating it, which isn't *always* a good idea (my bird
discovered ice cream. We now have to give her her serving if we want to keep
her from walking through our bowls).

Another thing you can try are foods that are also toys (and don't spoil
quickly). Corn on the cob and carrots are two things the bird can have a lot
of fun making kindling of and they're going to taste it when they do. My
birds love corn on the cob (except the cockatiels, who won't touch it). My
cockatoo loves bananas, walnut and spaghetti as well as many greens (except
kale, for some reason, but my canary and the cockatiels *love* canaries). I
had conures that loves grapes, but nobody else in the house will touch them.
Rice is a favorite, as is ice cream (but I don't recommend this, obviously.
I just don't have a choice).

Another thing we do is feed our bird some of our table scraps, especially
the veggies, although she likes chicken bones, been soup bones and other
meat scraps as well. For the most part, if it is healthy for you, it is
healthy for the bird (avocado and chocolate, by the way, are definitely not
healthy for the bird, and not necessarily good for you, either).

Getting the bird to eat is an exercise in finding something he'll eat and
then using that food to convince him to eat other things. It can take a long
time -- and you may never do so. But it's worth it.




Chuq Von Rospach      =|=     Editor,OtherRealms     =|=     Member SFWA/ASFA
         chuq@apple.com   =|=  CI$: 73317,635  =|=  AppleLink: CHUQ
      [This is myself speaking. No company can control my thoughts.]

You are false data. Therefore I shall ignore you.