Picky Eater!

[Rachael]

Hi, my name is Rachael. I have a beautiful female IRN who will only eat unhusked rice (paddy). I have tried everything I can think of but I can't tempt her to try anything else. I've searched the web but have found nothing to help me 'til now. I'm praying like mad someone here can help me find a way to get her onto a well balanced diet. For one thing what exactly is a ringneck's diet? I've got food lists for budgies, cocatiels and lovebirds coming out my ears but I can't find anything on the net to tell me what a ringneck eats. I don't actually know much about them. She was given to a friend of mine who knows even less then I do about them. She let the bird roam free with wings unclipped against my advice and the bird ended up somehow ripping most of the skin of one of her legs. My friend panicked and insisted I take her because she didn't know what to do with her. So here I am, the sudden owner of an IRN. I've had her a few weeks now and she is starting to limp around rather than hop. She is becoming very playful and is a joy to be around. But I am very worried about her eating habits. So if anyone can please help me or direct me to the right place to get help I will be very grateful. Thank you in advance, Rachael

[psittacula_fan]

Hey Rachel, I've had a female ringneck in the past, unfortunately she was quite an escape artist so she's gone. Mine used to be a picky eater as well. So what I did was to convert her to a pelleted diet. Conversion is a tricky process but it's worth the effort. I would just adjust the seed/ pellet ratio based on the consumption of either. It took me about 2 months to make it. However, it takes close monitoring to ensure your bird does not starve. After that it was very easy to introduce fruit, veggies, etc. My Alexandrine Parakeet has also been a picky eater, but following the same method (by the way I followed the method described on the Pretty Bird pellets package) we've made. However, she's still a sucker for sunflower seeds and peanus, which I use as treats for our clicker training sessions.

Hope I've helped. Don't lose hope, just try to devise ways to make her try different foods. Eventually, she'll give in to a healthier diet.

[Rachael]

Thank you so much for your advice George. Another problem I forgot to mention is that I live in the middle of nowhere in India and they've never heard of such a thing as pellets here. Got any more ideas? On the up side, my IRN, Sudevi, nibbled at a slice of apple today! Yeah! Only a tiny bit but she did it so it's a start I guess. If you or anyone else can please give me any more advice I'd really appreciate it. Thank you. Rachael

[ScarletKnight]

is it raw or cooked. try mixing it food thats how i got mine to eat pellets he was only keet food.

[Rachael]

Well Sudevi is pickier then I thought. I was giving her a mix of grain in one bowl and her fruit and veges in another. She wouldn't touch the fruit and veges bowl and would only pick out the paddy from the grain. Today I tried her only on millet leaving out the paddy and she loved it. After a couple of hours I put in a slice of guava, something I haven't tried her on before. She's half-way through her second slice. I'm so happy. Rachael

[ScarletKnight]

thats good i always gave mine guava well every1 except this one. this one is more of a pineapple man hehe. well glad u figired out what u needed to do these birds are such individuals each one is different. gl luck with your irn.

[ScarletKnight]

is it good to feed kairi spinich leaves. i give his all sorts of stuff. liek mangoes, strawberries and suck. I know lettuse (sp) is bad for it. mine seems to jsut eat and eat can you over feed it.
ken

[Melika]

Yes, you can feed spinach leaves. I prefer to use baby spinach, washed. Only give one small leaf, or half a large one. Too much green food can cause diarrhea, especially if your animal isn't used to it.

You can feed lettuce but iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value, use romaine.

You can feed mustard greens too.

But again, dark leafy greens should only be fed in small amounts. ^_^

[ScarletKnight]

but i thought that since babies are still developing their fethers the more greens u feed them the better u r. scarlet

[Rachael]

Try cilantro Ken. Sudevi won't eat spinach but she has condecended to eat cilantro. It gives the place a lovely smell too!

[ScarletKnight]

my problem is not what it is eatign it how much im feeding.
ken

[Melika]

but i thought that since babies are still developing their fethers the more greens u feed them the better u r. scarlet

Greens are good for birds of all ages, but there is such a thing as too much.

Young birds sometimes won't eat enough when they're fledging and too much greens can push what little they eat through their system too quickly. Meaning they wouldn't get all the nutrients. Even if you add greens or baby food to your formula when hand-feeding you would need to feed a little more often, because their crops would empty faster (great for slow crops, by the way).

This is true for anything with diarrhea. Which is why it is so dangerous. If a creature has diarrhea for an extended amount of time they become extrememly dehydrated and won't be able to absorb nutrients because the food is moving too quickly. Obviously the greatest danger is dehydration.

Everything in moderation. A variety is always better than just one thing.


Rachael:

You can feed your bird well without pellets. The site I'm giving you (the main part is www.landofvos.com) is formulated for Eclectus parrots. Electus have been shown to have bad reactions to most pelleted diets so eclectus owners prefer to feed a more natural diet to their birds. What the ekkies can eat, IRNs can eat as well. Of course, the ekkies would eat more! This is a great article and can help you balance out your birds diet. Wander the site there and they have recipies for cooked food and stuff as well. ^_^

http://www.landofvos.com/articles/feeding.html

[ScarletKnight]

to the previous poster i think its mikela. my kairi is eating on it own. he si about 12 weeks. what shoudl i do i give his spinich yuck! but he likes it cucumbers give him dthe runscanyone else facing the same thing and when u guys talk about mumbling and corn on the kob what exactly do u mean . corn of the cob is that an ear of corn that u guys cut up and put in cage do u cook it. if yes do u boil it or grill it.
scarlet

[Mikaela]

We get Mikaela and Melika mixed up.

We are two different people. Maybe one of us should alter our screen names for everyone else's sake? Senority rules?

I don't know who joined first but I am willing to alter my name should it be me, despite the fact it is actually my name.

I boil my girl's corn but you could grill it. For the spinach and other veggies, just make it bite size and throw it in a dish. Remove it within a couple of hours. Most Irn's know and will not touch bad food but we don't give them the chance to find out.

Let me know if I can help any further.

[Melika]

I don't think it's so confusing, lol. It's not like we have the same avatar. :p

You can fed raw corn on the cob too. ^_^

[Mikaela]

Correct, if they will accept it hard and raw, my brats wont.

I even read your stuff for a second and think, 'I didnt say that' then realize its you

Guess we pay more attention to the text box/comments moreso than avatars.

I actually had an awful experience on a message board where someone said something very awful and it was confused with me saying it. I don't visit that board any longer. Much different group of people here though.

[Rachael]

I don't mix you guys up at all. You have different names and different pictures under your names. It's not hard to tell the differance.