100% love this! I totally agree with us having to step up to provide diversity in our bird diets. I used to feed chop with pellets as the dry part as I was told 'seeds are bad' never did I consider it from their point of view that it's was so boring and unhealthy. I was working full time and it was convenient and cheaper for me to do that. Now their feathers are flourishing with no stress lines since adding more diversity and a healthy home made seed mix they love.
I give them a nice big spoon scoop of their chop in the morning and a measured tablespoon of their dry mix in the evening. They tend to eat all of their chop by the time i get home from work. I worry that they get soooo hungry before I get home so I started making their chop scoop bigger. 😅
Great info in this series. We have a Nanday named Micki we rescued in 2016. After living with stepdaughter and her boyfriend until late last year, we have her again. The environment at stepdaughter's place had in-house smokers and constant, loud arguments. I want to have a calm, nurturing environment for her. Slowly but surely Micki seems to be calming down and becoming more friendly. Trying to get her off seeds-only diet and onto pellets, fruits, and veg...with occasional slivers of cheese, which she loves.
Thank you and awesome that Micki has found a good home with you! I would try to cut out the cheese if you can though! Egg (plain scrambled) is a good source of protein!
I think one of my cockatiels overeats. She gulps down seeds super fast, and then "wants to share with the flock" and just spits out some seeds (totally dry, so only from the crop, not the actual stomach). My other cockatiel eats super slow however, so it is hard to control that they eat the same amount. (Seeds is not all they eat, they have pellets and veggies too, but seeds induce frenzy-eating whenever we provide them.)
Thank you for this informative video. Regarding the tablespoon method, would you consider a green cheek conure as a small of medium bird? My GCC does eat organic vegetable chop that I make for him daily and a small amount of fruit along with Harrison’s and Tops pellets and a small amount of organic seeds a few times per week. He loves to eat but is also extremely active and very busy playing and shredding all day. His weight is between 62-64 grams. I feel that is on the low side. He definitely eats more than 2 tablespoons per day and wondering if that is too much?
Conures are definitely small birds using the method! It is on the low end but nothing that’s worrying! Don’t forget it’s a guide not an absolute so if he eats a little more then it’s ok!
Hello! I know it's a bit off-topic, but I have a male cockatiel for like 1 month and a half... and I''m trying to talk to him, to give him food, to interact, to leave his door open, but he's scared, very scared, and I don't know what to do. He'll hiss at me if I come closer with my hand. I'm out of ideas. Could you help me with an advice? Will he ever bond with me?
And also he's never leaving the cage. He only left twice after I put a video with 2 parrots on my ipad and sat on it, besides that.. he won't. I don't think he likes me
I’ve been having panic attacks trying to feed my cockatiel all the foods you suggest not knowing he will only eat 1 tablespoon in the morning and 1 in the evening. I only have the one so I chop it fresh every day or every other day. I feel like I’m constantly feeding someone. The bird, the two dogs, the husband and me then do it all again in the evening. I’m retired so I have time but making sure everyone is eating properly is killing me.
Lol sounds like a bit of stress to feed everyone like that! Remember it shouldn’t be too strict or stressful! We make a batch of chop once a week and put it in an airtight container in the fridge and it usually keeps well. You can also freeze it although many parrots dislike it thawed.
Everybody says that sunflower seeds are unhealthy for parrots and are high in fat, I feed my cocktiel 3-4 seeds per day only when I'm training her I hope that's not a problem. But what I am worried about is that she wont exercise at all even if I leave her outside the cage she would just walk around but never fly around what should I do to make her exercise more?
Don’t forget that moving around is still exercise! If you can encourage her to run around, climb, forage it’s all moving her body! If you want to get her flying maybe do it in small steps (I have a video on flight recall training) Foraging is also good fun! Regarding the sunflower seeds 3-4 a day is totally fine. They get a bad rep because some people feed nothing but them. But in moderation they are healthy for a parrot as they have essential fats in them.
We are aware of it, however the articles I have read have not produced replicated studies or evidence to support her assertions. Sorry if this reply is ultra slow, but TH-cam only just showed me this comment!
I heard endless stories about my bird tearing the house apart when he was in my father’s care, he no longer shred the house anymore (not yet at least, maybe he’s planning secretly in his mind 😂😂)
@@GuyBelievesInWorldPeace Yep, I know. I make a LOT of homemade toys from egg kartons etc. I buy some material from our neighbors who are carpenters too. For some reason they loooove to shred toilet paper, so I give them a roll from time time.
Many organic disposables are made from safe materials (not the plastic ones, the natural based ones. Look for things that clearly say what the source material they’re made from - crunchy nut/palm leaf plates are a favorite in our home. You can even look the source material in relation to parrot toxicity to be extra safe!)
@@GuyBelievesInWorldPeace I just uploaded a picture in my community tab so I can show you one of the windows our parrots have. They are flying free in our house every day. Take a look.
100% love this! I totally agree with us having to step up to provide diversity in our bird diets. I used to feed chop with pellets as the dry part as I was told 'seeds are bad' never did I consider it from their point of view that it's was so boring and unhealthy. I was working full time and it was convenient and cheaper for me to do that. Now their feathers are flourishing with no stress lines since adding more diversity and a healthy home made seed mix they love.
Sounds great to me! We both know how much effort you put in to looking after your birds!
I love you and Sophie's content so much!
Thank you!
I give them a nice big spoon scoop of their chop in the morning and a measured tablespoon of their dry mix in the evening. They tend to eat all of their chop by the time i get home from work. I worry that they get soooo hungry before I get home so I started making their chop scoop bigger. 😅
Haha with chop a little extra isn’t the worst anyway :p
@@TheParrotTeacher that’s what I figured. More veggies and sprouts doesnt hurt lol
Great info in this series. We have a Nanday named Micki we rescued in 2016. After living with stepdaughter and her boyfriend until late last year, we have her again. The environment at stepdaughter's place had in-house smokers and constant, loud arguments. I want to have a calm, nurturing environment for her. Slowly but surely Micki seems to be calming down and becoming more friendly. Trying to get her off seeds-only diet and onto pellets, fruits, and veg...with occasional slivers of cheese, which she loves.
Thank you and awesome that Micki has found a good home with you!
I would try to cut out the cheese if you can though! Egg (plain scrambled) is a good source of protein!
I think one of my cockatiels overeats. She gulps down seeds super fast, and then "wants to share with the flock" and just spits out some seeds (totally dry, so only from the crop, not the actual stomach). My other cockatiel eats super slow however, so it is hard to control that they eat the same amount. (Seeds is not all they eat, they have pellets and veggies too, but seeds induce frenzy-eating whenever we provide them.)
You could provide smaller portions and more frequently which may help both problems!
Foraging also helps slow down how much a bird eats
Thank you for this informative video. Regarding the tablespoon method, would you consider a green cheek conure as a small of medium bird? My GCC does eat organic vegetable chop that I make for him daily and a small amount of fruit along with Harrison’s and Tops pellets and a small amount of organic seeds a few times per week. He loves to eat but is also extremely active and very busy playing and shredding all day. His weight is between 62-64 grams. I feel that is on the low side. He definitely eats more than 2 tablespoons per day and wondering if that is too much?
Conures are definitely small birds using the method!
It is on the low end but nothing that’s worrying! Don’t forget it’s a guide not an absolute so if he eats a little more then it’s ok!
Hello! I know it's a bit off-topic, but I have a male cockatiel for like 1 month and a half... and I''m trying to talk to him, to give him food, to interact, to leave his door open, but he's scared, very scared, and I don't know what to do. He'll hiss at me if I come closer with my hand. I'm out of ideas. Could you help me with an advice? Will he ever bond with me?
And also he's never leaving the cage. He only left twice after I put a video with 2 parrots on my ipad and sat on it, besides that.. he won't. I don't think he likes me
Hey there,
Of course he can bond with you !
I have videos on bonding on the channel including one specifically for cockatiels!
I’ve been having panic attacks trying to feed my cockatiel all the foods you suggest not knowing he will only eat 1 tablespoon in the morning and 1 in the evening. I only have the one so I chop it fresh every day or every other day. I feel like I’m constantly feeding someone. The bird, the two dogs, the husband and me then do it all again in the evening. I’m retired so I have time but making sure everyone is eating properly is killing me.
Lol sounds like a bit of stress to feed everyone like that!
Remember it shouldn’t be too strict or stressful!
We make a batch of chop once a week and put it in an airtight container in the fridge and it usually keeps well.
You can also freeze it although many parrots dislike it thawed.
Thank you for replying. I guess I was thinking I had to feed the bird all the good stuff everyday until I learned they don’t eat very much.
I feed my love bird 1 table spoon of chop and sprouts and herbs. The organic seed mix 1 teaspoon. He weighs 49 grams.?
Sorry Maria I’m not sure I understand the question in that!
Sorry so just to clarify should I feed him 1 table spoon of seeds too?
Everybody says that sunflower seeds are unhealthy for parrots and are high in fat, I feed my cocktiel 3-4 seeds per day only when I'm training her I hope that's not a problem. But what I am worried about is that she wont exercise at all even if I leave her outside the cage she would just walk around but never fly around what should I do to make her exercise more?
Don’t forget that moving around is still exercise! If you can encourage her to run around, climb, forage it’s all moving her body!
If you want to get her flying maybe do it in small steps (I have a video on flight recall training)
Foraging is also good fun!
Regarding the sunflower seeds 3-4 a day is totally fine. They get a bad rep because some people feed nothing but them.
But in moderation they are healthy for a parrot as they have essential fats in them.
Have you checked Leslie Moran's parrot book with her studies on bird nutrition?
We’ve not read her book but have seen some of her individual articles.
We tend to lean towards other sources for our parrot nutrition information.
We are aware of it, however the articles I have read have not produced replicated studies or evidence to support her assertions.
Sorry if this reply is ultra slow, but TH-cam only just showed me this comment!
It is hard to limit their consumption of my furniture. 😢
LOL all I have to say -Shreddable toys are GREAT!
I heard endless stories about my bird tearing the house apart when he was in my father’s care, he no longer shred the house anymore (not yet at least, maybe he’s planning secretly in his mind 😂😂)
@@GuyBelievesInWorldPeace
Yep, I know. I make a LOT of homemade toys from egg kartons etc. I buy some material from our neighbors who are carpenters too. For some reason they loooove to shred toilet paper, so I give them a roll from time time.
Many organic disposables are made from safe materials (not the plastic ones, the natural based ones. Look for things that clearly say what the source material they’re made from - crunchy nut/palm leaf plates are a favorite in our home. You can even look the source material in relation to parrot toxicity to be extra safe!)
@@GuyBelievesInWorldPeace
I just uploaded a picture in my community tab so I can show you one of the windows our parrots have. They are flying free in our house every day. Take a look.
Nice .... but maybe slow down a bit. You talked really fast in this one.
Okie dokie!