PhilK
Very Well-Known Member
Hey all,
So I just finished a week of prac at the Brisbane Bird Vet and learnt a lot! One of the things I found out was that Green Cheek Conures are ADD birds (though honestly I did suspect this fairly strongly!). After speaking to the head vet a fair bit I found out I wasn't feeding my Archie as I should.
I feed him the right diet etc but present it to him only in a bowl, and fruit/veg only on a kabob. He said for a bird that spends time alone during the day (as he does when we go to uni) this isn't good as there is no challenge for him and will make him very bored which will cause the screeching/biting etc we have been seeing from him a bit. Parrots in the wild as you know spend hours and hours each day foraging for their food and he gave me some simple tips to give Archie that feeling. In Archie's bowl I am to put 90% kitty litter and 10% dry diet.. this will mean Archie will have to search and sift through his bowl to find his pellets and a few seeds.. this idea can be scaled up with a foraging tray on a play gym.
At the moment he is figuring out that kitty litter isn't edible hahaha and I will increase the proportions over time until it is 90/10. I also bought a 'creative foraging systems' tray (Creative Foraging Systems Products) to make him work for his food a bit more.
The vet there also advised me to provide all his fruit and veg in a baffle cage.. wrap the fruit and veg in paper/toilet rolls etc and put them in the baffle cage so he has to tear the paper through the bars before getting to his food.
I also bought him a new kabob as his old is FILTHY and a 'holey kamoley' coconut to forage in.. I did all my shopping on My Parrot Shop and Parrot Rescue Centre online (so easy to spend money...) and now can't wait for them to arrive on Monday and see how Archie likes his new regime.
This post is MUCH longer than I anticipated sorry, but please post what foraging options you give your birds and give other advice/tips! Photos etc are great of course.
So I just finished a week of prac at the Brisbane Bird Vet and learnt a lot! One of the things I found out was that Green Cheek Conures are ADD birds (though honestly I did suspect this fairly strongly!). After speaking to the head vet a fair bit I found out I wasn't feeding my Archie as I should.
I feed him the right diet etc but present it to him only in a bowl, and fruit/veg only on a kabob. He said for a bird that spends time alone during the day (as he does when we go to uni) this isn't good as there is no challenge for him and will make him very bored which will cause the screeching/biting etc we have been seeing from him a bit. Parrots in the wild as you know spend hours and hours each day foraging for their food and he gave me some simple tips to give Archie that feeling. In Archie's bowl I am to put 90% kitty litter and 10% dry diet.. this will mean Archie will have to search and sift through his bowl to find his pellets and a few seeds.. this idea can be scaled up with a foraging tray on a play gym.
At the moment he is figuring out that kitty litter isn't edible hahaha and I will increase the proportions over time until it is 90/10. I also bought a 'creative foraging systems' tray (Creative Foraging Systems Products) to make him work for his food a bit more.
The vet there also advised me to provide all his fruit and veg in a baffle cage.. wrap the fruit and veg in paper/toilet rolls etc and put them in the baffle cage so he has to tear the paper through the bars before getting to his food.
I also bought him a new kabob as his old is FILTHY and a 'holey kamoley' coconut to forage in.. I did all my shopping on My Parrot Shop and Parrot Rescue Centre online (so easy to spend money...) and now can't wait for them to arrive on Monday and see how Archie likes his new regime.
This post is MUCH longer than I anticipated sorry, but please post what foraging options you give your birds and give other advice/tips! Photos etc are great of course.
