Tossing Food

[Many Feathers]

The most annoying habit that any of my birds have is tossing their food, (and everyone elses if they can get to it.) Not all of them do it, but enough of them do that I limit their portions when I feed and never fill up their bowls. 4 of the 5 toos toss food, and 6 of the macaws do, too. It makes me nuts. Sometimes they are looking for their favorite color or food items, but often they are just being brats. I know I'm not the only one with this problem. How do others handle it besides limiting portions at feeding?

I wish I'd had a video camera last night. I'm trying to watch TV in bed with 2 macaws in front of it making sure I am watching them instead, and Smishy (Moluccan) is calling me from down the hall to come get her. (The toos had already been put to bed) I go get Smishy and play with her for an hour, and entirely miss my program between her and the showtime macaws. I put Smishy down briefly to change channels and look for a new program to watch. In less than 15 seconds she is up on a play perch with her head in the food bowl flinging food on the wall and on the bed. Between each spray she would pause and scream Hahahaha ha ha ... DAMIT! Hahahahaha ha ha ... DAMIT! Guess who got put to bed?

[Monica]

LOL I don't have any birds who fling their food, cept for Noel... Noel will only fling food if she takes it from my hand as she'd rather eat the food from her bowl. Casey on the other hand, Noel's 'cage' mate, will pick up chunks of food, and drop it, mostly accidentally but enough that she wastes food. Of course it doesn't matter what the portion of food is, she is bound to drop some!

[Regina U.]

I have a CAG, Bubba, that throws his food. My other CAG, Ziggy, doesn't really do that. On occasion she will mimick him doing it. Bubba will tell you when he is going to do it. He starts with, "Bubba, don't throw your food out", and then he throws it. Or... he says (as he lifts the food to his beak with his foot),..."MMMM Good!" and then throws it out!.. :eusa_wall I know he is doing it to get attention. I try not to pay attention or look in his direction when he is doing it. Sometimes that works, he doesn't get enjoyment out of it if I don't react, so he turns around and starts eating again. Then other times it doesn't matter if I ignore it. He just continues to say, "Bubba.....(like he is scolding himself) and continues to do it until the bowl is empty. AND ALL OVER THE FLOOR, ETC. I can't help it sometimes. It is difficult to ignore it when he doesn't stop. So now, I just get up, don't say anything, and take his food away for alittle while and then place it back without saying anything. This way I haven't made a big deal about it and haven't commented verbally, so maybe the enjoyment of doing it will stop. I know there may be other opinions on this and I appreciate any input. I know the more you make a big deal about it , the more they will continue to do it. He doesn't do it when we are not home. That is why I am sure he is doing it for attention when we are there. Not that he doesn't get ALOT OF ATTENTION!!!!! He is always with us and is included in everything , as well as Ziggy is. I think he likes to be the center of attention at all times.

So after a lengthy reply..... I say try to ignore it. If that doesen't make him stop. Then take the food away for a brief period, without saying anything. Then putting it back, without saying anything. I may be wrong, but I found out when I say "Bubba don't throw your food out", that just re-enforced the issue. GUESS THAT'S WHERE HE GOT HIS SAYING FROM. :eusa_doh:

Regina

Let me know how it is going for you , I totally understand!!!! And need suggestions, also..... you are not alone.....!!!

[HareTrinity]

Pío, she used to fling food about...

She'd pick up seed, and then shake her head so that it when flying! Argh!

She stopped by herself after a while, though... Guess it was just some sort of stage she went through, or her looking for something else in the cage whilst she got used to it.

[birdfreak2]

I like the one cursing and laughing while slinging his food about , that's way to funny..! Anyway, I have a sun conure who does that. He doesn't talk, but he can toss some food around. I really don't know why he does it, I guess he's just looking for the good stuff I suppose...! When he see's me coming, I will tell him to stop(but it doesn't work), he looks at me as if I'm crazy.

[cathrineq]

I completely understand - mine only do it on their stand, though. Merlin makes a point of dropping it an inch or so beyond the tray, so it ends up on the floor. Arwen flings it at the wall. Drives me mental!

[The Outlaw]

The only solution I've been able to come up with is a weighted dog dish in the center of cage on the floor. YOu can't have any perches overhead, but it works. I use that whenever I serve pomegranites or beets. Still messy, but the walls and floors take less of a hit.

You can also have pieces of clear acrylic or lucite cut and using nuts, bolts and washers, attach them to the outside of the feeder doors. I had some left over from another project and this kept the mess to a minimum.

THE OUTLAW

[BirdsUnlimited]

Covered ceramic bowls work great. They come in several sizes and have solved the problem w/ every bird I have had that throws its food.

[Sherri]

I have noticed that my M2 uses the dry food to clean her beak after eating warm mushy food. She has been a champion food tosser since day one. Since she enjoys it and it doesn't hurt anybody, I let her enjoy herself. Especailly, is she is laughing and having fun. She is a parrot so I enjoy seeing her being a happy parrot. The wild birds outside love the food I sweep up.

[FairLight]

Abbie, my CAG drops and flings food, however, she always takes a few bites first. I am thinking of making an acrylic feeding station for her.
The constant cleaning up gets to be a chore. A shop vacuum really helps.
I'm glad to hear that Abbie isn't the only fid to yell "Damm*t!"
She wanted popcorn the other day, but I wanted her to eat healthy fruit..she took tiny bites of the fruit, dropped it and yelled.."Popcorn, Damm*t!"
She yelled that all day Saturday~ we have no close neighbors! :o)

If she is having a hissy fit she will contemptuosly dive into her dish and throw her food as far as possible, then look away and ignore me.

Some times it's tough being the one in charge!