Picky eater.

[NikiAndBeyond]

My gcc won't eat anything new. His first reaction is to be scared and then simply ignores it. I've tried all kinds of things, and wind up just wasting my money. The only thing he'll touch besides his pellets [Harrison's] is banana chips. Should I be putting supplements in his regular food? Is there some kind of staple that I need to keep pursuing?

[Amie]

Have you tried cooking food for him? My ekkie Scarlett is a finicky eater to the nth degree, but after two days of ignoring a soft bean and brown rice mix with sweet potatoes and peppers, she eats it up so fast I'm worried she'll make herself sick. I had to feed it to her at first, but now she's great with it.

Scrambled eggs are Scarlett's ALL TIME FAVORITE. We add a tiny bit of garlic and a lot of cayenne pepper, and she eats it up like there's no tomorrow.

Harrison's is a good diet for him. And since you're from New Orleans and have found it, I need to know where. I can't find ANYWHERE that sells Harrison's for large parrots!! I can find the tiel/conure/parakeet mixes, but my ekkie needs something a little bigger.

Stay away from supplements if possible. They usually do more damage than good.

[NikiAndBeyond]

I got it from a vet in Mandeville, but I wasn't looking out for the larger pellets. Also, Dr. Rich in Metairie is listed on the Harrison's website as a distributor.

I hadn't thought of eggs. Thanks for the suggestions!

[Amie]

Last time we checked at all the vets, they only had the smaller species Harrison's. Most people who have birds have smaller species, so I guess they couldn't sell it before it expired.

If you leave the shell in with the eggs, it's a great source of calcium and a whole boatload of enzymes (I think all 9 of the essentials) and does wonders for their immune system.

[teenab]

One of my cinn gc's is the same way (the other eats ANYTHING with gusto!) - unless I'm eating it - then he wants it. He caught on to the "pretend bites" pretty fast & started "pretend biting" things whenever I did...so now I only give him things I'm willing to try as well!! I got a bag of dried beans (the 15 variety kind for bean soup)...soaked them overnight & then put them in the slow cooker for the entire next day. Added brown rice & veggie pasta spirals. Made a huge batch & froze it into individual servings for my 3 birds. They go NUTS for it. I make them eggs in the morning. I always have a couple hard boiled in case I drag myself out of bed too late to cook scrambled (always leave the shells in as well) I feed them before I get ready for work then before I leave I remove what they haven't eaten (usually not a crumb left) & keep pellets & a very small amount of seed in the bowls for during the day. At night I put their beans on a plate next to my dinner plate & we all eat together. I cut up a little of whatever meat I'm eating to go along with their bean pasta. Since I started doing this they've stopped raiding my dinner plate. Each cinn gc has a plate of their own on either side of me...then I put them away & share a meal with my TAG.