When we brought our pre-owned African grey parrot home we had no idea what he would and would not eat but as a parrot behavior consultant I knew what he should be eating, so the first 2 weeks were trial and error and change.

I was happy to find that he did eat fruit– oranges, apples and granadillas but he wouldn’t eat touch a raw vegetable, they were all tossed out and left. So we tried cooked vegetables from our plates when we ate (he sits and eats with us) these were taken happily especially beans and carrots, slowly we got him taking baby marrows, baby corn, and cauliflowers.

A cereal in the morning took a bit longer than 2 weeks before he tried it and found that he liked it. That was a major breakthrough as medication, should it be needed, can be hidden in cereal. It took a while before he enjoyed our egg, bacon, tomato, banana and toast on a Sunday morning but this devoured now, as is our Kedgeree (fish and rice) during the week.

I kept the seed to 3 times a week because this is good for keeping his feathers in good condition. I honestly think he can smell chicken being cooked; he gets so excited, and completely demolishes the bones once we are finished with them.

Over long weekends I cook up 2 boiled eggs, 2 table spoons of rice, and vegetables and he gets this as his afternoon forage. This he eats till it’s all finished. We are very lucky that he has taken to all this food but a lot got tossed in the beginning, and we had to be patient and persistent in getting his diet to what it should be.
Take the time to get your parrots diet right; this will keep him healthy and happy. Click here for recipes that both you and your bird will enjoy.