gates@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Bill Gates) (05/25/91)
Howdy. I have a dusky conure, and I really like him! However, he's annoying me with his eating habits. That is, he's developed an intense liking for safflower seeds, and very few others. Hence, I get the feeling that this bird will starve with a full feeder of seed right next to him, if there's no safflower seeds left in it!! He gets many different types of food, like egg, fruit, various cooked legumes like beans and peas and other soft-cooked grains, so I'm not really concerned about him starving. However, I'd like him to get into a wider variety of seeds. I was feeding him a cockatiel mix, but went to a coarser mix when I realized he had utter disdain for tiny seeds like millet. This mix has peanuts, sunflower, safflower, fortified pellets, and a few other types I can't readily identify. I believe it's pretty much a parrot mix. What can I do to encourage him to like other seeds as well? Should I just take a tough stance, and leave the seed cup in his cage until it's empty (but keeping it free from chaff, of course). Or should I humor him and make sure there's always some safflower seed available in the cup, and hope that he'll try other seeds as time goes by? By the way, he's about 9 weeks old, and has been weaned for at least two weeks. At least, he doesn't seem to have any problems eating solid food. Thanks, Bill