Purple Potatoes and Other Fun Things!
Today I plucked a small purple potato from the bag of assorted "new potatoes" that I picked up at Sam's Club the other day. I cooked it and mashed it and added a little macadamia nut oil and a tiny bit of butter. Would my birds eat "purple?"
At first Lucy (CAG) was reluctant even to taste this purple stuff. She stuck her tongue on it and withdrew immediately to "think" about it. Her eyes pinned and she took another taste. Hum? She tried two or three tentative bites and then began to eat enthusiastically! <: How much fun was that!!! You could actually see her brain working and deciding if this purple stuff was "good!" or something to be thrown away. Gracie (TAG) doesn't like "sticky" anything and wouldn't even taste the mixture. Coco, who LOVES LOVES LOVES mashed potatoes, refused to get closer than half a food from that unrecognized offering! :D I tried, several times, to coax him into at least trying it... but to no avail. If you know cockatoos, you understand that "no," mean "NO!" and you leave well enough alone. Bobby? (TAG) He's a foodie! He grabbed the unrecognized mush that I'd rolled into a ball (so he could hold it) and he ate it as fast as he could and begged for more.
So? Purple? They say some special trace nutrients come in vibrantly colored fruits and vegetables. Birds don't get much purple in their lives unless it comes in the form of blueberries. My birds are not impressed with blueberries. I'm thinking that the color purple was unfamiliar and, if they associated it with anything, they associated it with "cool berries" and not warm, yummy, mashed potatoes.
It occurs to me that I need to expand the world in which my pets live from day to day. Take a chance that they don't like something and might be a little hungry when they refuse to try new things. I've always been afraid to let them choose to "ignore and be hungry" and therefore make sure they have plenty of everything they like... and have full crops. (...maybe not a great idea!)
In the real world, birds have to forage and generally, the good stuff, comes only seasonally and even then they have to compete for "the good stuff."
How good would it be to win the lottery if you won it every single day? BORING!
It is important to remember that both Coco and Gracie were "2nd hand birds" to our household. I have had to learn their preferences and it is a little harder to get them to try new things... because I wasn't there when they were impressionable little chicks.
BTW, Lucy doesn't want to do her tricks routine unless she gets a cashew. She's even been refusing pistachios now and then. If she does something and gets a sunflower seed (I never show her the reward first unless she is learning a *new* trick.), often she throws it to the floor and waits for the cashew. When I train the birds at night, I go from one bird to the next... ask for a trick and if they do the trick, they get a reward. If they refuse, I move to the next bird. About 2 times of me "Moving On" is enough to make Lucy decide to eat lowly sunflower seeds! Competition! :D I am evil, right!
So... today was "purple potato" day. It just took a few minutes and we all enjoyed the fun.
Busy!!! I've been busy working in the yard... so much landscaping to do amongst all the other chores and projects. Sometimes I do not feel like taking time to train and stimulate the birds after a long day. I still have to clean cages, change water, and replenish dry food dishes and even though I'm exhausted lately, I still love taking care of the birds. I clean, vacuum, wash down, and replace... all with one bird or another grabbing my glasses or riding my shoulder to the sink and back. Sometimes, as I walk through the house during the day, I do a one-round training... asking for a trick and giving a treat and at the end of the day, do very little training. Switching it up has been good for all of us.
My birds seem happier, never knowing what to expect and their eyes open wide when I (2 times a week maybe...) fill their foraging boxes and skip training... letting them puzzle out the goodies for themselves. Gotta run! Rocks to stack and dirt to move. <:
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