Moving to NC with Pets

[AikoG84]

Hello. I'm a new member. I've had some bad experiences with forums previously, so I hope I don't have thouse same experiences here.

I have an adopted B&G Macaw who is quite picky. I've been working with him to get him to eat fresh foods and pellets, but he won't consistently eat these things. The only thing he'll eat consistently is an ABBA seed mix I get locally in Orlando, FL (He's 17 now and his previous owner only fed him a seed diet). I'm moving to North Carolina by the end of the year and I've been having trouble finding a new store to buy his food. All I seem to be able to find is stores catering to wild birds, not companion birds. Buying any kind of Macaw mix from a big box store is prohibitively expensive (big box will generally be $25 for a week of food he'll eat, the ABBA mix is $40 for a month's supply). I'm looking to move into the Charlotte area and I would appreciate any tips to stores I could try when I get up there.

I plan on looking through recipes and ideas on here because I do want him eating more fresh foods vs a strictly seed diet. I've got a good list of things he will eat, I just have to figure out how to get him to eat it consistently instead of "as treats", which is how he seems to look at fresh foods.

[PlaxMacaws]

Hello and welcome to Precisely Parrots, AikoG84...

Getting an adult macaw who has a history of eating an all-seed diet to consume healthier, fresh foods on a consistent basis can be a challenge. Which fresh foods have you tried and how do you present them to him? And which brands of pellets have you tried? You may be able to progressively transition him by providing both his usual seeds along with the pellets and fresh foods. You might try giving him a smaller portion of the seeds each day to see if he will begin to fill in with the fresh foods you're offering. If you can gradually get him to consider the seeds as his treats and the fresh foods as his regular meals, that would be quite a good thing. And offer him various nuts as treats as well on occasion.

Have you considered ordering bird foods from Internet sources?

They definitely tend to become set in their ways!

[spiritbird]

Hello and welcome to our forum family. May I suggest Bountiful Harvest for large birds. Never known a bird not to like it. You can order it on Mysarebirdstore. They custom blend this mix. I hope your move goes smoothly. I am a little bird person so I leave advice to big bird members. Thanks for joining us.

[spiritbird]

[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] Here is a link to Bountiful harvest. You can buy in 5 or 20 pound bags or by the pound.

[Lady]

:th_yah::th_welcome2: Nice to meet you! Wow a B&G Mac :th_smile:. Nice~ How wonderful you adopted him. As far as a place to purchase your food from NC, I searched, "parrot food stores in NC," and found a few but I'm not familiar with the area and not sure which stores are closest to Charlotte. I do have to give props to the online idea, especially because my mini mac Lady, really prefers the bountiful harvest from My Safe Bird Store. You could also go to the Yellow Pages online and search as well.

Here is a link to the threads we have here on Parrot Food, Diet & Recipes: [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

What is your B&G's name? Hope you tell us about some of the adventures you have had with your B&G and pics would be gladly oooh and ahhhhed over!

[wingman]

Welcome to the forum:th_smile:

[Mr Peepers]

Welcome to the forum, I'm sure you will find tons of advice and posts here about what to feed your macaw. I know some members buy their seeds from company's online, they get good deals on prices and some have free delivery.

Good luck with your move.

[Mare]

Hello and welcome! :th_greet13: best of luck with your move!