Ask Lafeber

Regurgitation behavior

I have a 29 y/o African Grey. I got him when he was about 6 months old – so we’ve been together a LONG time. He has always regurgitated a bit on a favorite toy and I would remove the toy so as not to _encourage_ regurgitation. I am not sure why they do this. He also regurgitates TERRIBLY in the car when we are on the way to the veterinarian for appointments. I’ve learned (the hard way) to keep beach towels to place over his travel cage because when he regurgitates, he then shakes his head and the “stuff” goes flying. So – back to the cage – I bought a new feeder dish for his cage – a covered metal feeder. I wasn’t sure he’d like it because he has to stick his head inside to get to his pellets. But he grew to like the covered feeder pretty quickly. I bought a covered feeder because he was flinging all of his pellets out from his open bowls (while asking “what are you doing?” in my voice). Well, the flinging of pellets has stopped – but now we have a new problem: he seems to love the closed feeder and regurgitates all over the top of it. The stuff is stinky (it smells highly acidic) and when it dries, hardens like glue. I have to soak the covered feeder in a sinkful of water to get the regurgitated food to soften up so that I can wipe it off and then clean it with soapy water. Is this much regurgitation normal?? Do you have any resources that you can refer me to in order to learn more on this behavior? Should I remove the closed-top feeder? Any suggestions for preventing food flinging? Thank you

Hi,

This is most likely hormonal behavior, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a vet check just to make sure he doesn’t have any type of infection in the crop or digestive system. Regurgitating in the car is normal and most likely related to the motion. Many birds do this. It can help to have a light cover over the cage or carrier, but some birds regurgitate anyway. As for the feeder, my guess is he can see his reflection and has become obsessed with the feeder. I would remove the top at least. As for throwing the food, this is common with parrots and is related to wild instinct, where parrots are more wasteful when food is very abundant. Most owners fill up a food bowl when it actually holds enough food for a week or more. I would start with about 2 tablespoons of pellets and see what he does. Do not refill the bowl as soon as he throws his food. Have a bowl of fresh foods available and he can eat that if he is hungry enough. He will learn his bowl won’t get filled on demand just because he throws his food. Greys are very smart and they will train you if you let them. We do have a webinar where the Vet discusses how much food a parrot actually needs each day, and for a Grey it is about 2 tablespoons of pellets plus fresh foods. I’ll give you that link to check out. And he also may be bored with just pellets. Greys do great on our foraging diets, which are formulated the same as a pellet but are not ground up. Our Nutri-Berries, Avi-Cakes and Pellet-Berries provide complete nutrition while also providing natural foraging exercise. They can be fed alone or combined and can also be fed with pellets.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda