We never expect to have to deal with an accident or illness with our birds. Unfortunately, sometimes things happen and we have to take our bird to the veterinarian in order to get care. Often, we are prescribed medication to give our bird to help them in their healing. Many people find it stressful to give them their medicine because they often reject it. In this short blog post, I’d like to share one simple way I’ve come up with to train my birds to take medication. Hopefully, it can help you lay a foundation and be prepared before you actually need to. It involves a tiny spoon - though the size is up to you, and some soft food that they can’t resist. There is more than one way to deliver medication to your bird, but here’s what has helped me. However, always let your veterinarian know before you use this or any delivery method to make sure it’s suitable with the medication they are being prescribed.

Step One: Teach Them that the Spoon is Safe

The first step is to teach your bird that the spoon you will use to deliver the medication is a positive thing. The goal is to create a positive association with the spoon. This way, when they see it, they know that something good will happen - in this case, they will get a delicious treat. I ordered some tiny stainless steel espresso spoons for my birds since they’re small and it is much easier for them to eat from than a large one. What you use is entirely up to you, but if you want to try what I use, just search for “stainless steel espresso spoons”. If you have a larger parrot, you can use a regular sized one. 

If the bird shows fear when you hold it up, you’ll want to bring it further away and go very slow. Find the point (distance) at which your bird is uncomfortable with the spoon and stay just below that. This way, the bird is never distressed. Slowly try and decrease the space between the bird and the spoon until they are no longer fearful. To do this, you can use it in front of them to eat from so that they can see there is nothing to be afraid of. You can also just sit it close to where they perch and gradually, over time, decrease the distance. If you try to rush this step with a bird that is displaying fear, you will teach them to associate it with distress - which is the opposite of what we want. Some birds will accept the spoon right away and some will take some time. It’s OK if you need to move very slowly over a few days or more to get them comfortable around it. 

Step Two: Associate the Spoon with a Treat

Start offering them their favorite treat on the spoon. Choose something that they really like. Eventually, as soon as they see you holding up the spoon, they will get excited and come over to it. You’ll want to repeat this every now and then so that the association stays clear in their mind. I would offer them something tasty on the spoon a few times per week. Just enough to solidify feelings of safety and familiarity in their mind. You can start with their favorite nuts, seeds, or other treats. You can make it fun by having your own spoon and eating with them! An enthusiastic "mmm this is tasty!" from you while you eat from your own spoon might be a huge motivator for your bird. We are important members of the flock to them and so what we do matters and influences them.

If you've completed step one properly, this should be an easy step. However, it's OK if your bird needs time to take anything from the spoon. It requires a lot of trust from a bird to try something new or even perch on our finger. Taking our time is worth the end result - and hopefully you are teaching your bird before you even need to give them any medication.

Step Tree: Choose Foods to Mix with Their Medication

Now, you’ll want to think of some possible soft foods you can use to mix medication with and offer on the spoon. Again, it’s really important that you run your plans by your bird’s vet to make sure it will work with what they are prescribed. Try to think of something soft that they might like that would be easy to mix with. You don’t want to offer them soft foods regularly since this can trigger nesting or breeding behavior. Instead, just test a few things out until you find something they enjoy for when you need it.

Many people have found success using foods like oatmeal or smoothies. I use organic baby food for Noel, my Green-cheeked conure that requires medication three times per day. If you try baby food, choose organic foods with no added sugars if you can get your bird to accept them. You can test different kinds out to see what they like. Noel’s favorites are mango and sweet potato! Knowing what they like will make delivering medication much easier if/when you need to. Whatever you choose, make sure it's safe for them to eat. Read the back of jars and food labels and look for ingredients that might be harmful to your bird. The simpler the ingredients the better. Some baby food contains avocado, so double check every jar you buy. If you want to make sure that you know exactly what your bird is getting, you can make your own mash using fruit and veggies. You can blend them up to create a mushy, tasty spoonful. 

You can also try to mix medication in with some of Bird Street Bistro's parrot food! Many people have found success with a picky parrot by transitioning them to a healthy diet using Bird Street Bistro as a way to up mix foods. You just want to make sure that your bird gets all of the medication, so your choice of food should assist with that goal. Some medication has an oily texture that mixes well with certain foods, and some is more watery and can run very easily. So, try to have a few ideas ready for if you need them. 

In Closing

I hope this short post was helpful and provided you with a gentle way to deliver your birds medication. I know how stressful it can feel to need to give them medicine and have them reject it. I also know how awful it feels to have to restrain them in order to do so. It really stings when they are hurt with us afterward and avoid us or fly away. So, hopefully this helps to ease that stress a little. There's other things you can try as well, so keep learning - always! I would really love to know some ways that you have found helpful! Visit the Bird Street Bistro Flock group on Facebook to let me know and share with others.

Let's help one another and foster a community of helpers and amazing parrot caretakers.