How to get birds to eat fresh food.

[Falconry]

Hello, falconry here.

My lovebird came from a petshop that fed only seed diets to the birds. I bought her a foraging mix bird food that has big pellets and tiny green and red pellets as well as flaxseed, grains, and other mixed seeds. She eats thebigger pellets but ignores the colored pellets. I feed her lafaber nutriberries as treats several times throughout the day but do not exceed 3-4 berries a day. She absolutely loves them but I want her to eat fresh and not the seed junk. I have been sprouting seeds and legumes, which she readily accepts. Aside from that she only eats wheatgrass and some brown rice. I want her to eat fresh peppers, broccoli, spinach, kale, carrots, pomegranetes, and other fruits and veggies. How do I transition her to fresh foods and pellet only diet. I want her to eat healthier but she is very stubborn.

Has anyone had a seed only diet bird that now accepts fruit and veggies. Also if your birds are stubborn what brand of food would you suggest that has proper nutrition if the birds dont eat fresh foods and pellets?.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Zilla was on a parakeet seed diet when I got her, and was used to eating whatever was on her owners plate, so I had a hard time getting her to eat anything from her own dish that wasn't a seed.

I started by giving her bites of veggies and fruits from my plate when I was eating. I made a BIG deal about how yummy it was and made her wait until she was really begging for a bite, then put a little on my fork and let her have it.

She now chows on most everything in her dish for breakfast and eats off her own plate (saucer) at dinner time, and rarely even begs from mine anymore.

You might try different ways of cutting, chopping, grating, steaming, cold, frozen, mashed to find out how she likes different foods. Zilla likes her carrots steamed and soft, her sweet potatoes microwaved and cut in bite size pieces, her grapes quartered, her rice mixed with beans and mixed veggies warm, her bananas in little bite sized pieces, her green beans whole and raw, snap peas whole and raw. Too many different ways for different things, but if you keep trying different ways and offering a variety of different things you will figure out what she likes and how she likes it.

 

[Falconry]

Thank you Amanda,

I will try the different methods of preparing the food. My lovebird is not very tame and though she will want to try anything thats in my hand she normally stops after having tried a tiny bite. I found out she doesn't like anything too 'juicy' like tomatoes. She also happens to not enjoy the pomegranate seed taste which I find odd since I heard most birds love them (my guineas and quails sure do). I put shredded carrot and blanched kale in her food but she completely ignored it. I will be trying the softer and warmer methods of preparing as I think she is going to like that.

Thank you!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Here is a link that may prove to be helpful
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html