Need help...How do I get my GCC to eat veggies/fruit

[KiwiPlusUs1025]

Hello everyone.

I'm hoping I can get some advice on how to get my GCC to eat veggies and fruits. I've tried different veggies (broccoli, carrots, corn, cauliflower, etc) and I have also tried many different fruits (strawberries, grapes apples) but she really doesn't eat it. I've tried giving them to her well I'm eating breakfast or dinner but she doesn't seem interested. Not sure what I can do.
I got her to eat all natural roudybush pellets pretty easily but I can't get her to eat fresh fruits/veggies.

Any advise would be great.
Thanks

 

[jenphilly]

Try making a plate with pile of options for her and bring her to the table for a flock meal. Most birds love to eat something they steal just eating with her flock may get her trying new stuff!

Try making her rice or pasta and mix one or two veggies/fruits in. Try adding red pepper flakes or fresh ground cinnamon. Also for veggies try steaming if you haven't, might like softer mushy texture. Also cut differently... small cubes, strip, sliced, shredded. Just changing that could entice.

Keep trying, one day you will find the magic trick that works for her!!!

Good luck.

 

[KiwiPlusUs1025]

Thank you Jenphilly! I will tr it all.

 

[Chandler6611]

I'm currently working on the same issue with my love bird

 

[Starlit_Night]

The other trick is to eat some yourself, and make a big production of how good it is. I had to do this with Aleta at first. Now if she sees me eating something she wants to try it. It's a little harder to trick her into trying something I don't want to eat - like the Kale I tried to get her to eat last week. I think its gross - so I was taking big chomps of it, and trying to descreetly spit it out when she wasn't looking.

 

[SilverSage]

I agree with the suggestions so far, but let me add some. Try frozen veggies, still frozen. Try cooked veggies. Try them in spears, try them in cubes, try them chopped into teeny tiny pieces. Try offering one at a time, try offering them all at once. Try putting them in a treat cup, try setting them wherever she plays, try wedging them through the bars, try putting them in her food dish, try putting them in her water dish, try wedging them in her favorite toy, try putting them on the top of the cage where she can get them while hanging upside down. Try offering them before breakfast, when she is hungry, and leaving them for a while before feeding the normal pellets. Try mixing them with her regular food, try stringing them kabob-style on a zip-tie and attaching them to the cage, plays stand, or anything else. Try feeding them to the dog if you have one. Try some dried fruits and veggies, try mixing them with nuts. Try transitioning to cereal first (like Post Great Grains) in a treat cup, then adding fruits and veggies later. Try handing them to her, try tossing them to her, try throwing them on the floor when she is playing. Try putting them where she "can't get them," try zip tying a carrot to the top of her favorite perch so she sits on it. Try putting them on a zip tie or something and dangling them from the top of the cage, play stand, or perch. Try putting them on your shoulder while the two of you watch TV. Try varying the colors - I had a budgie who would ONLY eat Purple cabbage, not green cabbage! Try different textures, and don't forget those leafy greens! My birds are especially fond of raw spinach. If they don't like the big leaves, try shredding your greens and piling them on a play stand or the top of a cage where they can be pulled down and played with. In general, try thinking of ways to get your birds to PLAY with it rather than to eat it. Playing leads to eating =D

All that said, be SURE to remove them no later than the end of the day. If you put them with the food, be sure not to leave it too long. If the pellets have time to get soft, throw the whole thing out. If you put it in the water, leave it for no more than 2 hours. If it looks wilty, it has been there too long.


Not comfortable putting things in your bird's water dish? Add a bird bath and put it in there. Flick LOVES bobbing for corn kernels in his bathing dish, and dunks almost all of his food in there anyway. Just be sure the water is shallow enough that while they may have to put some effort into getting the treat, they should never have to dunk their nostrils into the water.

Above all, BE PATIENT! It took one of my cockatiels over a year to start eating the veggies I was giving her. If you don't want to "waste money" trying for that long, eat everything yourself That way you can boost your diet and your bird's, no money wasted! Having birds has helped me consume more veggies, and I love it! (I do not mean you should eat it after it has been in a bird cage, just that you can eat the rest of what you buy if it doesn't make it into the cage)

If you must cheat, here is an idea. I am glad they are on pellets, but seeds can be used as treats. Put a treat cup in the cage and feed a FEW seeds, millet even, every day for a week. I am talking no more than a teaspoon full of seeds, just enough to establish it as "the super yummy bowl of treats." Then add your fruits and veggies there, chopped small. Maybe the association will help.

A note on health: You can never feed too many veggies, but you can feed too many fruits. Fruit is great, but try to make the majority of your fresh treats veggies. Like their human families, many of our birds are getting way too much sugar, even if it is from fruit. I try to offer at least 3 types of veggies for every fruit I offer.

Best of luck!

 

[MonicaMc]

Have you checked out the thread stickies in this forum? One includes various ways to try and convert birds over to eating healthier.