First Post: veggies

[miss.maddie]

Hi everyone! I’m new on this forum and just wanted to intoduce my Sun Conure name Marigold! She’s three years old and just about the sweetest bird you’ll ever meet!

I wanted to talk about her diet and maybe get some advice. I’ve had her for about a year now. She was on a seed diet only. No pellets or fruits or veggies or anything else! So I immediately put her on a pellet diet. It was a slow start but I’d like to say that I have 100% converted her haha. She now eats mainly pellets with about a teaspoon of seeds every other day as a treat. So slowly, I have started to introduce fruits and veggies in her diet. And trust me. It was hard. But I managed to get her to eat certain fruits when I eat them. Examples include apples, melons, grapes, kiwi, and pear.

The issue is the veggies. She will not even touch them no matter how hard I try. So for the last 10 days, I started making birdie mash. I make a variety but they usually include brown rice, quineo, lentils, carrots, broccoli, bell pepper, peas, sweet potato, and some apples or some fruit for sweetness. I season it with freshly grounded cinnamon and a teeny bit of chili powder. I started to offer it in the morning for breakfast. But she would only pick out the apples and rice and refuse to eat the rest. Then I decided to offer it for dinner. Same issue. Then I had her sit down next to me while I ate my meal. And she still refused to eat the veggies. She would touch it and then throw it out of the bowl. No matter how small I chopped it, she would still go for the rice and fruit

I just need some advice here lol how do I get her to eat her veggies. Oh!! And I also tried to mix seed in with her food. She’ll pick the seeds out and not eat the rest. Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

 

[Jen5200]

Welcome to you and Marigold! Good job converting her to pellets. The veggies were the hard part for two of my conures as well (came to me as established seed junkies).

I’ll share what got mine over their vegetable disdain....I started chopping fruit up really small, and mixed a VERY small amount of veggies in (had to be sneaky). I have a little hand chopper that worked really well for chopping it into oblivion. They accidentally ate it a few times, and I gradually increased the amount of veggies. I could only add one veg at a time so that they got used to seeing them in there, then move on to fruit with a different veggie using the same process. If there was too much unfamiliar goop in the bowl - they only picked out things that were familiar or didn’t touch it at all. My conures apparently have a “one-new-thing-at-a-time” limit, and only if it is barely noticeable . On the upside - they now eat anything that goes in the bowl and get mostly veg and grains with a bit of fruit lol. Good luck! I’m sure others will share what worked for them as well, there’s bound to be a trick that works for you.

 

[miss.maddie]

Yes! I just have to find something that works lol she’s definitely a stubborn little one

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome!

Good for you, for being so proactive and caring.

Here are my usual diet thoughts.
Harrison's Bird Foods
I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff, like fruits and vegetables! My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day. I also like Harrison's via mail because I never have to worry about out-of-date products.
Another couple of ideas...
My ol' man is an athlete and health nut. He actually EATS all the good stuff, so it's always around. I find that tossing various stuff into the food bowls at random is good... the variations and differences seem to stimulate curiosity and attention.
The other idea... if you can stand it (lol) EAT the stuff in front of the birds, yes. That encourages them. I have also found that if my ol' man eats stuff in front of the bird, the bird WANTS it for himself. Kinda a rivalry thing!

I'm glad you and Marigold are here! Pictures would be wonderful!

 

[TiredOldMan]

I personally won't feed anything to my fids that I won't eat myself.

Yes, I'm that crazy person who will eat pellets. The Harrison's has a slight edge on flavor and are easier on my teeth than Roudybush.

Have you tried cooked green beans? They are a real favorite around here. Also steamed broccoli and cauliflower and hot or mild fresh chilies.

I found that offering them whatever I'm eating eventually you will find something they really like. This seems to get them going. One veggie leads to another and another.

It just takes time and patience. Even if they refuse something try offering it again in a week or a month.

 

[LuceandEllie]

Hii! I was in the same situation as you around ayear ago, transitioning my Amazon from seeds to pellets and fresh fruits and veggies.

Ellie had the same issue with leafy greens, which is a main part of her diet now. I started mixing them with a little bit of quinoa (maybe quinoa infused with ginger, as I have tried lately and she seemed to love), and chopping them real small, making sure htey mix in nicely. That was something I tried for a few weeks, and started giving her bigger and bigger pieces till she now only gets the quinoa with the weekly chop, and eats the fresh fruits and veggies like a champ.

Just a tip, I don't know if it would work on you, or if quinoa is not perfect for your kind of bird but, hope it helps!