how do you get your to eat veggies?

[cassiepengo]

Ive been trying to get neon(lovie) eat more healthy stuff but she just wont!!
She eat green leafy stuff and sometimes nibbles a little carrot, but thats it. Shes been on a only seed diet forever... Ideas??
Thanks

 

[EAI]

I used the Quiko Egg Supplement and got my parakeets used to that, after a week I started trying to sprinkle it on vegetables and fruits. It took about 6 months but they are now happily eating fresh foods (with some supplements on top of it). I'm working with Gizmo on the same thing right now, but he's REALLY stubborn too. He barely touches millet!

 

[torrap]

I am trying a new thing right now....and I think it's working.
I am taking my birds out from their cages in the morning before breakfast and let them watch me preparing their food. They are hungry in the morning, so I give them only greens to chew on while they watch me.....nothing else. Asparagus, broccoli, sugar snaps, etc.
I am doing it for almost a week....and it works!
Then I give them their breakfast, and they are happy to continue eating what ever they want from their dishes.
I am off to work knowing that they had some greens......

 

[Scott]

Having them watch you prepare AND eat the veggies/fruits is helpful, as you are part of the "flock." Persistency is also important, as an item ignored or tossed out of the dish may one day be tried and enjoyed.
I also remove their seed/pellets once veggies/fruits are offered and do not return them until the fresh food has "expired" and been removed.

 

[Christinenc2000]

Gus had been on a seed only diet when he came to live with me.
Anything New I try I hand him one and I stand there and eat one. Might be silly but it seemed to work. Well except for the carrot stick that he tosses back at me . I feed the dogs at the same when I get home in the evening so everyone is eating.
Also Gus will not eat chop. He wants his food cut so he can hold it. Fed corn for the fist time last night. OMG that was a mess LOL

 

[Kalidasa]

The best way that works for me for small to medium birds is to chop them up in super tiny pieces. It also helps to establish a "goody dish" in the same spot. Start by putting their favorite treats in that dish for a few weeks. Then one day, instead of the treats have the finely shredded veggies in that dish, and keep doing it that way. Broccoli tops are a good start, as are carrots because they shred nice and fine. It could take a long time for them to catch on...weeks or even months, but they eventually do when curiosity wins out over suspicion. Just always have them available.
How's your lovie Cassie?

 

[veimar]

BROCCOLINI - that's a hit! Try it. My birds won't eat any veggies except it and might nibble on broccoli. It's sold in bigger produce markets or asian stores.

 

[ParrotsAhoy]

My 8mnth old alex came to me never having met a fruit or vegetable other then apple. I eat my 3 meals a day "with" him (my table is beside his cage), when I sit down to eat I give him a fruit/veg skewer which I pretend to eat off my plate and then put in his cage and he gets all excited about being allowed 'human' food .. oh birds, sometimes so easy to fool Oh, and he likes his skewer to be in the corner of the cage closest to my plate so we can pretend to be a flock and eat together!

Ive tried all the fruit and veg available here prepared in different ways to find his favs. E.g. he likes his broccoli blanched (NOT cooked and NOT raw apparently!), but likes his cauliflower raw. Orange slices WITH the skin on are served IN his water dish (dont ask lol, its just how he likes it). He likes his carrots raw, whole, and shoved through the bars for him to rip to bits - but wont touch cooked carrot.

I try and think up as many fun ways of serving fruits and veges - skewers on the side of the cage, in paper cups tied up with pretty paper ribbons, hung in bird-safe baskets, strung up in paper bags, adorned with frilly muffin-cups etc. Anything that will make his food seem more exciting and try to get him foraging for his fresh fruits and veges.

 

[strudel]

The best way that works for me for small to medium birds is to chop them up in super tiny pieces.

Yes, chopping it all up in the food processor. I read "instructions" for making the bird chop and the author pointed out an advantage that it always looks like the same thing, no matter what different things you use, so the birds aren't trying to suss out whether that new strange hunk-of-something is going to kill them.

Also suggested (and used by me) is putting the chop on top of their seed or whatever they are used to. Even if they don't actively eat the chop, they'll accidentally try some as they go for the seed and (hopefully) get to like it and get used to it.

 

[cassiepengo]

thanks everybody!! Im gonna try it all out!! I do sometimes let her sit on my shoulder and eat something in slow motion so that really gets her curious. She even put her head in my mouth once(eeeew!) And when i offer it to her she just gives a single nibble and looks away. That bird ugh! I even made this adorable veggie salad once with her fav treats mixed in. She ended up toppling the cup and ate the treats. She dint even bother to try out the veggies!

 

[cassiepengo]

@kalidasa: neon guava is just fine!! she creates a hell lot of trouble though! Shseesh, that bird!! thanks for asking