Ideas for Treats?

[FirstBird]

Kaleeko hasn't been eating that much, just the millet? seed the lady we got her from gave us. We have tried apple pieces and she won't take them. We also bought some packaged sugar cane treats that she has no interest in.
I need more treat ideas. She nips when she doesn't want to get off your shoulder, so I want to have a good treat to feed her when she doesn't nip. She does not draw blood though. My son has been wearing a glove so he won't flinch when she nips. Also - how many days should we feed her fresh produce and what kinds do you suggest? Thank you!

 

[nicolee003]

Yogi loves cabbage, carrots and carrot tops, banana, broccoli and kale. We leave vegetables available to him at all times. If he won't eat any fresh produce try juicing it and maybe he'll drink it.

 

[DannyA93]

Have you tried peanuts? i know its not very healthy for them but most birds love them! or pecans! or even sunflower seeds. but if you use these make sure its ONLY FOR TREATS! good luck

 

[JasmineGCC]

Pine nuts work for jasmine and can be broken into little pieces
She'll walk through fire for a sunflower seed!

 

[Sc0tt]

Casper LOVES LeFebers Nutriberries. They're really good too because when we're training or anything, afer the click I offer him the treat but hang on to it so he only takes a couple seed bits off of it at a time. This lets him train longer and not get a lump of the treat to make it less appealing to him during our training. He also really enjoys Fiesta yogurt covered sunflower seeds, or normal sunflower seeds for that matter!

 

[MeganMango]

Mango is crazy for fresh pomegranate seeds. I eat these all the time, so I always save a handful for when we do training. They are the only thing he will actually come running for aside from sunflower seeds. Since the pomegranate seeds are actually good for him, I dont worry about him getting them too often. He does make a huge red/purple mess with them though, so watch your clothes. He also love raspberries and blueberries, which are also packed with good stuff. When we first got Mango he hated veggies. He usually wont eat something new right away, I have to offer it two or three times, and I have to eat it in front of him. At first he would only eat carrots, peppers, sweet potato and apples, but now he eats pretty much everything. I recently posted a thread about updating Mango's set up, and there was a picture of a toy I made out of fruits and veggies. Mango will even eat some of his least favorites if I hang them as a toy. It also helps to put things higher up in the cage, as this can make them more interested in it, and be supper persistent. Just keep offering, and eat it lots in front of them. Let them take it from you if you have to. Its like tricking them to think you have something special that you dont want to share.

 

[momto3]

We use Cheerios and roasted chicken for training. Both of our birds absolutely love this. Try a little piece of corn on the cob or sweet potato sprinkled with cinnamon. Try showing your bird how yummy stuff is by taking bites yourself. This works pretty well...

 

[008kenichijouji]

I've got a VERY picky conure too, who was only given parakeet seed and peanuts. Took me years to change her diet a little, but now she eats pellets and grapes at least!

Some people might not agree with my method, but I just took the seed out one morning, put in pellets, and after going hungry for a little less than one day, she had to eat them, and now she LOVES them. I tried putting crushed pellets among the seed, but she picked over them...so I had to kinda "force" her into it...

For grapes, I hung a kebob skewer over her food bowl (so if food falls off, it just goes in the bowl), and I put some grapes on there. After a couple of days doing that, she started getting curious, and bit into one. She loves them now, and it's kinda like she's out a branch on a tree, trying to get her food because the skewer moves around and she has to figure out how to get her meal! Good fun and it's healthy.

Maybe try something like that? I went through a lot of veggies and fruits, trying to find something she'd like.......... She's settled on grapes. Haha.

I also train her with dried papaya. She goes crazy for that stuff! Look for no sugar/low sugar varieties.