I am the proud new mommy of a baby crimson bellied conure, newly weaned. The aviary I got him/her from (still waiting on DNA results) was feeding a seed-rich mix, but I knew I wanted to feed a diet that is mostly pellets, with some seeds and soft foods to supplement. My new baby, however, has had a different idea! Baby will eat corn and peas and will nibble some green beans, loves the seed part of the mix, but wanted nothing to do with the pellets my maroon bellied conure ate for 17 years. Every evening, I let baby join us at the table for the veggie part of the daily diet, along with some dried fruits and/or banana. Baby has always been interested in whatever's on MY plate, too.
I got a sample of Harrison's and tried this little trick: I put some of the pellets on my plate and pretended to eat them. I then pretended to give some to my hubby...we both acted really excited about them, and baby dove right in!!
I put some in the upper food bowl and leave them available at all times. I only give seed mix in a bowl on the bottom and only for about an hour in the morning and again in the evening. So far, so good!
Now, I had the advantage of the fact that my baby was already weaned off of the formula, but I can't help but wonder if letting yours join you at the table would help. Birds are very social, feeding in flocks in the wild. They really like to eat with their "families". Playing on this might just help you out. Good luck!!
