problem eating fruits and veggies, help!

[al7601]

ok so its now a few weeks since we got our girl and her behavior has become MUCH better but that's not what this is about. she is now 8 months old. when we got her we were told she ate fresh fruits and veggies but also pretty bird eclectus and a seed macaw seed mix.

We stopped giving her the seed mix right away and now use it as a treat, very seldom. We have 3 bowls in her cage. 1 with fresh water all the time, the other always with pretty bird eclectus and the other we keep changing with fruits and veggies. The problem is she usually doesn't touch the fresh stuff and when she does she kind of tries to shell a pea or corn kernel and leaves it hallow. the only thing we've seen her eat fresh is pomegranate or if I hand feed her.

what do we do??? Should we remove the pretty bird food and only offer her fresh? I've tried many different types of fruit and veggies but she ends up throwing most of them or like I said earlier, she will leave a pea or corn kernel hallow. We've even tried cinnamon on the pellets then on her fruit and veggies. HELP!!!

Oh and she doesn't suffer from toe tapping or wing flipping from this current diet.

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

ok so its now a few weeks since we got our girl and her behavior has become MUCH better but that's not what this is about. she is now 8 months old. when we got her we were told she ate fresh fruits and veggies but also pretty bird eclectus and a seed macaw seed mix.

We stopped giving her the seed mix right away and now use it as a treat, very seldom. We have 3 bowls in her cage. 1 with fresh water all the time, the other always with pretty bird eclectus and the other we keep changing with fruits and veggies. The problem is she usually doesn't touch the fresh stuff and when she does she kind of tries to shell a pea or corn kernel and leaves it hallow. the only thing we've seen her eat fresh is pomegranate or if I hand feed her.

what do we do??? Should we remove the pretty bird food and only offer her fresh? I've tried many different types of fruit and veggies but she ends up throwing most of them or like I said earlier, she will leave a pea or corn kernel hallow. We've even tried cinnamon on the pellets then on her fruit and veggies. HELP!!!

Oh and she doesn't suffer from toe tapping or wing flipping from this current diet.

I heard Ekkies love Goldenfeast golden obles, which are not exactly fruit and veggies, but will have a similar hard texture, and they have a boatload of nutrients. I hear they're recommended for Ekkies as well.

Goldn?obles I | Goldenfeast Direct

http://goldenfeastdirect.com/best-sellers/goldnobles-ii/

 

[MomtoPercy]

I don't have experience with eckies and my BFA loves his fresh stuff, so I'm probably not the best person to offer advice . That said, here is my tip : Percy is very curious and whenever I (pretend) to enjoy something like a new toy or a new food, he will invariably get over his fear/aversion for whatever it is, and very quickly demand his share. Have you tried "sharing a plate with her"? Let her sit with you while you're eating (veggies and fruits cut appropriately) and allow her to pick food from your plate. Perhaps if she sees you're enjoying something, she will think it is worth trying?
Good luck!

 

[Kimma]

Have you tried giving her a warm mash? I haven't tried it on my parrot yet, but I am told some parrots just love it. It's like comfort food. I also read that hand feeding a parrot warm mash is a great way to get them to like you, so particularly good for non-favourite people to improve a relationship.

I followed this recipe IndianRingNeck.com ? View topic - What to Feed your Parrot (recipes, toxicities, links too!)

But it's basically sweet potato mash, which whatever other vegies you want finely died and mixed in. I tried it myself and it's quite tasty.

 

[MomtoPercy]

Oh, another thing - Percy prefers some of his fresh food slightly cooked. I steam brocolli and carrots for him very briefly so it still retains the crunch. He will scoff it down like this but when it is completely raw, he tosses it away LOL! So try that too.

 

[Freespin]

I'm not sure how correct this is but I am currently mixing my boys seed and goldnfruit in with his chopped up fruit and vege. I cut the fresh stuff up quite small and he seems to get into it and because he is an unco baby it's to hard to pick out just the seed.

 

[al7601]

thanks for the tips. I will certainly try a mash and eating with her but should I remove the pellets all together and give her no choice??? do they normally drop more food than they eat?? also, should I only leave food in her cage for an hour or two and try to get her to eat a breakfast and dinner or leave her with at least the pellets available all day???

 

[Freespin]

I can't help you a lot with the other questions but my eckie is a very messy eater!

 

[Abigal7]

I noticed that a bird will be interested in things they see you eat. Maybe slice a apple eat some in front of her and offer a slice to the bird (for example). I respect that you do not want to want your bird to be a seed junkie. Goldenfeast may be a option. My bird is a mini macaw so I do not know if your bird's diet would be exactly the same. As part of Captain Jack's diet I feed him Bountiful Harvest http://www.mysafebirdstore.com/product.cgi?group=1569&product=2588. Here is one that is recommended for Eclectus http://www.mysafebirdstore.com/product.cgi?group=1569&product=18798. People can correct me if I am wrong but right now I feed frozen veggies (after I cooked them) to my bird. In my experience my bird is more likely to eat cook veggies then raw veggies. I read somewhere that frozen veggies can pack more nutrients then raw veggies but if frozen veggies are unsafe I rather be corrected about it. I cook beans for my bird and sometimes scramble or boiled eggs. Sometimes I buy a bag of cookable food made for birds. However, a bag can last me a month or a little over. I do not think it would be economical if someone had a large flock. For treats I sometimes give Lafebers nutriberries or avi-cakes. I recently have let my bird try a little bit of cooked turkey (mind you I only would give him a small piece). But I do not know if your bird species has the exact diet of a macaw.

 

[MomtoPercy]

thanks for the tips. I will certainly try a mash and eating with her but should I remove the pellets all together and give her no choice??? do they normally drop more food than they eat?? also, should I only leave food in her cage for an hour or two and try to get her to eat a breakfast and dinner or leave her with at least the pellets available all day???

NO. Don't remove the pellets. She must have something to eat. Rather reduce the pellets (just a little bit) and mix it with fresh stuff.

She must have pellets available all day.

To discourage gnats, etc. and bacterial growth, I feed fresh food for breakfast and remove the bowl after two hours or so and then do the same at dinner. Pellets remain available all day.

 

[GaryBV]

Sometimes presentation makes a huge difference - For instance my birds are fully capable of eating a whole grape, but they will never touch it, I tried cutting them in 1/2, and still they didn't touch it, I cut it into tiny pieces, and they eat it up. So try serving his fruits and vegetables in different ways from mashed up, to little pieces, on up to whole sized fruits. There is no right or wrong way, there is only the way that your bird will accept them.

 

[Caesar]

one word pomegranate's my Ekkie loves them also Dragonfruit. They r a bit pricey almost 3 aussie dollars each but I was having trouble with him eating fruit. Vegies he was fine on. Its just thinking outside the square. I think someone mentioned presentation and yes it can be a problem .
I have a feeding station where I feed my ekkie this works out well as I have less of a job cleaning his cage making sure there r no little bits of fruit or vegies rotting in his cage and he knows that is where he gets his two main meals per day.
sometimes I mix the whole lot up in a bowl or other times I group the fruit.
There is no rule about just fruit and just vegies together Some times I mash my veggies other times I blanch them , roast you name it.
Mixing mashed veggies and fruit is also another way.
good luck