Tips to get my Senegals to eat veggies?

[mstarr93]

Hi guys! First time parront here. Just got 2 10y/o sennies, Ricky and Lucy. I'm trying to get them to eat fresh fruits and veggies but they're not particularly interest. They LOVE whole, in shell nuts, especially Ricky and they took to apple slices pretty quickly but I can't get them to touch a veggie. Any suggestions? Thanks so much!!


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[GaleriaGila]

Here's the Rbird's story.
I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. 30-ish years ago, Harrison's was still a small company. My vet was actually able to talk to Dr. Harrison about my bird's species and status, and they decided on the High Potency. 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. 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.
Maybe you could try something similar as far as putting out veggies only for cetain times...

 

[trimblegirls]

My Jasper, CAG, isn't too keen on veggies either but loves fruit. I bought a a treat ball. It's a hanging clear ball that has small slits in the bottom. I put veggies in that with 3 grapes (his fav) and a walnut or brazil nut. I make sure the fruit/nut is at the top so he has to eat his way through the veggies. At first, he just bit it enough to get it out and dropped it but now I'm seeing less and less veggies on the bottom of his cage. The key for him was that he could see the grapes. I also made it hang low so he had to pick up the ball. I still feed him chop in the morning. He gets an apple slice in it cut much smaller than the other pieces to help encourage eating all of it. I'm seeing less of that on the bottom of the cage too.

 

[BeatriceC]

Sennies tend to be fruit lovers. Of course, all birds are individuals, but in general I've noticed that to be the case more often than not. So that said, you might have more luck starting with fruits and sweet veggies first, and then doing something like what trimblegirls suggested.

 

[mstarr93]

I read somewhere that giving them the foods you want them to eat first thing in the morning when they're hungry would get them to at least try them and it's worked! Here they are munching on some broccoli

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[Aidualc]

I know this may a bit.. controversial.. but I had massive issues with my birdies and fresh veg as well.. then I one day tried frozen veg and has not gone back since as they all love it. I get the special vegetable mix which contains broccoli, carrots, peas, red peppers and sweet corn. Most of them like the frozen veg as I think it's a bit like ice cream and a fun texture. So once I tried that they were all converted in no time. I'm not saying it will definitely work, but it did for me/us.. mine still wont touch fresh veg when I try feeding them that. I think it also helps that the frozen veg is a bit more moist. Another point to consider is that frozen veg is harvested at point of highest nutritional value (or thereabouts) and snap frozen within hours meaning that most nutrients have not had a chance to degrade as many vitamins are fairly shortlived. Finally, the freezing can also break down some of the cell walls making nutrients more bio accessible (not sure how significant this is or if this would even be an issue with birds).
Just food for thought.. may be worth trying?

 

[SassiBird]

I read somewhere that giving them the foods you want them to eat first thing in the morning when they're hungry would get them to at least try them and it's worked! Here they are munching on some broccoli

Wahoo! Celebrate!!

 

[Sunnyclover]

Molly really did not like anything but apples when I first got her. I noticed she plays a lot with her toys and I got an idea how to convert her. I bought a skewer and she loves almost everything I put on there! She still has dislikes...She never eats mangos or pineapple. So weird but she loves apples, asparagus, snap peas, cauliflower and grapes the best. She spends hours chewing at the skewer and playing games with it. Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[GaleriaGila]

I love the determination and perseverence in this thread!