Lovebird eating nothing but millets

[CharmeC]

Hi, I've just adopted a lovebird days ago and have been researching on the best way to take care of this little fellow. I actually grew up with lovebirds throughout my childhood, but back then I didn't have access to any bird care info. Looking back now, I feel great regrets that I definitely could have done better by them had I have more knowledge on lovebirds.

So this new lovebird Thunder Cat is my first bird since many many year. I adopted him from a friend who tried to keep him with her parakeets but failed. He seems like a very lively and vocal bird and responds to my birdcalls with enthusiasm. At first I thought my only worry was that he's shy and not hand-tame. But that turned out to be the least of my problems. I got a big bucket of Lafeber Nutriberries after reading that the product is highly recommended and nutritionally balanced. Unfortunately Thunder Cat will not touch a single Nutriberry! I tried to give him leafy vegetable, canteloupe and plain yogurt but he wouldn't touch those either. Millets are the only thing he will eat since his arrival at my house, in fact he likes millets so much my bf and I were able to tame him enough to eat on top of our hand, head, tummy or whatever body part we placed the millets on within a few days. Should I remove all millet sprays from his cage to starve him into trying Nutriberries? Or should I get him a seed mix? Even if he is willing to eat seeds he can't stay healthy without fruit and veggies right? I would appreciate any suggestion on the situation, thank you!

 

[Mizzely]

Perhaps try a pellet for your bird You are correct that just seeds is not a healthy, balanced diet. My Quaker and Green Cheek both refuse to eat Nutriberries, but they readily eat pellets. I started mine on Zupreem Natural, which you can find even at Petco and Petsmart. I generally buy mine from MySafeBirdStore - DISCOUNTED Bird Products - Safe & Healthy from a Bird Free Environment. Best prices on the 'net. Same day shipping., as it is much cheaper to buy in bulk Other good options re Roudybush and Harrison's.

The thing is, birds are hardwired to be cautious of new foods, especially before they trust you. In the wild, there are so many poisonous foods that could harm them, so they stick to what they "know" to be safe. If they see their mom and dad eating from a plant, they assume that plant is safe. So, a good way to encourage your bird to eat healthy vegetables, is to eat them in front of them. That helps them connect the dots that this thing you are giving them is edible and safe.

Persistence is key. It took my Quaker months to eat pellets, and now he loves them! I converted him from an all seed diet by letting him have pellets all day, and then giving him the seeds for 30 minutes twice a day. Gradually, I lowered that time, so that by the end of the first week, it was 25 minutes twice a day, then next week 20 minutes twice a day, and so on and so forth so that it was just 5 minutes twice a day. It seemed to help us! You definitely have to make sure Thunder Cat is eating something before you completely remove the millet, because if he isn't seeing the food you provide as FOOD, he still won't eat it and they will starve themselves.

Welcome to the avenue, and hopefully things progress well with your new friend

 

[SunUp]

Have you tried crumbling up the nutriberries? If you break them apart with your fingers he may start eating them that way. What size Nutriberries did you buy? I feed my lovebird the parakeet size. I found that he wouldn't break up the larger sizes, usually he just ended up playing with them. But the parakeet size he eats very well. I tried for a long time to get him eating pellets well, but no luck. He does great on Nutriberries and fresh food. He gets a bit of spray millet just before bed time.

 

[CharmeC]

Mizzely, thank you for recommending Zupreem Natural, I've seen those at my local Petco and can get some tomorrow. I've just tried eating a strawberry in front of Thunder Cat, but he refused to try it after me, I wonder what kind of diet he has had in the past :S I remember my old lovebirds trying watermelon avidly even though they had never seen the fruit before.

SunUp, I bought the cockatiel sized ones, maybe those are too big???

 

[SunUp]

SunUp, I bought the cockatiel sized ones, maybe those are too big???

For my lovebird, the cockatiel size is too big. Just break them up with your fingers. If he's still reluctant to eat them, try sprinkling just a bit of the millet over top of the crumbled Nutriberries to get him started.

 

[sweet francis]

Congrats on your new little friend! I'm not surprised your friend's experiment failed since lovebirds are notoriously territorial bullies. In the short time that I have owned lovebirds I have learned they can also be picky, stubborn eaters. Not sure how old your guy is, but if he is youngish there is definitely hope to convert him to a better diet Even if he is an adult it can be done with persistence.

I have one lovebird that came from a breeder who I am positive they weaned him onto seed and he has been the toughest transition. The other 3 came from a different breeder who did an absolutely amazing job with his lovies. He taught me an invaluable trick I can share with you. You take whatever pellet you want to get him on and grind it into a powder. Mix this powder with seeds (and crumbled millet in your case) for about a week to get him used to the flavor of the pellet. Gradually begin to mix a pellet with the seeds and the powder over another week or so. Monitor his weight! This is so important since they are such tiny little buggers and even a couple grams could be detrimental. If he is losing weight I would go back to square one. All my precious little monsters seem to prefer Harrisons super fine, probably because it resembles tiny seeds. A good way to get him eating fresh food is to cuisinart greens and other veggies into a very fine chop. You can mix this with pellets once he's transitioned to pellets and they will usually start to eat the veggies. Mine also love, love, love a warm meal of sweet potato mash and mixed veggies! I cuisinart the sweet potato too and store it in the fridge. In foil I put a layer of sweet potato, a layer of veggies, sometimes sprinkle some crushed walnuts and pellet powder in as well, add some pumpkin pie spice and coconut oil. I then wrap it up and place it in the toaster over on 400 for about 20 minutes. Voila! A healthy "pumpkin pie" that nobody in this house can resist!

Good luck!

Here's all my sweeties enjoying a bowl of Momma Birds happy birdday bread. Django is going through his first big molt so please don't judge his patchy lil' face!

 

[Mizzely]

Mine won't eat them no matter what size or if I crumble them up I don't know why!

 

[Lady Jane]

Birds are keen on the presentation of foods. Try keeping the greens wet and hang them from the cage top or side with clips. Keep on offering the right foods you mentioned and stop giving millet. If he fills up on millet in the morning he will not be interested in other foods. I only give millet seed for training. Also at night I put some millet seed in the palm of my hand and they eat from there to get used to good things coming from my hand. Good luck with your new love.

 

[CharmeC]

Thank you guys for your tips, I crumbled some nutriberries mixed with oatmeal and Thunder Cat has finally condescended to try it!

 

[ShawnTiko]

Try crushing the nutriberries that's what I did for a few months and now he eats them as is I give him one veggie nutriberrie one pepper nutriberrie and one avi cake a day and he also has pellets in his cage which he rarely touches I also give him tropimix and he will have little bites of heathy things that I'm eating

 

[cherrytea]

Also try florets of broccoli. Millet is pekoe's treat of choice. I hung broccoli in her cage when she was still refusing fresh food. She drove right in! She probably thought the broccoli was some sort of special green millet.

 

[BeeBop]

It takes lots of paitence and different presentation of the food. Some like mash (chopped veggies/fruits), some like whole veggies, some are very particular about color and size. Have you tried cooked rice? BeeBop loves brown rice. He also likes beans (cooked throughly, some beans can contain toxins before cooking), lentils, alfalfa sprouts, and any sort of lettuce/leafy green. You can also try not giving her any millet at all in the morning and just leaving veggies in her bowl. Then after a while put in some millet. You can go until lunch, but keep it short (30 minutes) the first few times. Holding back the millet makes them more likely to eat the veggies if they are really hungry. Good luck with your lovebird!

 

[LunaLovebird]

This thread is 3.5 years old, so things could very easily have changed since then.