Dante won't eat his fruits

[Hana Baig]

As most of you know, Dante only does what he wants, so from the beginning I knew he was going to take care of. When I got my 1st bird (skittles) I was little, so my mom did most of the cleaning, and knew what to feed her, so I didn't have this problem with her. Now that I'm older, I do everything for Dante, I put him to bed, clean his poop etc. But I had done some research, and fruits are a crucial part of a lovebirds diet, and seeds should be only a small portion of what they eat, not the entire diet. I had tried everything, from eating the fruit in front of him, to hiding it in his seeds, nothing had worked. I am being really patient, but all he does is is taste it and flings it (that is, if I manage to get him to taste it).I have looked everywhere online and people are giving me the same advice and claiming it only takes once to get them to eat it. So I have come here to see what you guys think.

 

[LunaLovebird]

Honestly, I would forget the fruit and focus on vegetables. Fruit is largely sugar, and does not have as much nutritional content. Also, they tend not to like them as much.

 

[LunaLovebird]

Also, do you feed pellets? Seed only diets are very bad for them.

 

[Hana Baig]

Also, do you feed pellets? Seed only diets are very bad for them.

I haven't tried pellets but I'm probably going to buy some for him

 

[Hana Baig]

what type of vegetables should i try to feed him

 

[LunaLovebird]

I haven't tried pellets but I'm probably going to buy some for him

You absolutely should. It will be an uphil battle, but seed only is a one way ticket to fatty liver disease.

what type of vegetables should i try to feed him

Brocolli, dark leafy greens, a little sweet corn, snap peas, beans, etc. it will take a lot of patience, but you do really need to ween him off eating so many seeds. Seeds should be 20-30% of his diet at most.

 

[ergunm]

mine also don't like fruits. but they like vegetables. they eat most things LunaLovebird mentioned, they also like sprouts. Initially they weren't eating (especially older one since I started him with seeds when he was younger), but I tried to give them in the morning when they are hungry the most. I sprinkled just some seeds so they start to try and then they started to eat their vegetables.

same think I did with pellets. remove all seeds and give pellets and vegetables in the morning. he should slowly start trying those.

 

[Hana Baig]

do you guys have tips that might make this easier?

 

[LilSprout]

I find lovebirds like vegetables better than fruits, they especially enjoy when you hang leafy greens from the top of the cage so it's a toy/treat type thing. Also eating healthy foods like carrots in front of them gets them interested in new foods. As for pellets I've have a lot of success converting lovebirds from seeds to pellets by grinding the pellets into a dust/powder and adding seeds to the powder and some water to make it like a mash. Then every day I gradually decrease the amount of seeds I add until it's just pellets. Then I don't grind the pellets and I just wet them and then eventually I just serve them dry.

 

[cherrytea]

My guy hates fruit but loooooooves broccoli, rapini, sweet peans/bean (cracks them open to get the "seed")... anything that reminds her of picking millet off its stem . Sprouts also helped get Pekoe use to fresh food as they were half seed/half veg.

 

[finchly]

I second the broccoli, maybe steam it a little the first time, and sweet potato (cooked) has gone over well with every bird I've ever owned.

 

[Hana Baig]

Perfect thank you guys so much for the advice, you have no idea how worried I was when I couldn't get him to eat fruits, little did I know vegetables and pellets were the key. Thanks again