Bird not eating a lot of veggies and fruits

[shino2020]

Hello,

My bird is 1-year-old parrotlet and I found that he likes pellets and other dried fruits from the food I buy from the store. When I serve him fresh fruits and other veggies he doesn't even touch them. How can I encourage him to eat it? The only times he actually does when I pretend to bite then give it to him unfortunately he puts it in his mouth then just throws it away. Someone, please help.

 

[DesertBird]

Have you tried mixing millet into the vegetables? Or cutting the veggies into different sized pieces?

 

[shino2020]

I have tried mixing millet and he never touched it. I also try to cut whatever I serve small so she can eat it properly.

 

[DesertBird]

I have tried mixing millet and he never touched it. I also try to cut whatever I serve small so she can eat it properly.

Try cutting the vegetables bigger. Every bird is different, and some won't eat the vegetables when they are small.

 

[shino2020]

I will try this out and let you know!

 

[TrueBlue]

My lovies aren't into fruits or veggies but I give it to them everyday anyway. For me, I keep it simple. I use whatever we have in the fridge. I don't go out of my way to buy fresh stuff just for them. I also try to give it to them in different ways. Chopped. Whole pieces. Mixed with pellet mash. Mixed with seeds. Gourmet looking . I don't actually sit there to see if they eat it though. It's just about getting them used to seeing it and getting it. So it's just utter patience on my part.

 

[Hermesbird]

I typically use a small chopper and put everything in and chop it up and put some pellets and seeds on it so at least when I do introduce something new my 1 yr old parrotlet has to try it poking around

 

[Rain Bow]

I've read that some birds prefer dryer fruits & veggies... This may be the case but I'd still serve the fresh & try adding other seeds... A few safflower & a FEW black oil sunflower seeds may coax them into it.

A thing you may want to try is freeze dried... Danita's shop Avian Organics has a great variety of freeze dried stuff. W/ freeze dried its the closest thing to preserving the vitamins & minerals in the food. Yoy can just serve it dry & they will probably dunk it or eat it as if it were a cracker... It dies help when they see you eating it. They are flock birds & you are now part if the flock.

Avian Organics

 

[BirbDex]

Hey, so to get my budgies to eat veggies i came up with a tick i take broccoli the little green parts of it and i chop it up. The green parts look like seeds so i mix it in with their food and they'll eat it i eventually went from that to other veggies after they got convinced it was okay.

 

[shino2020]

My lovies aren't into fruits or veggies but I give it to them everyday anyway. For me, I keep it simple. I use whatever we have in the fridge. I don't go out of my way to buy fresh stuff just for them. I also try to give it to them in different ways. Chopped. Whole pieces. Mixed with pellet mash. Mixed with seeds. Gourmet looking . I don't actually sit there to see if they eat it though. It's just about getting them used to seeing it and getting it. So it's just utter patience on my part.
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View attachment 374599

Ok thanks I will try this!

 

[shino2020]

I've read that some birds prefer dryer fruits & veggies... This may be the case but I'd still serve the fresh & try adding other seeds... A few safflower & a FEW black oil sunflower seeds may coax them into it.

A thing you may want to try is freeze dried... Danita's shop Avian Organics has a great variety of freeze dried stuff. W/ freeze dried its the closest thing to preserving the vitamins & minerals in the food. Yoy can just serve it dry & they will probably dunk it or eat it as if it were a cracker... It dies help when they see you eating it. They are flock birds & you are now part if the flock.

Avian Organics

Thanks for the info I will try this as well!

 

[shino2020]

Hey, so to get my budgies to eat veggies i came up with a tick i take broccoli the little green parts of it and i chop it up. The green parts look like seeds so i mix it in with their food and they'll eat it i eventually went from that to other veggies after they got convinced it was okay.

So smart I will see if my bird will get used to this.

 

[fashionfobie]

My parrotlets aren't huge fans of fruits, however they love veggies especially carrot, zucchini and silverbeet.

The only fruits I really offer are dragonfruits, starfruits or passionfruit in addition to melon seeds. They also like strawberries, but mostly eat the seeds. They don't seem to be big fans of fruits like apples or grapes. @shino2020 I would try some dragonfruit. My guys go bonkers for it.

 

[shino2020]

Thank you!

 

[Gigibirds]

Try cutting things up and serving it to him in all different ways, with lots of variety and colour. My parrotlet likes shredding carrot strips, but that's about it. It varies day by day, but I did recently discover that she loves egg food! I was making it for my lovebirds and their babies, but she begged for some, so I gave her a piece. She ate everything in it!! So I would really recommend making a small chop of veggies and mixing it up with some eggs and millet. He should love it!
(Parrotlets are SO picky! but so worth it! )

 

[Rain Bow]

Try cutting things up and serving it to him in all different ways, with lots of variety and colour. My parrotlet likes shredding carrot strips, but that's about it. It varies day by day, but I did recently discover that she loves egg food! I was making it for my lovebirds and their babies, but she begged for some, so I gave her a piece. She ate everything in it!! So I would really recommend making a small chop of veggies and mixing it up with some eggs and millet. He should love it!
(Parrotlets are SO picky! but so worth it! )

Yes some birds prefer it a certain shape & will not touch it any other... It's probably evil cut any other way!

 

[Cat G]

Hey, so to get my budgies to eat veggies i came up with a tick i take broccoli the little green parts of it and i chop it up. The green parts look like seeds so i mix it in with their food and they'll eat it i eventually went from that to other veggies after they got convinced it was okay.

I was lurking on this thread a couple days ago (new budgies) and just wanted to say that I tried this with my chirpie boys and they LOVE it. Wings jams his whole body in the food dish when I put in the broccoli bits. I tried giving them a little "tree" of broccoli in a treat clip, but they didn't seem to know what to do with it yet, but I'm just super happy they have finally tried something other than the seed mix.

 

[Rain Bow]

I was lurking on this thread a couple days ago (new budgies) and just wanted to say that I tried this with my chirpie boys and they LOVE it. Wings jams his whole body in the food dish when I put in the broccoli bits. I tried giving them a little "tree" of broccoli in a treat clip, but they didn't seem to know what to do with it yet, but I'm just super happy they have finally tried something other than the seed mix. View attachment 376344

I love it when they try new stuff!