Mine are terrible with chop. They'll pick out their favourites and not touch the rest (generally that's 99% wastage). But whole pieces are a different story.
That's how I've started getting my lovebirds to actually eat some veggies, it all started with apple. I'll cut them a slice and peg it to the aviary and they go nuts for it. Carrot sticks are also just starting to be touched, I believe it is more of a shredding toy than an edible as of right now but hopefully they're eating some. I'll also give them a shoot of flatweed/dandelion and they love picking off the flowers and buds. They also get green grass seedheads left on the stem and clipped to the cage, they sit there and work the immature seed out of the husk for ages, they love it.
My other aviary birds will eat almost anything. Especially the canaries. I think it's good for them to be able to choose which part of the veggie they want. Like with cucumber the seed is always eaten out first, them the flesh, then the skin. I often give them dandelion or sow thistle, a whole small plant I pull out by the root and peg to the cage. They often go for the flower buds first, then the flowers, then the young growing leaves in the middle, then the outside leaves. I also leave the aphids on the sow thistle if I see them, and they get to sit there and pick them off one by one. They have to work for it too, they have to actually pull or break a piece off rather than just pick it up and eat it. It's also kind of a community social effort, often there's 5 or more finches, 2 canaries, a diamond dove or two and the budgie, all working at a decent sized plant. It helps encourage them to work at it and attracts almost all the birds in the aviary.
That's how I've started getting my lovebirds to actually eat some veggies, it all started with apple. I'll cut them a slice and peg it to the aviary and they go nuts for it. Carrot sticks are also just starting to be touched, I believe it is more of a shredding toy than an edible as of right now but hopefully they're eating some. I'll also give them a shoot of flatweed/dandelion and they love picking off the flowers and buds. They also get green grass seedheads left on the stem and clipped to the cage, they sit there and work the immature seed out of the husk for ages, they love it.
My other aviary birds will eat almost anything. Especially the canaries. I think it's good for them to be able to choose which part of the veggie they want. Like with cucumber the seed is always eaten out first, them the flesh, then the skin. I often give them dandelion or sow thistle, a whole small plant I pull out by the root and peg to the cage. They often go for the flower buds first, then the flowers, then the young growing leaves in the middle, then the outside leaves. I also leave the aphids on the sow thistle if I see them, and they get to sit there and pick them off one by one. They have to work for it too, they have to actually pull or break a piece off rather than just pick it up and eat it. It's also kind of a community social effort, often there's 5 or more finches, 2 canaries, a diamond dove or two and the budgie, all working at a decent sized plant. It helps encourage them to work at it and attracts almost all the birds in the aviary.