My conure refuses veggies

[Tina&Mill]

Hey, I have been having a problem with getting Melisandre to eat vegetables! She absolutely refuses to!
She will eat blackberries, raspberries, grapes, strawberries, dried mango, frozen pear cubes (not canned-), and apples.
She wont eat fresh pears, bananas, apricots, peaches, Refuses to eat ANYTHING thats citrus, wont eat anything orange colored. (She seriously used to pick out the big round orange pellets from her food. switched to the smaller version of the pellets, and now she throws them.)

Ive gotten some sucess with her eating parsley and cilantro that I grew myself, I just picked a few leaves and put them on top of her food, she seemed to enjoy it but wouldnt touch it if I was in the room. (I have a camera facing her cage, thats how I knew she was eating it)

Ive tried numerous veggies, and she refuses to eat them. She will literally avoid them like a disease. If I put them on top of her pellets, she wont touch her pellets and she will starve herself.

Ive tried to get her to eat : frozen bell pepper, frozen carrots, fresh carrots, shredded lettuce, cabbage, tomato, frozen tomato, cucumber, zuccini, and broccoli.

I want her to eat vegetables, because I know how critical they are to her diet, but she refuses! Right now I have veggie blend pellets, and she seems to enjoy those but not as much as the fruit blend. Im stuck on what to do, my usual method of letting her watch me eat the food isnt working, even though it worked for grapes blueberries and strawberries.

Help please!!

 

[Mizzely]

Are you chopping them up or giving large pieces? I've had success with getting my Jardine's to eat them only if they are in large chunks that includes the skin.

Here's some helpful tips:

Converting Parrots to a Healthier Diet - Tips

A healthy parrot starts with a healthy diet. Although the perfect diet is controversial, many parrot enthusiasts and experts agree on one thing; a seed only diet is a diet that is lacking in essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Studies have shown that adding fresh foods and pellets to a...

forums.avianavenue.com

Tips near the end of the article: My Chop "Recipe"

Also, please don't upload your signature to your post as it then shows up double You won't see it on mobile versions of the site in portrait mode but I promise it is there.

 

[Tina&Mill]

Are you chopping them up or giving large pieces? I've had success with getting my Jardine's to eat them only if they are in large chunks that includes the skin.

Here's some helpful tips:

Converting Parrots to a Healthier Diet - Tips

A healthy parrot starts with a healthy diet. Although the perfect diet is controversial, many parrot enthusiasts and experts agree on one thing; a seed only diet is a diet that is lacking in essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Studies have shown that adding fresh foods and pellets to a...

forums.avianavenue.com

Tips near the end of the article: My Chop "Recipe"

Also, please don't upload your signature to your post as it then shows up double You won't see it on mobile versions of the site in portrait mode but I promise it is there.

View attachment 414039

Very sorry about the double sig! I meant to edit it out, but got sidetracked and the 10 minutes were up.

Ill try giving her larger chunks, I usually give smaller chunks because shes quite piky.

Thanks!

 

[Mizzely]

Very sorry about the double sig! I meant to edit it out, but got sidetracked and the 10 minutes were up.

Ill try giving her larger chunks, I usually give smaller chunks because shes quite piky.

Thanks!

No worries, I had seen it in a few places and wasn't sure so figured I would mention it

Yeah my Jardine's I tried for three years to get him to eat veggies. On day one of giving him big chunks he dove in.

Journal - Should zoo foods be chopped (macaws)

Thought this was interesting (emphasis below is my own)... Abstract Globally, many zoological collections provide their animals with diets that are chopped into small chunks, yet there is limited empirical research to measure the benefits of this practice. Preparing chopped diets takes...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[Wardy]

If trying chop instead of putting it on top of the pellets try mixing them all together, your bird may eat some of the chop whilst eating the pellets and realise they arent that bad.

 

[Tina&Mill]

If trying chop instead of putting it on top of the pellets try mixing them all together, your bird may eat some of the chop whilst eating the pellets and realise they arent that bad.

I have never thought to try this! Thank you, I will defininitely try that tonight!

Thank you!

 

[Shezbug]

Try fresh veggies as well as frozen.
The only veggies my guys will eat that are/were frozen are peas and corn- all the rest gets thrown to other side of the aviary by Birdie, ignored and avoided by Squeak and Burt does one better by simply removing the whole bowl of food to throw as far as he can.

All my birds like big chunks of stuff- Burts I throw on top of the cage while he is inside it, Squeaks I hang from the roof of his cage (dripping wet for him) and Birdie likes the few things he will eat in large chunks on a skewer.

You need to get creative and serve every veg you can think of every way you can think of serving it to find your birds preferences.

I also find my big guys will seriously hold out on eating veg if they think I might serve fruit so it really is served in smaller portions and very infrequently- I serve no fruit at all to my little one but he also has never ever been interested in it.

Try baking (in the skin) a sweet potato till it is nice and squishy inside the skin, let it cool and try some of that. Pumpkin guts (raw) is often a winner with many birds too as they like the seeds.

 

[Tina&Mill]

Try fresh veggies as well as frozen.
The only veggies my guys will eat that are/were frozen are peas and corn- all the rest gets thrown to other side of the aviary by Birdie, ignored and avoided by Squeak and Burt does one better by simply removing the whole bowl of food to throw as far as he can.

All my birds like big chunks of stuff- Burts I throw on top of the cage while he is inside it, Squeaks I hang from the roof of his cage (dripping wet for him) and Birdie likes the few things he will eat in large chunks on a skewer.

You need to get creative and serve every veg you can think of every way you can think of serving it to find your birds preferences.

I also find my big guys will seriously hold out on eating veg if they think I might serve fruit so it really is served in smaller portions and very infrequently- I serve no fruit at all to my little one but he also has never ever been interested in it.

Try baking (in the skin) a sweet potato till it is nice and squishy inside the skin, let it cool and try some of that. Pumpkin guts (raw) is often a winner with many birds too as they like the seeds.

Sounds interesting! Ill try it!

Yesterday I tried mixing some chop with her food and she ate some chop, and she seemed to enjoy it! Im proud of her ^^