On my way to feeding veggies!

[hoot]

Hi guys, I haven't been here in a while.

On a whim I decided to try feeding fresh food to my budgies today. I gave broccoli a shot, as well as cauliflower rice (that I bought for myself and didn't like). I mixed a little seed in.

At first my green parakeet (I was calling him Mojo when I first got him but mine are not tame, and now their names are pretty much "green" and "not green" over a year later) stared and stared. I sprinkled a little more seed on top to entice him, and that worked. Soon I could tell he was definitely eating the broccoli!

Not Green is not as interested, even with the seed on top. BUT when Green was done eating, he jumped up to the preferred perch rolling that last piece of broccoli in his beak... and then he fed it to NG. So, maybe NG will come around!

Just thought I'd share. I'm already getting ahead of myself by looking at pictures of colorful concoctions other people have made.

 

[expressmailtome]

Good luck!

 

[Castiel]

Green and not green LOL

 

[Mek0060]

My Linnie loves broccoli, cantaloupe and romaine. Can't get my untame budgie to touch a veggie. I bought bird seed that is supposed to be fortified w vitamins she needs and will keep trying!

 

[Max Rain]

Keep trying!

 

[SquawksNibbles]

Congrats!

This is exactly what happened with me. I had been trying to feed my Budgies fresh foods for at least a year, no luck. I was extremely close to giving up. In fact, I think I might have a few times. Then one day I tried offering them broccoli rice, they ate it like they had been eating it for years, or at least Skittles did. Nico took a little more convincing. But, having Green and Not Green as a bonded pair will mostly likely be an advantage during this process. Nico learned to like the broccoli after he saw Skittles eat it and enjoy it. After that, it was pretty easy to get both to eat new foods. They realized there were more foods than just their pellets and seed, and good food, too! Sweet potato was a big hit for them, and remains their favorite. Parsley that has been wet and strung on the cage is a nice little snack and preening toy. Carrots are really easy to shred and prepare and they are also loved by my birds. In fact, just made a small mix with cucumber and carrots, along with bits of boiled egg as a little snack for the birds.

I think you’re doing a great job so far! Keep up the good work!

 

[Lady Jane]

In my experience when you are feeding budgies its all in the presentation. Serving veggies to them in different ways peaks their interest. Sometimes I hang veggies from the cage top inside a forager toy that looks like a ball with holes. Most pet stores sell these. I also use a skewer to put chunks of veggies on so they can eat which one they like. Other times the veggies are in chop form in a shallow dish so they can foraging through it. I have a shallow dish that fits right over the seed mix. I do sprinkle the veggies with millet seed. Just be persistent and vary the way you serve them.