by Wolf » Fri Mar 11, 2016 9:25 am
Budgies are primarily ground foragers which means that they eat a lot of grass type seeds in the wild. I would assume that they eat more of the green part of vegetables than the actual vegetable itself and very little fruit. I would think that the fruits that they eat the most often would be berries and wild strawberries, but I am just going by what would be the most available close to the ground or on the ground. Most tree borne fruits, by the time they hit the ground are very likely a bit over ripe( so you might try letting the apples to get a bit too ripe for your taste) and often provide a food source ror wasps and hornets that might keep the budgies away, but again this is conjecture. The thing that I do know is that they are not big on fruits, but they do love leafy greens. The seeds that form a large portion of their natural diet are neither dry nor mature, they are mostly immature moist green seeds. I would not eliminate seeds fro your budgies diet, I would not reduce it to less than 30% of their daily diet. I would try slightly over ripened fruits and just because most parrots are never taught what foods to eat beyond seeds I would start each morning with a fruit some of which is cut very small for them and some large enough for you to eat in front of them and when they get all excited about you eating the fruit offer them a couple of bites. Do not get discouraged if they take a long time before they will actually try to eat any of it. Teaching a bird to eat the right foods once they get past a certain age is a long and drawn out affair. The good thing is that even if they don't eat the fruit it is still a bonding time for them.