a sigh of relief

[TheNzJessie]

for the past few months my budgie has not been eating any fruits or vegetables, i still offered them every day but never saw any sign of chewing or likes its been eaten i went though everything from apple, carrot to corn silverbeat peas grapes raisins. i was worried the older he got the less likely we would turn over and start eating them

but for the first time in about 3-4 months i saw him having a good old munch on a a piece of silverbeat, i just hope i can keep him on the veges, while he was a baby he ate heaps but stopped eating them. any suggestions that now iv seen eating it to make sure he carries on eating them, hes almost a year old and iv heard the older they get the harder it is to get them started on 'new' foods especially birds who a fed on seed and you want them to eat fruit and veges

[Red Moppet]

Congrats! But I'm sorry, I don't have any advice for you - I'm new to birds, but my bird likes parsley if you haven't tried that. Good luck - I'm sure you'll have your budgie (Quill, right?) eating fruits and veggies in no time.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I don't know... but I think it is the birdkeeper's lament!

[Kathleen]

Your bird didn't just go through a molt, correct?

When I had a budgie, I'd mix seeds and vegetables or fruit together in the same dish because I was in the process of trying to trick the bird into eating new foods. All the bird ate was seeds. I don't think when I got it that it even thought of vegetables/fruits as food until I tricked it. The bird began to like carrots, broccoli and string beans.

[Giantmoa]

Its always been relatively easy to introduce new foods to my gcc... she'll eat anything! My 'tiel wouldn't really like to eat veggies unless they were clipped to the cage bars and she could gnaw at them, since she never used her foot to eat like most other parrot species do. Maybe its the same for budgies? glad to hear there has been progress though

[TheNzJessie]

Your bird didn't just go through a molt, correct?

When I had a budgie, I'd mix seeds and vegetables or fruit together in the same dish because I was in the process of trying to trick the bird into eating new foods. All the bird ate was seeds. I don't think when I got it that it even thought of vegetables/fruits as food until I tricked it. The bird began to like carrots, broccoli and string beans.

yea i remember duke, Qwil is not moulting right now.

[GooseBlossom]

GooseBlossom had been an exclusive seed-eater when I acquired him at a few months old. He would throw out the veggies and they would be all over the floor of his cage. I thought perhaps he didn't like moist foods since he would even throw out raisins. I began crushing a type of pelleted food and mixing (hiding) it to coat the seeds, but he still didn't get as much good nutrition as I would have liked.

I tried Organic Just Peas by Just Tomatoes. My bird doctor approved them before I added them to the seed mix. He took to them instantly. When I open the container, he loves to perch on the rim and eat them. I have tried other dried fruits and vegetables by the same company, but Goose prefers the peas. The first container I bought locally, then couldn't locate, and now buy online from Just Tomatoes.

Not ideal but better than straight seeds. Goose has wellness visits with his bird doctor scheduled every 6 months to monitor his health.