My Cinnamon Green Cheeked wont eat produce =(

[Mrs.Lucas]

Hello,

I have had my 7 month old cinnamon green cheeked conure PeeWee for about a week and a half now. I am new to having a parrot so I am learning just as he is. I have tried everything to get him to eat fruits and veggies but he just wont. I called the pet store where I bought him and I have called an exotic pet vet and they told me that he needs to get used to being in my home before he will eat so just keep trying with him. Well I went out to the store and bought a number of different fruits and veggies, like mango, kiwi, grapes, apples, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and bananas. Just to name a few. I have been trying to give him different fruits and veggies everyday and I am trying with him but with no luck. He didnt even seem interested in any of the produce except he tasted the mango and the kiwi.

I bought him some Forti-Diet bird seed for conures since thats what they were feeding him in the store but he only eats two kinds of seed out of it. The sunflower and these little white seeds that I have no idea what they are. Since he wasnt eating fruits and veggies I also bought some fruit pellets for him to switch his diet so he would eat something to do with fruit but he doesnt eat that either. Its been so long and I know he needs to have the produce to have a healthy diet and I fear hes not getting the proper nutrition. Im just wondering what I should do to make him eat fruits and veggies? Also I have been trying to quit biting so if there are any tips for me as well that would be helpful. If anyone could please help?

Thanks in advance!

[patdbunny]

Hi Mrs. Lucas and welcome!

Read this recent thread, it goes into getting them to try different things starting w/ sprouts:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4976

[kaylayuh]

I have the same problem with my parakeets, and I'm getting my Green Cheek Conure tomorrow. I'll try to answer you're question the best I can.

When I wake up in the morning and feed my budgies breakfast, I take the seed mix out of their cage. I wash their dishes and fill it with some fresh produce for a couple of hours. In one dish, I put a mix of frozen vegetables that I've thawed out. In the other, I put a couple of frozen berries. With the frozen berries, I put a couple of dried berries and some Cheerios. I've noticed my two budgies will at least be curious about something if they see something familiar colored in their dish.

After about two hours, I take the food out of their cage. I'll replace it with a seed/pellet mix that I put back in their cage until supper time. I do this mainly because I'm afraid if I don't put it back and they didn't at least try something that was available earlier, they'll starve.

When I make up dinner for myself, I take their seed mix out again and replace it with whatever I'm having for dinner. Most nights, I'll put some leafy greens in one dish with a couple of their favorite seeds on top. In the other dish, I put some brown rice and part of an egg with the shell in it. After about an hour, depending on what I give them, I replace the food again and put back the seed.

I figure if they realize that I'm going to keep taking out their seed around breakfast/dinner when they're really hungry, they'll at least get curious and try something. I've tried about two dozen different fruits and vegetables, and they seem to prefer ones without a lot of color. I change sizes of things to see if they prefer a different size or shape. For instance, I've tried grated carrots, matchstick shaped carrots, whole baby carrots and carrot tops with the greens left on.

A lot of people sprout seeds for their birds in this forum, and in a few earlier threads entrancedbymyGCC and patdbunny explained to me how to do it. It seems easy enough, and apparently it helps with birds who prefer to eat seeds over anything else because they look familiar and not too scary.

I've also heard of people mixing small amounts of baby food into their bird food to get them to eat at least something healthy. A lot of baby foods are just a fruit or vegetable and some water, so they're perfectly safe to give your bird. If you're worried about giving baby food to your bird, though, you could try blending up some things and mixing it with the seeds to see if he'll at least taste it.

It could just be that the pet shop where you got your bird is right and he's just settling into his new home and wary of new things. If a bird is used to a certain diet, they don't realize what you're trying to get them to eat is food. Instead, they think it's something that will hurt them and they don't try it. Once they do realize that it's safe, they'll eat it.

Good luck!

[Mrs.Lucas]

Thanks so much for all of the great information. Im going to keep trying with him and see how he does but Im praying that he will soon eat something thats good for him.

I even pretend like Im eating it so he can see that its good for him and Im not trying to hurt him but I dont know. The pet store gave him bananas and carrots apparently but I cant get him to touch those either. I guess that it takes time.

Thanks again =)

[entrancedbymyGCC]

The little white seeds in the mix are probably safflower -- those are my GCCs favorites. He eats fruits and veggies well, but is not willing to exist on pellets. Our cape eats pellets, but his repetoire of fruits and veggies is very limited.

There are lots of threads on trying to get them to eat... one favorite is to eat it in front of them! But I think with a very new bird, I'd let him get fully settled in before trying to make too many changes.

For nipping, it really depends on why. Perhaps you can post more about what is going on in a separate thread. There are also a number of threads on biting/nipping in general you might be able to search for. Some beakiness is baby exploring and just not knowing how hard is OK to try to groom you.

[ninadivine]

I'm having the same problem with my parrotlet Hamlet, I'm going to try some of those suggestions above and I really hope you get a few more responses just in case those idea's don't work for me too. I'm very worried about him, did you'r conure ever finally break the habbit? Did he get better about it?

[ruledbybirds]

I ran into this problem with one of my green cheeks, and still do on occasion if i'm trying something new with them. I also find it happens if there is a change in the home (i.e. a new bird coming in). Persistence is key. I don't mean force them to eat it, just continue to offer it. Best way i learned how to get them to eat, or at least try new things, was actually very easy. Let them watch you eat it. Now, bear in mind, i got all mine when they were very very young. When any of them refused to try any fruits and veggies, i just kept putting them out. Two of my birds will eat anything, they dive right in. The other two are fussy. Normally, my birds are sitting with me when it's meal time..so they see me eat. Actually, they usually try to steal food off the plate of whoever is slowest to guard their plate lol. George wouldn't go near banana. I took a piece i'd cut up for him...and ate it in front of him, making all the usual, MMMM yummy sounds. I took another piece, pretended to eat it...and then offered it to him. Bingo! He tried it. If Mommy eats it, they will try it. Doesn't mean they will always eat it, though, i mean, i find they have their preferences, just like people do, but they do try it.