How do you make a picky lovebird eat veggies? (1,286 views)

[lauraloveliness]

hey guys,

I have a question about my 6 month old lovebird. He hardly eats any of the veggies I give to him. I am tempted to not let him have seeds at all from night time to morning and then just give him veggies until night time... I am kind of worried about him because he should be eating healthy and not just seeds all the time. I haven't given him millet for a while and then I gave him one piece after like a month and then if hes good with training on step up i give him for only a minute a tropical fruit stick to reward him and he nibbles on it and then that's it...

I just want some tips on how to make him think veggies are a good thing to eat.. Can I put something on them besides seeds to entice him to want toeat them?

I have tried eating my veggies separate from his to see if he copies me because when I eat breakfast lunch and dinner he thinks he should eat too.. It's kind of cute but i've tried that with his veggies and its not working D:

Please help me I am so desperate for him to be a healthy and happy bird.

Laura

[Casey]

i would not remove his seeds all day. because he can easily starve, or the stress from it can make him sick (it happened to munch and she nearly died)

what you want to do is try different ways.

try cooking the veggies, try raw, try cut into tiny little bites, big chunks, leave them whole. put them on a small plate or in a bowl or in a bird dish, or wedge bigger veggies in the cage bars, try hanging them from the top of the cage, try different shapes of cutting it. try all these ways and see which way makes him most interested. then keep trying and be patient. if a bird was raised without those foods, he does not realize they are foods for him.


another good way is mash.

put the foods into a blender or a food chopper and chop it very very very tiny. a bunch of bird safe veggies. whatever you have. throw some rice or pasta into the mix as well. then add a tiny bit of seed and mix it all together. mash works great to get birds to eat other foods.

even if he ignores the veggies, to get at the seed he has to try the veggies in the mix and he may find he likes the taste. try different mixtures, chopped different sizes, cook it and turn it to a pasty mush and mix his seed inside it.


here is a link about mash

feathertalk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=yummyfood&action=display&thread=104

try cooked sweet potato or cooked yam (they have to be cooked) and mix in a bunch of other veggies and make it into a mushy type of mash.


add some bird safe herbs and spices into the mix, see what he likes.


cayenne pepper
rosemary
thyme
cinnamon
coriander
oregano
basil
ginger
garlic powder (not salt)


these are all some spices that are bird safe and may be well liked for bandit. sprinkle them on his veggies or in the mash


keep trying and good luck!

[lauraloveliness]

Thank you Casey

[Casey]

let us know how it goes