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Post by bree1818 on Jan 23, 2014 14:22:16 GMT
I've been trying to get Shasta to eat veggies or fruit. He refuses, but at least he's on pellets now. He liked those the first time I offered them to him. He did lick an orange slice once when I held it up to him and ate the other half. Since I ate it, he was watching me, and was like "Hmm, if mommy can eat that, I must be able to." and he licked it, but wouldn't touch it after that....
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Post by Sarah on Jan 24, 2014 0:10:26 GMT
Some birds love citrus, and some don't seem to like the acidity.
Try just making a huge fuss over how delicious everything you eat is if it is remotely healthy in front of Shasta, and before too long you won't be able to keep him off it!
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Post by rdkntriker on Jan 24, 2014 2:15:16 GMT
I agree just keep trying. I know I have good and bad days with Lucky.
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Post by Pammy on Jan 24, 2014 5:14:36 GMT
Yep, good and bad days. Some days my birds wolf down their plate of veggies. Other days I end up scraping it into the trash. Same food, same birds. We just keep trying.
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 24, 2014 23:49:38 GMT
Some success this week with the veggie introduction  !!! I have been removing their pellet/seed mix every morning for 3 days in a row after their "breakfast". On the first day, I'm not sure how much they tried although I saw some dark blue specks on their beaks from the wild blueberries. Yesterday, I watched Mondo (green/yellow) nibble at the corn and broccoli. I think Santino (white/blue egg laying machine) is being more stubborn about trying new stuff. Neither seem to be crazy about apple but maybe they just eat a few little cubes and I don't notice. By the time I replace the veggies with their pellet/seed mix, they practically pounce on their food containers, especially Santino! I think they eat a little Italian parsley too. Corn, broccoli florets, blueberries, and maybe parsley seem to be working so far. Not sure about carrot, spinach, apple, banana or strawberries. Maybe I should grate the carrot again instead of chopping into little bits. Oh, and I did sprinkle a little bit of their crumble mix underneath the veggies so they'd have to dig around. And on a related note, I was trying to get them to fly onto my finger from a distance and got distracted with the egg laying business (nothing for 5 days so far but Santino has done that before too). Today, I got both to fly onto my outstretched hands by saying their names appended with "Fly!" and held out a tiny piece of millet between my thumb and middle finger so they could land on my pointer fingers. They eagerly flew a little further each time and flew about 12" - for millet . It would never work with veggies  . Cherry |
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Post by fayth on Feb 25, 2014 0:07:17 GMT
Ya ^ maybe try counting how much apple you put in and then when you take it out see how much they ate!
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Feb 25, 2014 1:31:02 GMT
mayb try cutting it in a different shape or shredding it that is great  |
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Post by Pammy on Feb 25, 2014 1:36:32 GMT
Great progress, Cherry!
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 25, 2014 4:32:00 GMT
Question for all of you veggie lover bird owners: how much do you make at a time and how do you store it?? Pammy, you mentioned that you use frozen. Do you mix in fresh or just use thawed? I cut up some and put it in a lottle plastic tub in the frig. They don't seem to eat more than a teaspoon or two each. Maybe they will eat more when they adjust to it. Do you bird eat a lot - a tablespoon or more?
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Post by Pammy on Feb 25, 2014 5:42:34 GMT
Last summer I chopped fresh fruits and veggies. Then I tried human baby food from the grocery store, mixed with just a few pellets for thickening. Kringle & Clausy ate that, but once Noel & December moved in, the boys stopped eating the baby food. Mistletoe joined us just a week later, and he had been eating frozen mixed veggies. So I tried that. For the 4 budgies and 1 cockatiel, I pour out probably 1/3 cup of frozen veggies onto a plate, spread it out with just a drop of water to help it not dry and whither throughout the day, and sprinkle it with seeds and maybe 5 or 6 Cheerios. Once thawed, I put that on top of my bird cage and they gobble it down everyday. They eat it all, plus graze on the pellets I keep inside the cage at all times.
I know Mistletoe eats more of it than anybody else, but then he's twice the size of the budgies. All four budgies happily chow down, although I couldn't say by the tablespoon how much is disappearing into each little beak. I do see them all eating, not just picking. I see them all with peas mashed on their beaks and corn or carrot hanging from their mouths. None of them like the green beans.
I intend to try some fresh produce again soon, and I also plan to grow a few herbs this summer.
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 25, 2014 19:52:42 GMT
I will need to buy some peas just for that pleasure. They enjoy the cubed carrots? I'll try grated carrots tomorrow. What types of herbs would you planning to grow?
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Feb 25, 2014 21:22:32 GMT
depending on my mood, i make enough to last about 3 weeks or a few days lol. i freeze the rest
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Post by dianapalmer on Feb 25, 2014 22:39:37 GMT
I have most success with fresh broccoli. I cut just a tiny bit from the top of a broccoli head. Basically, they get the best part of the broccoli.
Fresh italian parsley is also popular. That I have to cut fine. I cut up both the stems and the leaves. They seem to like both.
I find the broccoli take less time than the parsley to prepare.
Because they reject the green beans from the mixed vegetable packages, I just got a bag of frozen peas and carrots I am going to try.
For a while they were eating fresh grated carrots, but they have gone off them lately.
I tried baby food, but I found they made quite a mess that with that--splattering it all over the bars of the cage. So, I gave up on that.
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Feb 25, 2014 23:39:35 GMT
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Post by Pammy on Feb 26, 2014 0:51:40 GMT
They do eat the cubed carrots, but those are not their favorites. In the mixed veggies, they prefer first corn and then peas, neither of which are true vegetables, carrots third, and green beans not at all.
As for herbs, I plan basil and rosemary for sure. If I can find mint, then mint too.
I'm eager for strawberries to come back into season, for me and for my birds.
Mine also made a huge mess with the baby food. I was grateful for it when I needed it, but I'm very glad my birds will now eat frozen veggies.
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!!! I have been removing their pellet/seed mix every morning for 3 days in a row after their "breakfast". On the first day, I'm not sure how much they tried although I saw some dark blue specks on their beaks from the wild blueberries. Yesterday, I watched Mondo (green/yellow) nibble at the corn and broccoli. I think Santino (white/blue egg laying machine) is being more stubborn about trying new stuff. Neither seem to be crazy about apple but maybe they just eat a few little cubes and I don't notice. By the time I replace the veggies with their pellet/seed mix, they practically pounce on their food containers, especially Santino! I think they eat a little Italian parsley too. Corn, broccoli florets, blueberries, and maybe parsley seem to be working so far. Not sure about carrot, spinach, apple, banana or strawberries. Maybe I should grate the carrot again instead of chopping into little bits. Oh, and I did sprinkle a little bit of their crumble mix underneath the veggies so they'd have to dig around.
.
