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hi everyone! i've been trying to get my fairly new tiel, peaches, to eat some veggies or something heathy but i can't get him to even try it! i got him from petsmart where they only fed him seeds and i really want to get him to eat healthy before he becomes a little fatty !

any suggestions?


thanx!~~
andrea and peaches!

About 2 hours after giving my tiels their morning seed and pellets, I give them a stalk of still-dripping baby bok choy and a peeled carrot. An hour later, I collect the uneaten portions and stick them back in the fridge in a baggie for the next morning. They eat a good bit each day

I don't start with a whole stalk. First I pull off the outermost 6-10 leaves to save for later. Same with tat soi, leaves of which are smaller but still nicely firm. I might pull as many as 2 dozen of the outermost leaves ringing the stalk.

Instead of a carrot, somedays, they get a long quarter cut of zucchini, sometimes a few loose leaves of red swiss chard or spinach if it's organic. I always feed my birds organic food except their seed. Hard to find good organic seed. The seed I sprout for them are organic, but those fed dry are not.

Remember that tiels are ground feeders. Spread the leaves and carrots on a paper towel on the cage floor and watch your bird run down to check it out.

Regardless of everything else, keep trying!

Paca

would it be okay to feed my budgies and tiel veggies and fruit on a bamboo skewer?

Absolutely! Bamboo is one of the "safe" woods, provided it's not had any kind of treatment or drying agent. Read the label to see if they have any type of treatment. They will probably get as much enjoyment from chewing the skewers as the food!

Sam

Thanks- they look like they are just natural bamboo skewers from publix- no label-someone left them here after a BBQ and I got alot of them- Thought they might enjoy chewing on them also- THANKS EVERYONE

I hang a leaf of kale from the top of the cage - just stick the stalk through the bars. She eats the stalk from the perch and the leafy part from the top of the cage - she love it!

Also, try defrosted frozen peas and corn. I use a small glass ashtray about 3 inches in diameter for her "fresh food" like broccolli, caulifower, sprouted seeds etc.

The key is to keep offering and eat the veggies in front of her with excitement about how good they are mmmmmmmmmmm these are soooooooooooo goooood!!

Good luck!

thanx for the help you guys!

It took me a few months to get Casper to eat anything different than seed. After what...3 months, she is finally open to trying new things, especially when I am eating it. Patience and persistance is what I was told by the forum months ago. The perfect advice!

same here-she is always into what I have..that's how I got her to try new foods-

I thought it was the craziest thing when I read that you should eat the food first in front of your bird so he can see, but it really seems to help. After he saw me eating something, he tried it, but before he would not, so I always try that.

I thought it was crazy too but it REALLY works. I wish my budgies would do the same-they seem stuck on the seed diet the pet store had them on and I've been afraid to try converting them-my 1st pair of budgies ate seeds their whole life and a little parsley and they lived about 17 and 19 yrs so....

i have to try that! but right now it's bed time for my little guy !

Eating in front of him really helps. My baby is really picky, but he really likes broccoli (raw), dark lettuces, and he loves greenbeans (steamed or canned)--I think that is really a texture thing

Good luck

We just tried white rice...she loves it!!!!!

White rice has no nutritional value. You need to cook brown for her . . . and you