I have two parakeets who aren’t the least bit hand tamed, so any like I have read of pretending you eat it and then offereing it to them will not work. Anyway, I have tried several times with a lot of different foods I tried mixing bits with their seed (I’ll get to that in a second) but they eat around it, I have tried to leave the food in the dish all day, but they just walk/poop on it, and I have tried only offering fresh food without seed and they just screamed the whole day. Foods I have tried are Banana, fresh peach, frozen strawberries (thawed), cherries (sans pit), mashed blueberries, seedless grape, garden fresh organic corn (I know it’s garden fresh and pesticide free because we grow it) (off the cob), canned and fresh green beans, canned peas, peanut butter, graham crackers, boiled cabbage, crushed saltines, bits of boiled chicken (cooled). I said I’d get back to the seed thing, I am switching them to pellets as soon as possible, what brand/style do you reccomend? cont.
I have been wanting to, but I am scared of low quality pellets that claim to be complete, but may not be, what kind do you use and reccomend, Currently, I am supplimenting their seed with vitamin drops because I don’t have pellets and they won’t eat fresh foods, how can I change this? Also, so I HAVE to sepreate them to finger train them? I bought my first parakeet, Riko, last year and he seemed lonely even though I spent hours with him, trying to train him, so I bought him a buddy, who WAS named Lola, but Lola is now Tiger because she’s really a he. Then Riko died of the flu and thankfully Tiger didn’t catch it, but then Tiger was depressed and lonely and so I bought him a friend named Jade, which is the two I have who won’t eat fresh food. I don’t want to seperate them, but I guess I will if it’s the ONLY way to do it.
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Yep, something happened with me, I have 2 and are they even a tiny bit tame??? Nope! Anyways, try getting Romane Lettuce, washing it thouroughly and ripping it into small pieces, then, intertwine it with the cage bars (preferably by a perch, so it is easy to get). Also, hold a bit of lettuce in your hand and hold it within munching distance of your birds, then hopefully they’ll learn to like it! Good Luck to you and your birds!
alright. well i had the same problem with my 2 year old parakeet. dont start off with those harder fruits and vegtables. because parakeets wont recognise them as food. feed your parakeets spinach, leaf lettuce and bread. start off with that for a long time, then start swtiching to apples, celery and other things. it’ll work. tell me later if it does!
My two keets were the same way when I got them. I just kept trying and they eventually figured out it was good to eat. They like fresh mint, parsley, celery… I put that on top of the cage and they pull it through the bars and eat it. I also stick apple wedges in the bars and they eat them. I think once you find something they like it will break them of the seed only mentality.
Many birds simply do not like fresh fruits and veggies. Not a one of my cockatiels will touch fresh items!
Try giving them dried fruits and veggies instead! It is easy to buy raisins, dates, prunes, dried cherries, apricots, mango, coconut, or cranberries. If you have an Aldis store nearby they sell all of these at reasonable prices. Dried veggies are a little more difficult to find, but you should be able to find dried crushed hot peppers in the spice section of most groceries, and maybe dried tomatoes. You could try drying your own green peppers, lettuce, cabbage carrots,ect.
Cut these dried items up into small bites about an eighth inch square, and add them to the food along with a little crushed egg shell for calcium. My cockatiels love it, and are very healthy! I use a ratio of one part fruits and veggies to 3 parts pellets and one part seeds.
You can make an evening of it by getting a cutting board big enough for your lap and cutting up these food items while you watch TV . Place the fruits and veggies into a zip lock bag or airtight canister after cutting, and be sure to stir the food every few days to help prevent clumping and prevent molding. After you add the fruits and veggies to the other ingredients you no longer have to worry about molding or clumping.
Good luck
Often it is easier to get them to eat sprouts first. Try sprouting some of their regular seed mix and offer that to them. Put fresh sprouts in daily and eventually they will get curious and try them. Once they acept the sprouts try adding some leafy green vegetables like bok choy, broccoli, celery etc to the sprouts so it is like a mixed salad. If greens are offered that way it is easier to add a new item without the birds seeing something strange and new in their cage. Do not feed them lettuce as it has very little nutritional value and is actually not that good for them. The darker green vegies are much better. The secret is persistance. Don’t offer them something once only and then not offer it again because they didn’t touch it. Birds need to get used to new looking items in their cage and the new smell before they will feel comfortable enough to investigate them further.
Never try and force them to eat something by taking away their regular food. They will starve before they will be forced to eat something they have never tried before. It is possible they are not even aware it is food. They need to explore it and play with it first before they attempt to eat it.
