Firstly, sorry if this has been asked and answered before, I did have a look, but didn't hunt through all the pages. Basically I know that it's good to give your budgie fresh vegetables, but my budgie wont touch the stuff.

 

I've tried a whole lost of different vegetables and he simply doesn't want to know. I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas or tips of how I can get him to eat them?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Phil

Edited January 15, 200619 yr by phil_doc

Mine are most enthusiastic about veggies if they're clipped to the cage first thing in the morning when I uncover them. Try clipping them next to their favorite perch and from the top of the cage. The most important thing to remember is not to give up. They will touch it eventually, just keep trying.

 

You might find something helpful here as well: http://budgietalk.com/diet.html

Smaller pieces are better than larger ones. Sometimes birds are afraid to eat anything larger than themselves... This picture is for comparison's sake only - my birds are used to veggies and will eat most anything, but if you have a look, the food is almost as big as she is... In the beginning if they can stand on it it's too large.

 

 

Try a piece of food about 1/4 the size of their heads to start off with. Once they figure out it's food you probably won't have to be too careful with the size.

Edited January 15, 200619 yr by Rainbow

I would experiment with both actually! I've got birds that prefer big huge chunks (and always have) and then others that seemed intimidated by them and preferred smaller pieces at first. It can also depend on the food. Leafy greens seem to be less intimidating to them than say, a chunk of carrot. But it depends, you'll have to see what works for your budgie.

Edited January 15, 200619 yr by eterri

And perserverance! It's a battle of the wills Budgies are sooo stubborn, but once they try veggies, they usually quickly look forward to them. Just offer daily until they try it

I've only had my budgies a short time. The first thing I tried was apple - they wouldn't touch it. I put a small piece of broccoli in the other day next to perch - it was a hit. Tried carrots the same way this morning and it looks like they have been pecking at them. They don't seem to touch things in a dish but will check them out if they are by the perch.

I have tried several different ways, my most successful was when I chopped it up into very small pieced in the chopper and mixed it with a tsp of seed and took a little ball of millet and sprinkled it in.. It worked, and I give it to Pretty everyday like this. In fact in the budgie picture about a month ago you will see a picture of it all over his beak and stuff hanging out of his beak . Now I also add the egg food to it.

 

To make life easier, I have chopped it in advance and freeze some for later into small tupperware and then thaw out in some cool water and then heat it up on like 5 sec (watch because budgies can get burned if it is not cool enough). I put everything in it, from berries, to kale, to grapes etc.... (less fruit then veggies)

 

Now I also clip spinch and kale to the sides and he is starting to nibble at it but not like when I put it in the dish with it all chopped up.

 

It took awhile to get him to try it. Do different things but don't give up because this is a GOOD diet for them, not just seed.

okay, thanks alot guys, i'll let you know how (if) it goes!

 

Phil

I was just wondering, if I were a to post a list of fruit/veg we often have in the house, would you be able to tell me hoe to give it to my budgie? I.e. Cooked/Raw, Slices/Cubes/Chunks Skinned/With Skins etc?

 

okay, here goes:

 

Fruits:

 

Apple

Banana

Grapes - Red/White

Oranges

Pears

Berries (I know Strawberries are bad)

 

Vegetables:

 

Carrot

Sweet corn - Baby Sweet corn and uh, corn corn?

Peas

Lettuce

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Potato

Parsnips

Peppers - Green/Red/Yellow

Brussel Sprouts

 

Uhm.. I think that's it? I'll post the rest up as I come across them heh..

 

Phil

 

::EDIT::

 

Sorry for the double post, I was meant to 'edit' not reply.

Is there no 'delete' option on your own messages on these forums?

Edited January 17, 200619 yr by phil_doc

not sure what everyone else does you can give it individually or you can make different mixtures. Pretty probably eats under a teaspoon of veggies a day with fruits to a very minimal (they are good but not as high in nutrition plus they can make the dropping watery). That is what Pretty does, I really never asked if he is eating enough or not. Great question. And I add 2 tsp of seed.

 

I got this link off the Cabbage Post, you might want to check that one out too http://www.budgies.org/info/plants.html

Edited January 17, 200619 yr by lovey