Acouple of my newer budgies are a bit underwieght and I was wondering what should I feed them to get them to plump up a little?? Their not to thin but you can easily seel that bone in their chest. Thanks!!

What is their diet like now? Do you know their exact weights?

No, I do not know their exact wieghts. Thaey have great appitites, seed millet, but no matter what I do They will not try anything else. I know it is important to them but how do I atleast make them try it.

Perserverance is the key. Just keep offering new foods. Make all pieces small for them, try clipping some to the side of the cage, some in a bowl, small pieces of lettuce or celery leaves in their bath. Different birds react differently to these methods. Also, try cutting their food into tiny pieces, and mix some seed in. Basically, if you keep offering fresh food, eventually they try it!

Lin is right, Pretty is very stubborn. What I do is take the millet balls and sprinkle them in with the veggies, and that starts him up. It took at least a month for him not to just eat the seed (Laughing out loud). When I pin it to the cage he just drinks the droplets off of the leaves, stink pot. brocolli he loves when I just off the buds but put it in his cage on the side forget it. Remember food can be deadly to them in the wild so they will proceed with caution. Also have the been avian vet checked for the weight?

o0k thanks I'll keep trying hopefully one of these days they will give in and try some!!

It would be a good idea to get a gram scale and monitor their weights. Budgies that eat mostly seed are more likely to be overweight, not underweight. If they're underweight or are gradually losing weight, a vet visit might be in order.

also maby make desposable treat toys like string lots of vegtables together like a toy or swing then they learn its fun i did this with kiwi now she loves her greens :ausb:

now that is a fanastic idea Smiley

thanks its also really fun to do!illo get some pics next time i make some all you neeed is a need;le string and lots of veg then you budgies will be dancing :ausb:

yes pictures would be awesome!

Misty, just keep trying. Since you have more than one bird you should have an easier time of it. I know with mine, all it takes is one bird to try something and all the rest want what they have. Have you ever tried sprouts or soaked seeds? They are close enough to what your birds are used to, yet much more nutritious and may be all they need to start trying veggies too. You can go here to find out how to grow sprouts. I've ordered from them before and they have a very high quality product.

what do you use to sprout your seed on rainbow? i tried to do some last summer with kitchen paper (like you can do with cress) but after they sprouted they went bad - im guessing that was because there was too much moisture absorbed in the paper?

 

i would like to give it a go again.

I used to use kitchen paper too, but now I use a very fine mesh stainless steel "strainer" and a "mixer" bowl that it sits in. Like this.

ooooh that looks cool. i will look out for one at the supermarket next week

They were seperate pieces, not a set. I just fit a couple until I found two that matched. I figured if they didn't work, I could still use the pieces to strain spaghetti and you can always use a mixer bowl.... But I have had excellent results with them.

oh okay i have a bowl, just not a sieve! thanks for the idea.

 

how often do you rinse them?

I soak them for the first 24 hours completely covered in water, then rinse well and shake them good to get rid of the extra water. After that I rinse and shake out extra water about every 6-10 hours for a day or so (they are slightly dry when I rinse), then the birds get them. I don't let them germinate much, once they get little 1/2 inch "tails" I feed them. Even though they are dry when you refrigerate them, they still continue to grow some, just more slowly since it's cold. I only make enough to last about 4 days, so I'm almost constantly growing them to make sure they are fresh. The link I gave above has tons of information about it, if you have time go through it.

Edited February 21, 200619 yr by Rainbow

ah yeah, i did give the link a browse. sounds easy enough. i will try again!

okay stupid question....

do you just use your regular seed mix?

No, I buy sprouting mix. But I have used a plain seed mix in the past.

all the info i have read says that normal bird seed is fine for sprouting. if the bird seed you feed doesnt sprout then effectively the seed is dead and therefore has no nutritional value?

Basically yes Pixie. The older seed is the less likely it is to sprout, and of course the older seed is the less nutritional it is.

Acouple of my newer budgies are a bit underwieght and I was wondering what should I feed them to get them to plump up a little?? Their not to thin but you can easily seel that bone in their chest. Thanks!!

Should you desire to build them up place them in a smaller cage and suppliment their diet with vitamins and hulled oats. when they do bulk up let them into a good sized flighted avarie,.... :feedbirds: :feedbirds:

Hi everyone, bought a fruit kabab holder thingy yesterday and some brocoli, sunny has had a nibble at it, but i think cheeky might be scared of it cause he runs away everytime he goes near it. also bought a calcium perch which they both have had a nibble on