# Fruits and Veggies



## meowmiaou (Jun 10, 2010)

How do you get your bird to try cut up veggies and fruits?

I've tried giving him some broccoli and carrots; he picked up a peice of broccoli but shook his head and spit it out, and he didn't even look at the carrots. 

I tried some watermelon but, he was afraid of it. 

He's on a pellet diet with a small amount of seed mixed in. He loves to eat wheat sticks - his previous owner gave them to me, they look and taste kind of like whole wheat pasta. He always tries to steal whole-wheat tortilla chips when I eat them - I don't let him have them because they are pretty salty. 

DO I just keep offering it to him and giving him some sweet words and praise and hope he catches on?


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Most tiels do not like or eat fruit. They are not fond of the sweet taste and smell. 

You can try a Plan B, which is offerring some dried veggies mixed in with their pellet/ seed bowl, or in a separate bowl. Dried peas are a favorite from here: http://www.justtomatoes.com/dried_vegetables.html

Also dried veggies can be crushhed and powdered and sprinkled on top of any favorite food your tiel will eat.


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## meowmiaou (Jun 10, 2010)

That's interesting to know! A lot of places say to supplement their diets with fruit and veggies. It makes sense because I have these treats that are dried mango dipped in yogurt, he will taste it and shake his head. They smell even too tart for me, let alone an animal who doesn't even like sweet food.

I will definitely look into the dried veggies; it seems much less wasteful than cutting up fresh vegetables and having Elvis just ignore them. 

I want to also give these a try: 
http://www.genesisaviaries.com/seeedssproutinginstructions

They look tasty to me!


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

_*That's interesting to know! A lot of places say to supplement their diets with fruit and veggies.*_
*--------------------------------*

When you are reading diet info on a site this is a good indication that the info is not species specific, and just a 'catch all' info site on parrots in general.

It is always best to look for info that pertains only to the species you have.


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## dude (Mar 29, 2010)

Stick to vegies. The only fruit my bird eats (and this bird eats (EVERYtHING) is apple)

I find grating the vegies make them more appealing to birds. Or just chopping them as tiny as they will go. But then again my boy just eats what he's given whole or grated. So I've not really had a challenge. Some stuff they just don't like and they just won't eat. But persist with it all. Make TINY portion sizes so your not wasting food and it isn't just to much to handle for the bird. And persist. Mix in their seed/pellets to tempt them. But honestly start with tea spoon size portions. That's what I do with dude when something new pops onto his plate. 
Oh maybe do that too? I've given Dude a small white plate. That's his vegie plate and treat plate so he knows what's expected on that plate . I usually just put 2 different vegies at a time and no more than a large table spoon at a time. One in the morning and again at afternoon. And whenever I walk past the cage I just peg something onto a peg for him too like spinich parsley grass corn slice of capsicum etc.

There's tons of recipes on this forum too for yummy birdy stuff. Try some of them. 
I always mean to make the birdy bread but just haven't got around to it.

So dudes top favourites are.... grated carrot. Whole baby spinich leaves. Tiny cubed or thin sliced capsicum. Parsley. Grass. and broccoli. 
When I introduce new food or food that he doesn't really like , I makke sure one of his favourites are on the plate too so that atleast he is on the plate and eating his favourite and when that runs out he's been staring at the new food or the not so liked foor for that time so he is always tempted to try it or just eats it too because its on the plate with something yummy so he figures its something too.

He's a "special" bird. He thinks paper is for eating too. So he's banned from all paper and paper toys.


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## meowmiaou (Jun 10, 2010)

srtiels said:


> _*That's interesting to know! A lot of places say to supplement their diets with fruit and veggies.*_
> *--------------------------------*
> 
> When you are reading diet info on a site this is a good indication that the info is not species specific, and just a 'catch all' info site on parrots in general.
> ...


That's why I am here! 


Oh Dude, I actually never thought about mixing in some seeds and pellets - DUH! :blush: hehe, I will try that tonight with some of the veggies I got the other day. 

When I used to have my chameleon, the best place I found for solid, up-to-date information was on a species specific message board like this one. So the first thing I did when I got Elvis was find Talk Cockatiels! I'm really glad I did because I think having everyone's learning experiences out in the open is SO helpful. 

Thanks!


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

You might want to try "birdie bread" shove vegetables, pellets, anything in there and your bird won't even know - a lot of people do this when trying to get their bird(s) on a healthier diet. 

*Birdie Bread* 

3 eggs
2/3 cup of milk
2 boxes of "Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix"
1 "Gerber's" Jr. size jar sweet potatoes or carrots
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup seed (optional)
1/2 cup pellets​ 
Mix all ingredients in large bowl; bake in muffin tins or cake pans at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until done. Can be frozen.

*of course you can add other things to above recipe, like vegetables.​


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## Ezzie (Jan 19, 2010)

Crushed dried veggies into powder still has the nutrients in it, no?

If so that i might look into this, Birdie just plain out refuses to eat any vegetable or anything other then seeds, and buddy only eats parsley- although a start its not always avaliable like other veggies around the house.
So if i get a few cps of ground veggies i could mix it in with their seed  they wouldnt even know!!


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

You could also try leafy vegetables such as buk Choy, mine love their buk choy leaves which I hang in their cages with plastic pegs, and they will eat other veggies like carrot or sweet potato, if I use a potato peeler and peel strips and hang the thin strips in the cage with the peg, but the favourite is Buk Choy leaves


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## meowmiaou (Jun 10, 2010)

Cool, I will definitely try these suggestions! My dogs would probably enjoy birdie bread, too! haha


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Australia doesn't have any native fruits so cockatiels don't have an instinctive desire to eat fruit. Some will eat a little fruit anyway but the majority don't care for it.

Here are some tips for encouraging your bird to eat a better diet: http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.org/info/nutrition-conversion.html


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## meowmiaou (Jun 10, 2010)

Australia has no native fruits? wierd! I don't know much about Australia (obviously), but thats a cool fact. Canada has a bunch, I guess I just assumed all countries/continents had native fruits of one sort or another.

I think I will have to try the dried veggies, he seems really intimidated by fresh ones. I will try and sprinkle some cut up ones on some millet, maybe he'll get tricked


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## I_WantAllTheCockatiels! (Mar 26, 2021)

OMG lol this is a mile long thread! I saw this website on trying to get your cockatiel to at least try different veggies, I'll post it here if I can find it. I didn't know that most birds didn't like fruit but this site should help with veggies. I would suggest (even tho I'm a total noob myself) to use the site and get them to try it. Your bird will like certain things and not touch others, so you kind of have to go with the flow, and don't force your bird to eat things it doesn't like unless it won't eat anything else.
Site: Some ideas on how to get your bird to eat veggies. 
As it says in this website, you should practice these with a bird that trusts you. Good luck with your bird!


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