I've had a young pet budgie for almost a month. He eats a lot of seeds but refuses to eat anything else. I've tried apples, pears, brocoli, spinach, melon, kiwi, parsley, carrots, cauliflower, etc..
He usually just picks it up from his 'food bowl' and throws it with disgust into the bottom of the cage. (Obviously a picky eater to say the least). I've even tried mixing a bit of seed with organic baby food but he didn't touch it. Any ideas on what to do - ?
2007-02-13 15:57:39 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Birds
Whatever you do, do NOT feed any domesticated animals raw meat.
A mistake I do not wish for others to make. Trust me.
I found a young budgie with a broken wing last week and you’re right – they are stubborn. How can I forget.
I take him out to exercise his wings, and gradually he is becoming less terrified of me. When he was exhausted and hungry (I didn’t feed him any seed from dawn to dawn that day), I sat next to him to watch TV and munched on an apple. After a while I put a piece down so he could see and continued eating facing the box.
Tip: don’t stare directly at him, pretend to be distracted, as a stare indicates a predator and makes birds uneasy.
He was soon tempted and licked the apple piece clean. It was a good start. I offered him banana, grape and orange, all peeled for starters, but he only licked the juices. So I sprinkled poppy seeds on. He curiously started picking them out and taking chunks of unavoidable fruit.
Birds learn from examples. Show him what and how to eat and he will do it. The same goes for teaching tricks and talking: you give a command, and another human should obey you (repeat after you) while the bird watches the example. Usually males are more interactive than females.
It takes time & practice to earn their trust, so interact with your little friend as much as possible (every day), talk to him, but don’t force, grab, or punish him, as he will nip you in self defence, or even become depressed. But also don’t be afraid, as all animals can sense fear. He won't bite if sitting on you or grooming you.
WARNING: Don’t ever feed your bird ANY chocolate or avocado. Also spicy and hot foods are not recommended. And alcohol is dangerous in the smallest amounts.
2007-02-13 23:40:15 · answer #1 · answered by Voron B 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Chop fruit and veggie really small and mix it through the seed mix. Gradually cut down on the amount of seed you are feeding until you have a bowl of good food. Leave this is for about an hour and then swop for a tiny amount of seed, perceviere, it could take a while.
Also, try getting a pellet mix and soaking it in orange juice (with no sugars) and see if you can get him to eat this. This will give him vitamin C and be a far better diet for him.
2007-02-13 21:16:54 · answer #2 · answered by Liz B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At this age, it's okay to just leave some fruits and veggies in the cage. He's very curious and he'll be trying them out in no time. Secondly, you could remove his seeds at night. In the morning, he'll be hungry. Instead of giving him his seeds, put in his bowl of fruits and veggies. Come back an hour later to take them out and put in his seeds. When you are interacting with him, it is also a good idea of have strips of veggies and fruits to offer to him. A good way for him to get to know you since offering food in budgies is an act of love..
2007-02-13 18:13:26 · answer #3 · answered by aken 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Buy a pelleted diet and wean him from seeds to that by mixing them and over the course of a week or so decreasing the amount of seed.
This is far more nutritionally balanced than a seed only diet.
2007-02-14 06:42:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
take his seed bowl out and put in a little bit of green leafy vegetable , like spinach or silverbeet. A small bit of fruit or carrot.
Leave them for a while.
Put his seed dish back in a few hours.
2007-02-13 16:05:06 · answer #5 · answered by mark 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
birds operate in the flock mentality.
Work on taming your little friend until you can pick him up on a finger and bring outside the cage (be sure to clip the wings to keep him from hurting himself. when he tries to fly around the room.)
When the two of you become friends; he will consider you are in his flock, and he will try anything he sees you eat.
Through his natural curiosity; he will try the foods you want him to eat.
2007-02-13 21:53:05 · answer #6 · answered by Rev. Two Bears 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have two parakeets and i`ve been trying to feed them carrots and bellpeppers even apples but they won`t touch it.u just have to keep on trying sooner or later he will eat it.try the fruit treats from the petstore.those work great for mine.
2007-02-13 16:04:36 · answer #7 · answered by ♥Snowflake♥ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if ur budgie is only young dont worry just keep the stuff in there and when ur budgie really in the mood 2 eat it it will
2007-02-13 16:04:48 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try wet bread or different types of seeding fresh grasses.
2007-02-13 21:04:12 · answer #9 · answered by wayforwardhow 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
parakeets eat
2016-03-29 05:47:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋