How do you convince your grey that veggies are good?

[Kelley]

My grey LOVES, in this order, pumpkin seeds, grapes, apples, and a little popcorn, and of course her pellets. But in terms of everything else, she's extremely stubborn. Anything green or not-fruit-like (even most other fruits) she refuses. I've tried birdy mash, with some pellets on top, and she ignores it all. I haven't attempted to give her the same food over and over for weeks on end, partially because that's a lot of wasted food... but maybe I should? I eat with her all the time and have offered her my food constantly, but she ALWAYS gives me this look that seems to say, "Ew, get that away from me." All she wants to do is grab my bowl and shake it.

 

So for those of you with picky greys, what strategies have you used successfully?

 

Kelley

[Codys Mom]

I have been cooking the Higgins Cuisines and I add some peppers, cooked sweet potatoes,apple , jalepeno peppers,kale and carrots to it after I cook it also I add a few Tablespoons of frozen veggies and last I add about a half a Tablespoon of Red Palm Oil , you could try the Higgins Cuisine all my birds love it and see what you think , you just have to keep giving your bird veggies over and over untill they eat them , our amazon Rocky doesn't eat to much veggies but I put it in his food bowl every night and leave it there for about an hour or a little longer he will eventually eat some of it not alot but some ,my other birds eat alot of veggies compared to Rocky

you can try cooking him some 15 bean mix or some cooked sweet potatoe ,none of mine will turn down a bean or sweet potatoe

[Greywings]

You can also try putting those evil veggies in the blender and stirring into a mash or some yogurt or just sprinkling some of what she likes on top so she gets a taste inadvertantly.

[jodi_odo]

The 3 year old grey I re-homed had never had a veggie before I got him, only pellets and some grapes....tried a mixed soft food diet and he would not touch it...I made new every day, then I started to blend it to a chunky mash, and added a bunch of apple, grapes and blueberries, also some red orange and yellow bell peppers, and he actually tried it, now, I found that as long as I added apples, blueberries or grapes to it, he would pick through it, and now, he looks forward to it. He doesn't eat it all yet, but it is going way better now than even a week ago. I also found it helps to feed it to them first thing in the morning, before giving fresh pellets. Good luck, it's a process and there will be a bunch of waste, I guess that goes along with it.

[pikachu]

I swear, it's the pretending to eat something & offering it & then taking it away (teasing) that got my CAG interested.

When she first came home, she refused to eat anything except for her pellets. Now she eats everything that I offer (except for bananas), including brussels sprouts.

All I have to do it walk over & offer her something that I eat and she immediately leans towards me.

[Luvparrots]

My parrots like to eat with me. If I have a plate of food Ana Grey is right there for her share. Into my plate if I let her. The other two will sit and wait for me to offer food to them.

[Kelley]

I swear, it's the pretending to eat something & offering it & then taking it away (teasing) that got my CAG interested.

When she first came home, she refused to eat anything except for her pellets. Now she eats everything that I offer (except for bananas), including brussels sprouts.

All I have to do it walk over & offer her something that I eat and she immediately leans towards me.

 

Thanks for that response -- how long did it take you before she became interested in these foods? I've had my girl for almost a year and whenever I offer something I'm eating, she turns her head away and refuses it. I put food in her cage and it sits completely untouched, maybe one or two things on the floor of her cage that she picked up and dropped.