Tango eats fresh fruit/veggies for 1st time!

[EFGriffith]

I've never been able to get Tango to eat fresh fruits or veggies -- he always only wants seed or that dehydrated pet-store fruit-feed that comes in a can. But this afternoon, for the first time, he's eating FRESH fruits & veggies. I have a mix of carrots, pears, and yams, and he's munching away! I think he's throwing the carrots overboard though...

 

Anyway, I'm so excited about this milestone. I want to start feeding him fresh all the time, and I think this may be the first step. Although it seems I *am* right, and all the carrots are sailing away.

 

I feel like preparing meals for him instead of just tossing seed in his dish is a great way for us to bond, and while I AM a busy gal, Lord knows I have enough time to feed him better. I'm rediscovering the excitement of being a "parront."

 

I'm gonna go cruise the boards here and try to learn how to give Tango complete nutrition without having to supplement his diet with seed. I'd also like to find out how to not use pellets, as he refuses to eat those. I don't want him to lack vitamins/minerals/nutrients, so it's time for some research.

[judygram]

Tango should be eating some pellets as they are a part of their diet, I have pellets available for Josey all the time, have you tried putting some apple juice over them and see if he will eat some that way.

 

We have a bird food room that has a lot of threads with excellent ideas and suggestions for offering a healthier diet for your grey.

[she]

Wow you sound so excited. Changing the diet can take ages and can be so frustrating.Kep offering the fresh food and see how it goes. Charlie would never chuck his carrots, they are his favourite.I make fresh mixes for Charlie and store them in bird size portions in the freezer and just de frost in the microwave when needed. It saves on time.

[casper]

Keep trying, its great he has eaten some. I find if you try and offer the foods in different ways, lightly boiled, soft, mashed, you can even buy Kabob sticks to thread the fruit on to.

 

Like us I suppose they get fed up with the same old thing.

 

Mine all love pomegranate seeds and sugar snap peas.

Check out the bird food room as well, you will get lots of ideas from there.

 

Good luck.

[BaxtersMom]

Well congradulations on getting Tango to eat fresh fruits and veggies. I know how happy you must be about this. Baxter was very difficult when it came to eating fruits and veggies and it still can be discouraging at times. Like you, I was very excited when I seen Baxter first eating them and thought everything would be good from here on out but don't get discouraged if he stops eating them for awhile. That is what Baxter did. He started eating them, so I was under the assumption that he liked them now and I would feed him his fresh fruits and veggies the next day and he wouldn't even touch them:( Then I found out some days he would eat them and other days wouldn't even touch them. If I served somethings too often, like 2 days in a row, he would eat around them. He was so difficult to understand. I know I wasted a ton of the fresh fruits and veggies but just keep offering them and try to give a big variety. Hopefully you will find some kind of fruit or veggie that he will like all the time. I hope he continues his healthy eating habits:) Just don't give up. Keep offering them even if he doesn't eat them all the time. Repetition and patience is the key;)

 

I keep pellets available for him all day,too.

 

And if you want to start cooking food for him check out the recipe/cookbook thread in the bird room at the top of the page. There are some pretty good recipes in there. You can hide the veggies in some people food like scrambled eggs or oatmeal. Sometimes Baxter wouldn't eat it plain but if I hid it in the oatmeal or eggs he ate it every time. <br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/12/31 00:30

[Goralka08]

Yay Tango!

 

I'm discovering Kenzie's likes and dislikes, too. I found that when I offered her fresh broccoli or cauliflower, she'd just toss them to the floor. Today I boiled them and then let them cool...offered her some and she actually ate them! So I guess she prefers her veggies soft. She loved some baked squash, too.

 

So have you tried different food preparations? Maybe see if he likes fruits pureed or veggies steamed? I know it's a pain to prep all the food, but anything that will help our greys get their vitamins is well worth it.

[EFGriffith]

This morning I made Tango a mixture of oatmeal with babyfood and some seeds dropped in, just so he'd be sure to understand it's food. He's only nibbling here and there, but he's getting the point and some of it is actually making it down! I leave for work soon, so whatever's left I'll just clean out and refill with seed before I go.

 

I'm so excited that we're branching out of Tango's daily boring diet and introducing him to new, healthier things. I don't want to cut his life short because he's seed-spoiled. I feel so great about all of this, and I'm happy for his little tummy & taste pallet. Here's to new experiences entering into the new year!

[BaxtersMom]

That is great news! I know I always get so excited when Baxter tries new things especially since he is such a picky eater. It's taken months but he is doing better. I still get discouraged when I go to the store and find some cool new kind veggie or fruit for him and he turns his nose up at it. :angry: But that's just him. I have found that he likes vegetables more than fruit. He rarely eats any fruit.

 

At dinner time I give him what ever kind of vegetable we are having. I always set a little aside for all the birds and they have come to expect it now:laugh:

 

Have you tried baked potatoes or sweet potatoes yet? My birds really like those. I have tried giving it to them plain and they nibble at it but if I put a (very) little margarine they seem to gobble it up and love the extra flavoring. I always keep the salt off though.

 

It has been fun for me try and feed them different foods. It was depressing when I was always going out to buy fresh fruits and veggies specially for my birds but found it works better for me and is less stressful when I just share whatever I am having for dinner with them. It's also less expensive.

 

They always have their pellets and a little bit of seed every day and I always give them something off my plate at dinner time.

 

I have found they love egg noodles and rice too. But each bird is differnt, too.

 

Just a few suggestions to try. Keep us posted.

[Carolyn]

Wow you are doing just great - My vet is very firm on a NO seed diet and pellets being 75% of his daily intake so Mika has seeds only as his treat for training and those are unsheeled sunflower and punkin seeds.

He does have fresh veg and fruit, (hard) cheese twice a week and 2 eggs a week. Pellets are available to him at all times in his cage.

He eats baby pablum or oatmeal mixed with a little baby food applesauce or any other babyfood fruit for breakfast morning, and a half piece of 12 grain toast.

He is a bit of a Pasta junkie and does love it with a tomatoe sauce. He also eats small amounts of chicken and turkey, I dont feed any red meat.

He loves sweet potaoe. If I run short of fresh veg or fruit I always keep a couple of jars of baby food available for him just in case.

 

 

Carolyn & Mika