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Post by blue48 on Jun 30, 2020 6:06:14 GMT
Having little or no success in getting BertieB to eat his veggies, I've been looking for alternative ideas online.
So, thoughts on dried greens please. Anyone tried them?
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Post by jellybean on Jun 30, 2020 6:54:31 GMT
blue48, I bought them a long time ago, birds NEVER touched them, they ended up in the bin. When Max was ill the vet gave me dried stuff too containing milk thistle, this also ended up in the bin. I've always found, fresh is best.
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May 7, 2020 23:43:49 GMT
destinycall
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 65
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Post by destinycall on Jun 30, 2020 7:35:02 GMT
I have had the opposite experience. My budgies were deeply suspicious of my fresh offerings, but immediately took interest in the dried greens that I offered. I am slowly introducing more fresh options, but in the meantime, I am happy to be able to offer greens in any form that they will accept.
Also, I find the dried greens store well and they are a great option for times when I can't get to the market.
I tried the Kaytee Bird Greens, but I was rather underwhelmed by the quantity. One ounce is a pretty tiny amount, even for something as light as dried greens. But to be fair, I have a large flock of parakeets, so I tend to want to go big.
Other dried products I've tried include Twin Beaks Aviary' Herb Salad, Healthy Greens from LadyGouldian.com, Rosewood Naturals Nature's Salad and Tropical Carnival Timothy Hay Craveables.
I think Nature's Salad is my favorite. The amount in the package is good so it will last for a while. And the price is reasonable - less than a dollar per ounce, compared to the Kaytee product which retails at $5 per ounce. It contains a fun mix of leaves, flowers, veggies and grains. My birds love the variety of healthy forage options and I like being able to feed them as much as they want without worrying about the cost.
I like the Herb Salad, but I feed it much more sparingly due to the higher price tag. It has an interesting mix of herbs and spices.
Healthy greens are very similar to Kaytee Bird Greens - it is a simple blend of alfalfa and parsley. I usually add it to other stuff for extra greens, like mixed with pellets or seeds or sprinkled on egg food.
Timothy Hay Craveables is fancy rabbit food that is primarily fresh grass hay mixed with flowers and edible leaves. It is marketed toward small animals, but the grass hay provides lots of yummy bird food and foraging opportunities. I like to use this to stuff in foraging toys or piled in a bowl on top of a small amount of dried seeds or by itself. The birds will spend a lot of time digging through the dried grass, hunting for goodies and making a huge mess. One bag should last a long time.
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Post by blue48 on Jun 30, 2020 9:49:14 GMT
jellybean I'm sure fresh is best, but if he won't eat it then I'm stuck. I would be quicker to make a list of what I haven't tried. Lettuce is about all he'll eat and I know it's not particularly good for him. Every day I try him with something and I've tried slicing, grating and big chunks to nibble on. Today he's got banana, strawberry and blueberry in a little dish, and the big seed of a mango that I thought might tempt him. I've grown mung bean sprouts, millet grass (which was a hit for a while but then he ignored it)and I've foraged for wild stuff. He does like seeding grass but that's going over now. I worry that he's not getting the nutrients he needs from just seed. destinycall I'll have a look through your suggestions. I'm in the UK so there's probably stuff I can;t get over here but I'll search around. I'm thinking if he doesn't like dried I could perhaps sneak some dried in with his seed and he might not notice
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Post by willowsmum on Jun 30, 2020 10:05:53 GMT
It sound like you've tried it all blue48 ! What are his thoughts on spinach and other dark green leaves like kale? They might be more nutritious than lettuce. Just a thought.
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Post by blue48 on Jun 30, 2020 13:41:17 GMT
It sound like you've tried it all blue48 ! What are his thoughts on spinach and other dark green leaves like kale? They might be more nutritious than lettuce. Just a thought. I must admit I haven't tried him with kale, but I have offered him baby spinach without success. He once had a nibble at a pea shoot. I eat loads of veggies so he gets varied offerings. Yesterday it was celeriac and some french bean. I will keep trying, because if I've got it I'm very happy to share. He ate a couple of baby peas from a sugar snap a week or so ago but after that one time he just threw the dish off his cage. Off the top of my head, he won't eat:
Apples, strawberries, blueberries, banana, pear, peach, mango, melon Spinach, carrot, dandelion leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, rocket, sweet potato, butternut squash Mung bean shoots (this is what the breeder gave all his birds)
He'll nibble at:
pea shoots, peppers, seeding grass, millet grass (sometimes),
He'll always eat lettuce but too much gives him watery poops.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on Jun 30, 2020 15:09:31 GMT
Our birds are like us - they have varied tastes about what they like and will eat and won't eat! blue48 the Kaytee product is not available in the US Amazon or I might be tempted to try it. I have offered my guys a dried "salad greens" in the past and they only pecked on it. They love their wheat grass and I'm afraid I've spoiled them with it because they've gotten pickier about other fresh greens. They'll eat freeze dried sprouts and love it. I put some other freeze dried leafy greens in with it and they'll pick at it. The freeze dried stuff is a bit expensive destinycall but I only have the two little guys so its not too bad. They don't seem to care much for any fruit. I do worry that they're not getting a varied enough diet.
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Post by willowsmum on Jun 30, 2020 18:29:45 GMT
BertieB certainly gets the chance to try lots blue48. As tweetiepiesmom said, each of our buds has their own preferences I guess. I've never had any success at all with fruit. I was so excited about introducing Willow to some melon last week as I was sure he would love it but no. Despite me tucking in myself and exclaiming about how yummy it was (which he watched very closely) he decided that the fruit skewer was best suited to being a wildly swinging, sticky melon toy! Ah well, can't win em all.
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Post by skysmum on Jun 30, 2020 19:17:49 GMT
I brought dried for mine but they turned their beaks up Im lucky in that all mine have always eaten or at least tried any fresh food i offer. Have you tried celery, Basil or pak choi blue48 , mine LOVE these.
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Post by Hezz on Jul 1, 2020 1:04:50 GMT
Don't even bother with the fruit unless you use it as a jump off to eating other fresh foods. Too much sugar in fruit for our budgies; seeding grass is usually a winner.
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Post by blue48 on Jul 1, 2020 7:35:02 GMT
I brought dried for mine but they turned their beaks up Im lucky in that all mine have always eaten or at least tried any fresh food i offer. Have you tried celery, Basil or pak choi blue48 , mine LOVE these. I'll give 'em a go skysmum . He did have a nibble at basil. I haven't tried celery or pak choi. I can feel a stir fry coming on
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Post by jellybean on Jul 1, 2020 7:45:04 GMT
Mine love the celery leaves.
Have you tried carrot tops, mine love them too.
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Post by willowsmum on Jul 1, 2020 15:37:23 GMT
Yep, Willow is a big celery fan too. I've never tried the celery leaves though. I thought that I had read in the past that I shouldn't give him the leaves but to be honest I read so much about safe/unsafe foods that I probably confused myself. Will bear the leaves in mind for future, thanks jellybean.
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Post by blue48 on Jul 2, 2020 19:45:42 GMT
I bought a new basil plant and he has had some of that, and also a few peas from mange tout - I took the peas out and he played with them but didn't eat them, then I 'peeled' the peas and he ate them. I also tried him with some pak choi - he had a nibble of that too. I will continue to try him with little bits of this and that. I haven't tried carrot tops or celery leaves ... yet.
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Post by willowsmum on Jul 2, 2020 21:39:06 GMT
Great progress blue48. Peeled peas? BertieB rules the roost I think
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