Feeding fresh food, Getting them to eat tips.

[Deleted]

I have decided to make this post after reading lots of peoples posts about their budgies reluctance or total refusal to try fresh food.

Most people try lots of new foods in quick succession, Changing to a different food every day or even every few hours .
When we buy our buds a new toy we know they will take a while to get used to it and wait patiently for them to accept the toy and then play with it. This should also be the way we introduce new food. Keep trying the same food for several days until the bird is used to seeing it and accepts it as part of the cage. Then when they have investigated it and eaten it a few times try a new food, maybe alongside the first one, and again leave it for days rather than hours before trying the next one. Obviously refresh the food at regular intervals but stick to the same one. Eventually, once your bud has tried many foods they will not be so scared to try new ones and will investigate more quickly.
Try to keep the new food in the same place every day as they will get used to it being there more quickly than if you change it's position all the time and they are having to be wary of a whole new area, it makes the food scary all over again and takes longer to get used to seeing it.

I hope these tips help some people, it's the way I do it and I have never had a bird refuse to eat fresh food yet. 

[nat]

Great advice

[mizloco]

Great help...I have to admit to wanting instant results...I gave them spinach today and I will do so for the rest of the week.

[OP]

The dandelion leaves I gave him wilted so I gave a well washed, wet dark green cabbage leaf. He nibbled it straight away.
I have caught him nibbling it once or twice. I would say he has the idea that these things are to eat. I will keep them as a treat seeing as he likes them. Would that be a good idea? or should I give him some of this cabbage like every other day. I'll remove what is left of the leaf for tonight as it is starting to wilt now.
I have taken on board everything you say in your last post Starlingqueen.

[birdguhl]

Hmmm, I am making links between this post, Oldpecker, and your fart question... I have read that cabbage is not a good idea for budgies for this reason. Might be worth googling this. Does anyone else have a view on this issue?

[birdguhl]

Found this:

Do not feed your budgie anything that is in the cabbage family, raw and green potatoes, green beans, grapefruit, rhubarb, plums, lemons, chocolate, alcohol, caffeine and avocado.

From www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/birdinformation/budgies.php

[mizloco]

I came home and my two have eaten loads of the spinach I gave them. At last something they like.

[Deleted]

Jun 25, 2013 19:44:15 GMT birdguhl said:

Found this:

Do not feed your budgie anything that is in the cabbage family, raw and green potatoes, green beans, grapefruit, rhubarb, plums, lemons, chocolate, alcohol, caffeine and avocado.

From www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/birdinformation/budgies.php

I have heard this but there are many different answers to the question of whether they can or can't eat cabbage. I feed broccoli as do many people but they are from the cabbage family. I think the reason we are led to believe cabbage should not be fed is due to the fact it contains a lot of oxalic acid which binds to calcium and prevents the absorption into the body. Oxalic acid also causes kidney stones. Dandelions are also high in oxalic acid so should be fed in moderation. 

[Deleted]

This probably explains it better.

animals.pawnation.com/raw-cabbage-toxic-pet-bird-3768.html

[Hezz]

Jun 25, 2013 19:45:45 GMT mizloco said:

I came home and my two have eaten loads of the spinach I gave them. At last something they like.

I wouldn't feed lots of spinach, Nina. The high iron content of spinach tends to bind up the calcium in their bodies making it unavailable to be used. Corie says a lot of breeders feed their birds spinach, but they are also providing them with extra calcium. So I err on the side of caution and give them a mix of leafy greens. But now they aren't afraid of a green leaf, why not introduce them to another green leaf? Maybe one of the Asian greens?

As with any foods, if there is any doubt, I steer away from it, as there are plenty of other good stuff out there that does get the tick of approval from all sources. I wouldn't take the risk with my birds, that's all.

I think once you have got your bird eating a number of different veggies, which usually is much quicker once they get started on the first, everything should be fed in moderation. Too much of one particular thing isn't good for anyone.

[OP]

From the information you linked to Starlingqueen I gather the dark green cabbage is not the evil thing to feed my budgie occasionally which is what I did ask about. Joey takes to a green leaf as Hezz suggests, so I can slowly introduce him to other fresh veg. Broccoli is definitely off the menu as I can't stand the stuff and is far too expensive to buy for the amount that Joey would eat.
After reading the small print, with difficulty, on the packet of Trill that I feed him, there would appear to be all his needs in the mixture. Is this correct or are the producers of the product overstating the contents? I have a  cuttlefish bone clipped to the side of the cage, which has been there since day one, and it has not been touched. Suggesting he doesn't need the extra that the bone provides, except without using the bone to keep his beak in trim.
I am trying to get the diet right in the hope that the cere will appear as it should. As this seems to be an indication of general health.
As an aside Joey is much perkier this morning in that he has been sat proud on his perch and occasionally whistling. This is a first since I got him. He has very rarely whistled at anything except some budgies taking a bath on you tube, and squawking angrily at a bird seen outside.
There really is an abundance of well intentioned information both on the forums and the internet in general. If I may say there is too much to take in. In that light I intend to slow down, and as long as Joey is happy and chirpy, learn from what seem to be the very well informed few that generously offer their experience.
I hope the above paragraph doesn't sound too brusk as it not meant to be.

[samwiseg]

Great post starlingqueen and good posts of info guys

[nat]

I think you are doing very well Oldpecker. Its a heck of alot to take in all at once and you don't sound brusk at all.
In theory the trill will provide everything they need if they eat the small pellets that are in it as I think these hold the vitamins. Unfortunately the odd bird might ignore the pellets though.
Somebody mentioned once that the trill seed was coated with a vit supplement which they might injest while dehusking, but I'm not sure if this is correct and how much they would injest of the coating in the brief millisecond they dehusk the seed? It has always been thought of as the absolute best seed available

If the cabage is helping him start on veg then thats a good thing. It might help him become more adventurous with the next type of green leaf you put in for him.
I have noted with my aviary budgies that they tend to enjoy one type of veg for a few weeks and then change to another. It seems like they wait for their systems to become depleted to an extent of a particular thing and then stock up on it heavily. This also seems to apply to the calcium (cuttlebone) and iodine block which can be untouched for weeks and then just disappear in a day! But there are 30 odd in there

Oh by the way, my mates budgie was fed on trill only and no vegitation ever in his life and was 14 years old and still flying around the room and talking. Mine have been on diets with veg etc and I've not had one live past 9 or 10 years old!

[OP]

Thank you for that Nat. Really reassuring that I am doing the right thing. I will cut down on the variety of new things that I do offer Joey. He does seem to go for the dark leaf as in the dandelions and the cabbage. He didn't quaff loads of either, merely tested them. That was the thing that he showed interest and tested them.
Good for Trill.

[nat]

Thats great that hes trying stuff He must be gaining confidence in his new surroundings and in you as well. At least now that hes becoming experimental you can try other things soon