Introducing vegies and fruits to a baby...

[Murphy]

Hulloooo again,

Well all is going well with my little guy (though I'm sure he thinks he's bigger than he is ) and he is eating like a horse, and really getting into the pellets now. He's still on the spoon 4x a day, so is definitely eating enough .

One thing I've noticed though is he doesn't seem keen on munching on any fruit or vegies. I tried mashing up the vegies but it doesn't make much difference. He won't even look at them. With his fruit intake I've been buying little jars of pureed fruit (eg apple, apple & berry) and have been adding a spoonful of it to his baby formula in the afternoon/evening feeds to make sure he is getting some fruit!

Is there a more attractive way I can encourage him to eat his fruit and vegies? I'd love for him to be able to munch away on fresh produce daily...

Thanks

[Jetbird]

Have you tried munching on pieces of fruits and veggies? Your bird will see you enjoying them and get a little curious. After that, it's just like feeding a baby... they don't like it at first, but they'll come back to it!

[tajmo]

I have been adding tiny pieces of veggies and fruits to a warm mushy item like oatmeal or brown rice and then a spoonful of unsalted-natural peanut butter and mix it all up. I notice that the PB seems to mask the taste of a lot and has been getting our baby severe macaw to try some items he wouldn't touch on his own. He also seems to enjoy having a warm meal in the morning. Today was a mixture of broccoli (first time eating), dried cranberries, oatmeal and PB. MMMMM yum!

[birdsnreps]

fruits and veggies are actually the first things i give to baby birds, before pellets or seeds. all i do is keep on giving them diff stuff to try, and they eventually eat all of it.

[Murphy]

Well i had a tiny little triumph the other day. I was munching on a piece of cucumber and Murph decided he didn't like me having something and him not be able to have any, so he joined in with me and had a tiny nibble of the cucumber. Not much, but it's a start. I'm going to start leaving little bits and pieces in with the pellets I leave down for him to "play" with.

[PeninaD]

We've been trying different things with Keely (Severe Macaw).
Friday night I cooked some cubed butternut squash, and she barely touched it.
Saturday morning I gave her butternut squash cubes uncooked, and she went nuts with them.
You need to try both mushed and raw things with them... every bird has it's texture preferences.