They will only eat seeds....

[littleuglything]

Help my two lovebirds will only eat seeds!! I have tried with romain lettce, courgettes, peppers, bannanas and they just turn their nose up at it all! I know they need a balanced diet to stay healthy but i just can't seem to get them to eat anything but seeds! Does anyone know of any technics to make them more interested in eat their fruit and veg....it's like trying to get a child to eat their greens! I swear!
Also when taming them what sort of food do i use if they only eat seeds? And how do they know they are receiving a treat? I am very new to keeping birds these are my first pair and i find it really hard to understand them and their wants and needs sometimes!

[greencinacheeks]

first off i would look for a good pellet food for them. i use Zupreem, i like it and my birds have always liked it...when you get a pellet food, start mixing the seed and pellets, the birds are always going to eat the seed first but try this for a few days maybe a week...one day...leave the pellets in with no seed. they will get hungry and start eating. this has worked for me all the times i have done it...i hav also done this...put a cup of seed and a cup of pellets. leave them, when the seed is gone, oh well, just leave the pellets in they will gt hungry and eat.

How long have you had the birds?
when getting them to eat greens and such always eat it first in front of them. Make yummy and mmmm.... sounds, act like its the best thing in the world, they ar just gonna HAve TO try it if its good. this almost always works, however sometimes birds just don't like something.

i suggest getting a basic parrot book to gt you started...when i was getting 'started' i got 'The New Parrot Handbook' it is a good book to tell you almost all th basics. i'm sure others will have other books too!

;) don't give up!

[Tom Lawless]

Years ago I had cockatiels that I was never able to get to eat anything but their seed mix. It was a healthy one but I think I shouldn't have given up trying the other as quick as I did (which didn't seem quick at the time).

I agree with the above post on mixing some pellets in with the seed mix. Also, try eating what you want them to in front of them. If your lovebirds are at all tame they may think they should have it if you have it. That's how I got my Dave to start eating pellets. He saw me eat a few and thought he should too.

[skthurley]

I would take out the seed mix at night. The birds are sleeping and do not need the food in their cage. Birds are also hungriest in the morning. What you could do is chop up some fruits and veggies, put a little bit of their seed on top, and offer this for breakfast. A few hours later remove the fresh food and offer their usual diet.

patience is the key. Birds are creatures of familarity and habit. eventually they will get up the nerve to try some of the fresh foods, especially if it's the only thing offered for breakfast.

[Izzy]

Also, try sprouted seeds - they're a lot healthier!

I got mine from The Coolest Sprouting Seeds on our Planet!, the small bird mix will work great!

[amanda143]

This is where I am going to have to disagree with "they will get hungry and eat it". Two of our lovebirds have no problems with pellets. Our female however would rather starve to death than eat a pellet. I have tried for months to get her to eat pellets, and mixing it in her seed is just a waste. The only thing I have been able to get her to eat is bird bread and in my opinion that is just as good or better than pellets anyway. Birds eat seeds in the wild, so if my bird will only eat seeds and bird bread, then I'm not going to starve them. My bird bread has all kinds of goodies in it so I feel confident that eating it every week is meeting her nutritional needs. I never stop introducing her to fresh food though, just in case one day she decides to get curious! lol

[skthurley]

I do think it's important to make the point that to help introduce new foods and encourage birds to eat it, you don't just take away all his other foods. Instead, I suggest offering them new foods in the morning when they are the hungriest. Then a few hours later, offer them their regular foods. I think just giving them their new foods and taking away their old food entirely will lead to starvation. It is important to give them some of the food they already eat a few hours later