Just to say hello

[Aristede]

Been poking around the different forums and would like to say hello. My fondness for birds has grown from cockatiels, to love birds, back to cockatiels and now to parrotlets. My adventures in birding began in CT where I found the ease of raising cockatiels and then love birds. I have since become involved with parrotlets and am living in Las Vegas, NV. Presently have three Pacific Green P...... A pair that is 4 years old and a 2 month old female. The youngster is a terror. When I get near the cage she shows her anger by threatening me as she hangs on the bars as close to me as possible and ready to bite if I get any closer. Have yet to find out what her problem is. When I cover her at nite, she follows the cloth at the top of the cage and has put a few holes in the cloth as well. The older pair are quite comfortable with each other and the male is very vocal and does a dance as he sings a lengthy little song. To end this introduction, wonder if anyone in the group knows about feeding fresh vege's and fruit. Have tried a dozen or so times the feed chopped vege's and fruit but the birds will not go near. They do have a very balanced grain intake and maybe the fruits and vege's are not essential? What are your thoughts?

[Monica]

Fresh foods are more important than seeds. It's nearly like the difference between eating a healthy diet vs junk food in humans. Try dicing the pieces up real small, maybe offering them in cooked rice, leaving some veggies whole and hanging them from the sides of the cage or from the top, maybe even buying a metal skewer and putting the foods onto that and then hanging it in the cage. You can try eating the food right infront of them and making 'yummm mmmmm' sounds as if it's the best thing you've ever had...

You need to be persistent and keep offering fresh foods in as many ways as you can think to prepare them or serve them. You might want to think about supplementing with pellets (if you'd have any luck getting them to try any), and also feeding germinated seeds, just as tails begin to grow (but no longer or else they'll become sour or stail tasting). Feeding germinated/sprouted seeds is another great way to offer a variety of nutrients that are not found in dry seed. You could also try sprouting beans, various types of seeds, and grains. Check out http://www.sproutpeople.com for some great mixes!

[Spinnergirl]

Welcome to the Birdboard, aren't tiels wonderful. No wonder you keep coming back to them :)

Enjoy yourself here, lots of VERY good advice to be had here and everyones experiences add up to a lot of good information:)

So sharing experiences are important, thanks for sharing yours :)

Nobody knows it all, so reply to questions, post questions, post pictures if you can as we all like those :)

Welcome a board.

[sarziebond]

Hi Aristede

I have two budgies who'd never eaten fresh or egg foods before and would not try, but now actually get so excited when I bring it over!!

Start by putting some carrot or lettuce through the bars of the cage that they can nibble at. Mine couldn't resist in the end as their nose got the better of them. Once they are nibbling away try grating some apple (not pits), carrot and other fresh veggies.

You could also hard boil an egg and mash it up and give it to them in a seprate dish. Mine love theirs still warm.

As Monica says, eat some in front of them, really making a fuss about how delicious it is. In the end, they won't be able to resist.

It took me about 6 weeks to actually get mine to the point where they look forward to 5pm when they get their fresh dish!!!

Good luck!

[sarziebond]

Sorry one more thing......

Just wanted to say that the change in my girls since they've ben on a frsh diet is amazing. They seem to be really buzzing...singing more, more active etc. It really does make a difference.

Keep trying