Need diet help!

[Pete]

Hi,

I am new here and, as I posted in my introduction, my son (14) has a 1 1/2 year old budgie named Chi Chi. She is VERY skittish and when we first got her she got sick, we think it was stress but she stopped eating and almost died.

Because of this, we leat her eat birdseed and millet when we first got her. My son does a lot of reading about Budgies and knows that she should eat pellets, but she won't. The vet told us to mix them with birdseed, but she just eats around the pellets. How do we get her to eat them?

Also, what fresh food should we be feeding her? I even bought her some treats from the vet (my vet is a bird expert) but Chi Chi will not eat anything but seed and millet.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Joey]

Um....my suggestion is to mix some fruit and vegetables with the seed fruits such as watermelon,peaches,apples,pears....etc Vegetables like lettuce,parsley,corn on the cob..etc this sometimes works.If it has been on just a seed diet it has not had its vitamins through foods such as fruits and vegtables!I would by some sort of vitamin supplement A.S.A.P!!!:eek: That is not good get going on trying to feed her veggies and fruit or else......he/she will be sick again!:(

[Budgiekin]

One thing you could try is to provide the new foods, like broccoli, grated carrot etc in a dish near a mirror so Chi Chi can watch the "other budgie" check out the foods. Budgie see, budgie do. It worked quite well with my budgies.

:p

[Adottybird]

Sounds like your poor budgie had a very bad start in life. Maybe some changes in were her cage is place in the home. Budgies need to be were they can watch what is going on and be part of the family. Also maybe placing her cage up higher up then it is now as birds like to be high to feel safe. Most times were are told not to let birds be higher then our shoulder as makes them feel like they are the boss. If your budgie is alone part of the day leave a radio on to a talk station. Quiet to a bird means there is a predator around.

Yes you are right about the veggies and fruit and I think Budgiekin made a great suggestion with the mirror. I would put a treat cup in the cage and everyday offer something different, try the veggies or fruit in different sizes. I wish you luck!

Dotty :)

[BUUZBEE]

they can be very stuborn little things. i've heard the mirror trick works wonders.

[Pete]

Thanks for the great ideas!

I just have one question...do the veggies need to be cooked? I assume when you say corn on the cob, you literally mean to put the whole cob in there, but I wondered if it should be raw or boiled first.

[Budgiekin]

:p Hmmm. As far as your veggie question goes, I offer finely grated raw carrots, but for the broccoli, my sweeties only eat it cooked and cooled. The like the high moisture content of the cooked broccoli rather than the raw stuff.

So, you can offer your budgies veggies both raw and cooked and see if they have a preference for one or the other. Then give them that!

[Adottybird]

Just make sure your veggies and fruits are washed throughly to remove any insecticide residue.

Dotty :)

[cherokee]

ok, I saw that you mentioned lettuce, parsley, carrots, corn on the cob, and broccoli, what about peas and reg corn off the cob? What fruits and vegs. can I NOT give them? and does the corn and peas have to be cooked? we buy the frozen vegs, can i just rinse them under cool water and give them to them that way or should I cook them a little then let them cool before giving it to them?

[Budgiekin]

You can give your budgies both peas and corn, and you can offer them cooked and cooled, or just raw. It is up to you. :)

Hmm, as far as veggies you shouldn't give them, there is some debate about spinach (since it can interfere with calcium absorption). Anyone have other veggies that shouldn't be offered?

[Adottybird]

I think if I remember right that you can't give birds avocados.

Dotty :)