# New Budgies Diet



## Juliaa (Mar 16, 2016)

My budgie is 8 weeks old, had him for a week now. Ruby is not tamed, but he can eat from my hand as far as i know.
He only eats his seed mix (Avia Budgie Food) but won't touch any of his fruits and veg. I've heard its unhealthy for a budgie to ONLY eats seeds and millets (which he loves) but when i tried to give him a small piece of apple he just starred at it blankly, so then i decided to grate some carrots on top of his seeds but he just ate around that.
His poop is solid, black on the outside and white on the inside.

Im scared if i ONLY give him fruits and veg, he won't eat it and will starve himself.

This is my first bird, so please help  how can i get him to eat his fruit and veg?


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## Island (Feb 23, 2016)

I have a 4 month old lil boy and he was ~3 months when I got him. He is not hand fed, so was not tamed when I got him. Luckily your budgie is a youngster, chances he will more likely to try veggies/fruits if you keep offering to him. My boy Cloud refused to eat veggies/fruits for 3 weeks. I offered him multiple times a day and he kept refusing after 3 weeks of trying, he finally started eating veggies ( cooked carrots/broccoli, leafy greens, cooked peas and hard boiled egg-good protein source). But he is not willing to eat fruits and I do not try offering him anymore fruits. Fruits have sugar, so if your budgie finally decides to eat fruits, do not offer fruits every day. Hard boiled eggs are good protein source, but fatty so do not offer more than once or twice a week. You can try every day, preferably when he is hungry (budgies eat routinely about the same time every day). So you can observe and find out when his meal times are and try to remove his seed right before that time or if he steps up on your finger you can feed him from your hand easier and try offering every day. If he does not eat that day try for 10-15 min then put his seed back or put him back to his cage and offer his seeds again so he won't starve himself. Always have his seeds available to him after you try offering him veggies/fruits right around his meal time (when he is hungry). Keep trying everyday, hopefully he will take a bite one day, remember it could take weeks of trying. But budgies are stubborn and if you remove the seeds completely, he will refuse to eat and starve himself, so I don't recommend removing the seeds. Also try to talk to him using a calm and soft voice when you are offering him veggies and fruits, they like it when you talk to them softly and more likely to try the food you are offering  good luck!


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your new budgie! 

Given the fact you got your budgie at just 7 weeks of age, by the time he must have been very recently weaned or still in the process of being fully weaned.
Are you sure your budgie has been eating his seed mix well?
I'm asking this because normal budgie poop freshly dropped (before getting dry) is not black in colour. Black fresh poops can indicate ongoing starvation and in other cases internal bleeding.

You can introduce fresh foods to your budgie's diet through egg food.
Egg food is a vital component for growing chicks, during and after they have weaned. Since your budgie is so young, you can offer him some by hard boiling an egg and mashing it all up. You can sprinkle some seeds onto the egg food to make it more appealing. Once your budgie starts eating and getting used to the taste, you can gradually add some finely chopped up veggies into the egg food mix. You can also include the veggies during play time by trying to get your budgie more curious and interested on them. 
A good starter veggie for young budgies and chicks is baby spinach leaves, they are very soft in texture and are very well tolerated and liked by the little ones. If you keep up with offering veggies on a regular basis and engaging with your budgie in terms of encouraging him to try them out, you will be successful. 
It's fairly easy to get a very young budgie onto a healthy and varied diet.
I personally don't believe in taking out the main food source and depriving a pet bird off food in order to force it to eat veggies. This can have adverse consequences in terms of health and promote starvation.
And this is especially true for a very young budgie who may still be struggling with being fully weaned. 

For all the detailed info and tips on how to improve Ruby's diet, check the info on the sticky threads at the Diet and Nutrition section of Talk Budgies.

Good luck!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Hi! :welcome: to Talk Budgies

aluz has offered you excellent advice. :2thumbsup:

We'd love to see some hoto: pictures of your little Ruby.

Please take the time to read through all of the How To Guides, the FAQs and the stickies located at the top of each section of the forum.

You'll find most of your basic questions about budgies and caring for them will have been answered after you've read through all of them.

Site Guidelines
How-To Guides
FAQs Frequently Asked Questions
Budgie Articles
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/295001-list-stickies.html
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/333106-posting-forums.html
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/295033-prepared-veterinary-care-expense.html
Avian First Aid
Why Quarantine?

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-general-budgie-info/227841-50-common-budgie-dangers-watch-out.html

http://talkbudgies.com/budgie-breeding/327881-heartfelt-plea-forum-members-new-old.html

http://talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/24411-cage-sizes.html
http://talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/31719-essentials-great-cage.html
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/339826-resource-directory.html

When you upload pictures as thumbnail attachments directly from your computer, tablet or phone, the forum automatically defaults to landscape.

To upload full-sized pictures with the proper orientation, please use a photo-sharing service such as PhotoBucket and follow the steps in these instructions:
http://talkbudgies.com/how-guides/175818-how-post-pictures-photobucket.html

Examples Of Pictures To Post And Not Post - Talk Budgies Forums
http://talkbudgies.com/mutations-ge...king-mutation-gender-identification-help.html

By the way, all photos entered in any of our forum contests must be a full-size photo and not a thumbnail attachment so it's good to know how to upload them! 

If you have any questions after reading through everything, please be sure to ask!

Glad you decided to join us and looking forward to seeing you around the forums.

:wave:*


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## shanebudgie (Feb 5, 2016)

Greetings welcome to the forum.you've just gotten some really wonderful advice from some of our lovely ladies here.I think your young budgie will soon try some of the delicious veggies and a small portion of fruit since it has sugar in it.you'll find all the helpful advice and stickies on budgie care etc.blessings and thanks for joining.hope to see a photo of it soon.:green pied:


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## Juliaa (Mar 16, 2016)

Thank you , i suspected that if i removed the seeds he would try to starve himself, i'll be patient and keep offering him fruits amd veg 

There was a few days when Ruby would not move from a perch and not eat either, but lately he's been eating properly . Ill try giving Ruby some eggs 









Heres Ruby


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

Ruby is a gorgeous boy, thank you for sharing the photo! 

I'm glad he has started to eat better and hopefully soon he will start to eat his fresh foods too.


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## Sarka (Feb 23, 2016)

Welcome thank you for sharing Ruby picture he is very pretty


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## Pegg (Jun 7, 2011)

:welcome: Juliaa & Ruby!
Ruby is very pretty!


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## shanebudgie (Feb 5, 2016)

hi ruby.what cha doing little budgie.he's beautiful.thanks for the photo.


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi Julia and :welcome: to Talk Budgies!

Ruby is a very handsome little boy! He's precious  

You've been given great advice and have definitely come to the best place to learn all about budgies  

Be sure to read through all the links provided, and if you have any questions afterwards, feel free to ask as we'd love to help!

Hope to see you around and it's great to have you with us! :wave:


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## Juliaa (Mar 16, 2016)

So far he hasn't tried anything new, its the holidays so'll be with him 24/7  
I've tried giving him egg, but he still eats around it, still trying with the apple. I'm thinking of heading down to store and buying some spinach as someone mentioned they are soft in texture and might seem more "edible"


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## Juliaa (Mar 16, 2016)

Hi guys! I've been cutting up carrots and Apples into the most tiniest pieces and sprinkling them into his food dish! And he seems to be eating them all! 
I'm going to try giving him some broccoli and green food for his well being


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