FINCHforum

How do I help my java finches try new foods? If I give them something big, they peck at it, and if it moves from their pecking, they run away. They like egg shells, but they don't usually eat the entire shell. I wonder if it is better to have an open dish for them to try new things...

have you tried mixing the new food in with their seeds??? that always help my zebras try new things

My birds are always more interested in trying new things when I chop them up finely and put them on an open paper plate.

I think most finches don't like to have to 'dumpster-dive' for their food. The seed cups that came with my breeding cages are much deeper than the finches like, so besides using the seed hoppers from TammyS, I put other foods in small, shallow dishes, and my birds are much quicker to check them out. Eggshells get crushed, and most veggies get chopped fine.

Their main diet is finch seed mix. Should I try to get them to eat a cuttlebone for calcium?
I agree with Sally. My birds' food cups are a little deep, too, so I guess I'll try the open dish.
How small do you suggest vegetables are chopped? And if I'm letting them try it for the first time, should I only give them a little bit?

There is nothing wrong with a good finch seed mix. The problem is, in the wild, birds eat all kinds of things, not just seeds, so it's not a very balanced diet. Finches definitely need a cuttlebone, and I also give mine oystershell grit (you can find boxes at most pet shops). These two things give them the calcium they need. The veggies give them lots of vitamins. I chop mine so the pieces of veggies are fairly small, probably twice the size of the seeds they eat. But I just put in small wedges of apples or oranges, and they peck at them. You can just try different things--they are just like people, they don't all like the same thing! Again, at the FIC link, there is a list of good and bad foods, as some things should never be given to our birds. And you don't have to give them a large portion, either, just a spoonful at a time.

If you breed finches, they definitely need eggfood--just hardboil an egg, mash it shell and all, and give them a small amount at a time--it spoils quickly in hot weather. If not breeding, it is still good for them to have eggfood once in a while--I don't give it more often than once a week when not breeding.

hi nathalie
get your javas some paddy rice,it is thier staple diet in the wild,and they go mad for it just put it in a shallow dish and they will empty it,i might add for a bird with such a big beak and really savage when they are breeding they are very shy eaters!

ken

kenny wrote:hi nathalie
get your javas some paddy rice,it is thier staple diet in the wild,and they go mad for it just put it in a shallow dish and they will empty it,i might add for a bird with such a big beak and really savage when they are breeding they are very shy eaters!

ken

When you say paddy rice, do you mean rice that isn't yet cooked? If it is, then I didn't know. Last time I tried giving them rice, I gave them cooked rice and they poked at it until they lost interest. I will definitely give them paddy rice this time around!

hi nathalie
this is a picture of paddy rice that i buy..you may be able to buy it at a seed merchant ..or a good pet shop!

http://www.haiths.com/product-Paddy-Rice-PFPADRICE/


ken