FINCHforum

So I gave my two zebra finches egg food for the first time. It's just a simple mix of hard boiled egg mashed together with ground egg shells and some of their seed mix. I can't really afford to do anything else at the moment.

Anyway, it's been sitting in their cage for almost an hour, and they haven't touched it. They look at it sometimes, but otherwise they ignore it. I was just wondering if this is normal and they just need time for their curiosity to draw them to it, or if maybe I'm doing something wrong with the food.

It should be excellent - I think they may just need more time. Every time I give my finches something new they have the same reaction:

"Is that a [lettuce leaf] or is it a box of snakes disguised to look like a [lettuce leaf]?'

LOL! I love the way you describe their reaction. That was about what my Cadence and Minuet did.

Thanks for the reply, too. I'll just have to keep trying until they start eating it, I guess.

I sprinkle seeds on my egg to get the gouldians to start eating them. When they eat the seeds, they sometimes sample the eggs. Sooner or later they start to eat the egg.

I also find it helpful when introducing new food to take away their seed dish just before they go to sleep the night before, and then give them the new food in the morning when they are nice and hungry.

Some birds seem to take to new foods easily while others seem to take a while before they try something new.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I tried sprinkling some seed on top, but they still weren't having it. I'm definitely going to have to try the taking their food dish trick, though. That sounds like it just might work. It will have to wait until I have another day off, though since I work second shift and thus don't wake up when they do. Still, if I can get them started eating it I'm sure it won't be a problem getting them to eat it when I am around to give it to them normally.

Some times it takes quite a while for them to try new foods, just keep trying.
good luck

Try and dry it out as much as you can. Add cornmeal, powdered baby bird formula, or commercial dried egg food. My birds wouldn't touch just regular mashed egg at first because of the texture. They are a bit more forgiving now that they've learned to like it.