Ideas for Picky Eater?

[MiaCarter]

Hi All!
My new society girl, Sylvia, is the pickiest eater ever!

She won't touch 99% of what I give her.
And what's more, she actually picks out certain seeds from the seed dish! It looks like she's only eating 2 types of seeds from the half dozen or so in the mix!

So she's eating a couple types of seeds from the seed mix, millet and egg.
Not even close to being a healthy diet! I'm supplementing, of course, but there's no substitute for good food!
So I thought I'd see if anyone had any good ideas for foods that appeal to picky eaters!

For fresh foods, we've tried:
banana
pineapple
apple
pear
kale
kidney beans
peas
seedless grapes
brown rice

We've also tried those nutrient-coated flies.

I've given her a chance to try these foods. I've been offering them daily for about a week.

[Sheather]

My first societies came to me having never eaten anything but bird seed and would not touch anything else for over one month, but now happily eat absolutely anything I give them - pellet, seed, eggs, veggie, though they dislike fruit. All I did was offer the food regularly, wasting quite a few eggs initially, until one day one bird took a little nibble of some egg or some broccoli and realized "wow! that's yummy!" and then another saw his friend eating the strange thing and not dying and she tries it too and soon enough they are all eating anything you give them, and when they had babies then the chicks were eager eaters right from the start, learning from mom and dad. You just need to give it time, she will come around. You just might waste a bit of food for a while to get there but it will be worth it in the end.

[Colt]

I imagine once she's in with the other bird/s she'll learn to eat a variety of things. That "monkey see, monkey do" should kick in.

[jniner]

Try grated carrots, all my societies LOVE that, they pick through the greens to get to the carrots first! LOL And chopped broccoli, kale, and brussel sprouts.

[MiaCarter]

Thanks for the ideas!
I usually give grated carrots, but haven't had them lately. Good idea on getting those back!
We did broccoli and Kale. I never would have thought of brussel sprouts, though, so I'll give that a go too!

I'm still offering everything. I know it can take quite a while for them to try new foods.
I've just never seen one so picky as to pick out just a couple of seed types from the seed bowl!

My worry is that she's destined to be cagemates with a male zebra who isn't a great eater himself. So once quarantine is over, I may need to pull one of my good eaters to pair with her for a few days to see if we can get her eating better!

I'm up to my nose in picky eaters at the moment! I've also got a chihuahua who's sick and must be offered a virtual buffet before he eats something. The worry is slaying me. Please start eating properly, kids!

[Corkysgirl]

I have this problem with my parakeet. Makes me crazy! He loves millet sprays so sometimes I will peel off the pieces and stick it to food I want him to eat so it forces him to accidentally taste the other food he was trying to avoid. It happened...once, that he started eating a new food. This is a big deal for him. Maybe you can do this with something she likes. Stick her favorite seeds into it...say...into the apple or whatever your trying to get her to eat.

[MiaCarter]

Corkysgirl
Ooh -- good idea!

She will eat millet, (But not millet sprouts. *eye roll* God forbid she eats the healthier variant! LOL) so I could definitely pop that onto some fruit or veggies.
She also eats egg, so I might try mixing something in with the egg and see what happens.

I've noticed she ignores anything unless it's in a seed dish, so that seems to be part of the problem. I was offering perishables in separate dishes for easy removal and she won't even bother to check them out.

[Corkysgirl]

I know how you feel. I have to give my parakeet medicine that's coming in the mail. It has to go on wet food, not in water. How the heck will I do that...I thought. The only thing he will eat is dry seed, dried parsley and dried Herb Salad...the end! So...I thought, and thought, and I decided to get organic coconut oil and rubbed in around on a bunch of bird seed. He likes bird seed and coconut is good for them. He ate it. Now...when the powdered meds come...the powder will stick to the coconut oil and he'll accidentally swallow it. You have to trick these stubborn ones!

[MiaCarter]

Corkysgirl -- You're a clever one, you are!

That's a very good idea with the coconut oil.

Honey is my go-to food. I use it all the time for concealing medicines! Peanut butter too (for dogs and cats).

I've got to try some dried herb salad. Do you make it yourself or buy it? What's in it?

[CommaHolly]

I know how you feel. I have to give my parakeet medicine that's coming in the mail. It has to go on wet food, not in water. How the heck will I do that...I thought. The only thing he will eat is dry seed, dried parsley and dried Herb Salad...the end! So...I thought, and thought, and I decided to get organic coconut oil and rubbed in around on a bunch of bird seed. He likes bird seed and coconut is good for them. He ate it. Now...when the powdered meds come...the powder will stick to the coconut oil and he'll accidentally swallow it. You have to trick these stubborn ones!

I think you are brilliant,,,,,,,,,

[Corkysgirl]

CommaHolly Haha, I think I am desperate...not brilliant! But thank you!

[Corkysgirl]

Ooops MiaCarter, I didn't see your question. I do dry a lot of my own herbs because we have a giant organic garden but I LOVE ladygouldianfinch's Herb Salad. It has a lot of medicinal herbs the birds will pick out and it will heal them It's not that expensive and especially now with you trying to have a healthy chick, you should get some if you can. Here's the link. http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/product_herbsalad.php I use honey a lot too but it would be entirely too sticky with the seeds and the medicine day after day and then too it might raise the yeast level in his body...too much sugar. I'd be counteracting the benefits of the meds by doing that. A little honey...yes, but a lot wouldn't be good. Peanut butter is great...unless your my dog and get sick from it. She has to be on Fromm's grain free Whitefish dog food, and occasionally duck. That's all she can tolerate. Of course...because it's $60 per bag, and 75 miles away.

[CommaHolly]

CommaHolly Haha, I think I am desperate...not brilliant! But thank you!

necessity is the mother of invention, therefore, NEED breeds BRILLIANCE

[Corkysgirl]

CommaHolly You're awesome!

[ac12]

Mia
In general I had that problem with my birds. They would eat maybe 30% of the seeds in a seed blend, the finches always the light color seeds, almost never any dark seeds. This is what drove me to convert my birds to pellets. That way they are forced to eat healthy/balanced diet, not just pick the dessert seeds. And I am not throwing away most of the seeds.

Unfortunately, 5 are not converted.
I did not start trying to convert my wife's canary early enough, and now I think it is too late to try to convert him.
The fire finches also seem to be impossible to convert to pellets.

But at least most of my birds are on pellets. It also reduces the seed hull mess around the cages.