EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!

[Sojourner]

Well I wanted to be sure things were actually working before reporting back, but I've finally gotten them to eat their veggies - but only when dried! Here is what is working at this time:

I chop the veggies up fairly small. I coat them with wheat germ, wheat bran, and a small amount of coconut flour to make them less "wet". Also some of the CeDe dry egg food. This is still sort of "damp".

I also made some egg bread with eggs, spelt flour, buckwheat flour, arugula, a yam, and some broccoli slaw and a kale spring salad mix. And half a banana and a handful of seedless grapes. I crumble some of this up into their salad as well.

I add some hulled millet, chia seed, and 5 grain "cereal" (rolled oats, wheat, rye, barley, and triticale).

They will eat a little of this but not much. Late in the afternoon I take the fresh mix and dehydrate it, then put it back. They will eat the dehydrated version for 2 or 3 days. They actually eat it pretty happily.

Then if anything is left I dump it and start over with fresh.

I still give them "regular" seed, but they no longer get that every day. I still have hopes that eventually they'll eat it better when its still fresh, but at least they're eating SOMETHING other than just parakeet seed now.

Only partial success, but it is progress. I was about to give up hope, the little buggers, LOL!

[Sojourner]

Drat, too late to edit the above. There is hulled millet and some of the 5 grain rolled cereal in the bird bread as well.

So basically nothing to leave hulls so I can leave the dried salad mix in their feed cups without having to worry about hulls.

[GouldieFledge]

Glad to hear that this method is working out for you, sojourner ! I remember how much you were worrying about these guys

[Sojourner]

The change in their behavior is amazing. They are more active, quieter, and when they do vocalize it is a more contented sort of a warble-twitter than the angry squawking that led me to name them Thing One and Thing Two.

They are more interested in their toys, they climb around the cage more, and they are even actually FLYING more often. Not just from perch to perch, they will hover in the cage like its a game. They are more companionable with each other as well, more often than not peaceably sharing the same feed cup, which they virtually never did before. They just seem more JOYFUL overall.

And they are even less paranoid! They will now go down and play in the bottom of the cage, or eat there if I put something down there on a plate. Parakeets are largely ground feeders in the wild so its unnatural for them to avoid ground level the way my guys were, which was largely a function of their paranoia. They still sort of keep a weather eye on me when they're down there, but they WILL go down there now and don't necessarily fly up in a panic if I move a muscle.

They show far less interest in their "regular" seed now also. Not that they are turned off it - but now when I put it in the cage instead of attacking it because I've been "starving" them all day (by only offering them chopped veggies) they eat a little bit and then go back to the dried veggie mix.

Breaking them of their seed addiction has been well worth it, even though it took me a year to get it all worked out, or at least starting to be worked out. They are obviously much happier now that they are eating something besides just seed.

The next step is to get them to start eating their salads fresh and unadulterated. But as long as they are eating it at all, their health and emotional status is already much improved. I don't feel like I'm in a race with the Grim Reaper any more, LOL!

[Animal Quackers]

Have you tried using herb scissors to cut up your fresh veggies? I still grate carrots and zucchini, but these work great on parsley, kale, celery leaves...even tomatoes and bell peppers! I just cut up a fresh batch of goodies every day, refrigerate, and mix with soaked/sprouted seed and 2-3x/day. Easy peasy!