My tiel, Ash, is coming along on his taming sessions ever since I brought Misty home. But there's still a problem with him. He won't eat fresh foods. He's picky and stubborn. Anybody have ideas to how I can get him to eat his fresh foods?
hey, i have the same problem with my 6 month old tiel ricky. though she eats them some times, were have you been putting the fruit? i find if i put it through the bars on the perch she always sits on she'll eat it, i used to put it on the floor in a bowel but she never touched it. she'll eat it out of my hand but half the time she throws more at me than she eats. i also heared once that if you eat it in front of them and look as if your enjoying it they'll be more tempted to eat it themselves.
I usually put them in his food bowl, but he's smart and pushes it out of the way. I've put some in the little food thingy on his favorite mirror where he loves to sit and he ignores it. I'd give it to him with my hand but... I might lose the hand. He's just a bit to evil for that right now.
yeah i've been reading what you've been writing in about how your trying to taim him. what kind of fruit you been givin him? maybe try something else? he might just not like it?
I've given him apples, bannanas, oranges, grapes... Thinkg that's it. He did eat an apple slice once but it came from a pie that we bought and I haven't been able to find it again. I gave him one from a diff type of pie but he wouldn't eat it. He's such a picky picky bird.
I roll apple slices in the bird food,and the seeds stick on it and when I hand feed it to them they try and eat the seeds but end up eating some apple with it. They seem to enjoy it.
Something to be mentioned is that Cockatiels in nature are "Granivores" . That means that they derive much of their nutrition from seeds. They are not usually drawn to fruits and vegetables and they really have to be trained to eat them.
Most of my tiels eat a pelleted diet, seeds, and a small amount of veggies and fruits. They are very picky. I find that they are more attracted to greens and green veggies.
Be extremely cautious. Most people are not aware that many fruits and vegetables if not organic contains pesticides , fungicides and herbicides that are in the flesh of the fruit or veggie.
While training a tiel to eat fruits and veggies, please be sure they are organic. This is not the usual organic hype. Studies done in Canada and the US prove the existence of harmful chemicals in the fruits and veggies and not just on the surface of them.
Start with green veggies like bits of broccoli florets, then work from there.
Keep in mind that fruits and veggies are not as critical for granivores like tiels and budgies as they would be for other parrots like Amazons and Greys, for example.
I find my budgies and 'tiels eat the fresh stuff more and easier if the veggies and fruit are cut into really tiny (budgie one bite pieces), but not mush, bits. My family even bought this small grinder just for the birds!
I hear from many good sources that both 'tiels and budgies only need about 20% seed in their diets. You know how you feed your birds Millet Spray as a treat? Well read the first ingredient in you prepackaged bird seed, 'millet' right? I read that in their native lands Australia they(cockatiels and budgies) only get seed, like millet, once or twice a year during the raining season and one other season.(I am not sure which one, I forget) But then I hear others say other things too. I may just take a trip to Australia when I am older and see for my self!
While tiels & budgies are granivores, this isn't a good reason to feed seed & leave out veg. Tiels are also leafy, grassy eaters, they need their greens as much if not more.
Granivores also don't eat the same seed in the wild that we feed them in captivity, so, a balanced diet of seed, pellet & veg should always be offered. Veg IS very important for their diets.
They're not natural fruit eaters which is why most don't take to eating fruit. Fruit is something that should only ever be offered as a treat. It's extremely high in sugar & can lead to many things going wrong with your tiel if given too much.
Rich dark green veg, leafy veg (a good variety of dark greens & red lettuces) bok choy, grassy leafy veg, bright yellow, orange & red veg should also be added.Things like various weeds, dandelion greens, cress etc are also a regular part of their diet in the wild. Some of these things you can get for your pet tiel.
Tiels are very stubborn eaters. Some never do convert & others do with a great deal of patients & time. Try the foods that a tiel is more likely to eat. Also try adding very small pellets to your tiels diet. Some tiels can be willing to try food if it's small enough for them. You can also try soaking pellets to soften them up, they will go off quickly though so they need to be changed regularly or, you can convert the seed to a better mix for tiels & grate bits of veg & add it to the seed & grind up some pellets & also add this to the seed.
