My Cockatiel, Kirby, seems to be on some sort of a food strike.
I am concerned that he is not getting all of the nutrients he needs.
Right now, all he seems to want to eat is birdseed, and he turns his nose up at any fruits or veggies I offer him. He has just become a birdseed junkie, and I don't know what to do about it. Any suggestions?
Maybe you should feed him veggie when he is out of seeds? He might be more interested in veggie when he is hungry with no seed in sight.
I know it is recommended to have the food cup filled 24/7, but as you have noticed too your bird is now a seed junkie. It is extremely unhealthy for him. Let him finish all his seeds, then feed him some veggies before fill his food cup again. Hopefully he will take a bite lol.
Thank you, Thor. Good suggestion. I have been very concerned, because I know a seed only diet is not good for him. He used to eat other foods just fine, and I don't understand what made him change and become addicted to "junk food". I a going to change out his food right now and leave it for a few hours and see what he does! (I will keep you posted) Do you know of any fresh fruit or veggie that birds find irresistable?
While I don't claim to be an expert, I have had cockatiels in the past and if I'm not mistaken, in the wild, the birds eat mostly grass seeds and probably any other seeds they can get their beaks on. We tried every type of food, seed or otherwise, and our cockatiels only seemed to like certain things and would toss out anything they didn't like. We quickly learned what they went for and what they didn't by the mess surrounding the cage every day. We found out that they loved popcorn and peanuts, and if I remember correctly, went ape for the big, black sunflower seeds. I think they liked fresh melon as well and whenever we had some, they would get a chunk of it to nibble on too. The idea with seeds is to give the birds a big selection and they will pick out what they like and ignore (or toss) what they don't. They will also fill up their food dish with discarded seed husks so it's important to keep the food trays clean and dry. I invented a method of cleaning the husks from the food trays without wasting the uneaten seeds. You simply take the tray over to a wastebasket and use a plastic drinking straw to blow out the husks. The good seeds get left behind in the tray. It worked every time for my birds.
Cockatiels are usually flocking birds. Owners may try to invite their birds to eat what they eat by pretending to nibble on a piece of fruit or actually sharing your veggies to your bird. Try preparing your bird's food by letting him or her out of the cage every once so it can watch you fuss over it. Maybe introducing other kinds of produce would raise its curiosity. You might be surprised that it's just fed up with the usual taste.
