by Maggie » Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:48 pm
Hey!
Go to the Helpful Hints section on the public site to get some ideas for getting Lilo interested in other food. The issue here is that birds eat food that they BELIEVE is food. In the wild, their parents teach them. If they do not know or think it is food, they will not eat. That is why if you try to change a bird from seeds to pellets COLD TURKEY, you will have a starving bird. Even if the pellets are the only things in the cage, the bird will not eat them...until he has been taught they are food.
So, you need to hang with Lilo and teach him your new lessons on what is good food. Sit by the cage and get REALLY excited about your fruits & veggies...mostly veggies. Then offer him some...but make sure he does NOT eat something from your mouth. We have bacteria in us that can harm, even kill, our companions...so NOTHING from the mouth.
I serve my guys a daily MASH of veggies and a few fruits. But I tried so many different ways until this one seemed to work. You need to keep trying everything.
You may want to spoon feed him something that tastes yummy like pureed butternut squash or sweet potato and stick some other veggies in to get some nutritious stuff inside.
Let me know if these ideas help,
Maggie-