My Parakeet will Only Eat Seeds

User Question
Hello Lisa...I have a question about my new parakeet. I have had him a week and he won't touch anything to eat, except his seed. I've tried all I know how to...Help! Love your site and I refer to it often.

Lisa's Answer
Parakeets are just like picky toddlers - they get used to eating whatever they are fed and then demand it daily, even if other interesting (and more nutritious!) things are out there in the world. You need to take this slowly and patiently. You definitely don't want your parakeet to starve to death because he or she is afraid of the new foods you try to provide!

With my current 3 parakeets, Nazo is always the "brave" one, but there's no way Pinto or Santo would just spontaneously eat something new I put in their cage. It is too scary. So what I do is put Nazo on my finger, where she's happy and content. Then I take a piece of say lettuce and start nibbling on it. I don't push it in her face, but I have it where she can see it. I make happy noises (Yummmmm!) when I eat it. Parakeets are INCREDIBLY smart and can learn the names of things, so they certainly understand when something is yummy.

Parakeets are gnawy by nature anyway, so after a little while of this Nazo gets intrigued and I can start moving the lettuce closer to her. Again, I don't force it on her, but as I nibble away, she will reach over and try to nibble some too. Parakeets LOVE lettuce so this is a good one to start with. After a few times of doing this, she'll leap for it with delight when I bring it around.

Once you get your parakeet eating lettuce, move on to a few other vegetables, one at a time. Soon you'll have your keet eating a complete, nutritious diet! Be sure to read my pages on what foods to avoid, though. There are some foods that parakeets can't tolerate well!

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