Conure won't try new food.

[Dark]

I currently have a green cheek conure who is approximately a year old who seems happy and healthy but won't eat a varied diet. I am currently feeding him ZuPreem Fruit blend Flavor diet mixed with some seeds. He won't try new things like bread, vegetables or fruit and he also doesn't like any treats that I buy for him. He only knows step up and step down commands and I can't teach him any new tricks because he has no favorite snack to stimulate him. I am also worried that having a poor diet will hurt him in the long run. What can I do to get him to try new foods? Is it too late to get him to like to try new things?

Eric

Here's a picture of him.

 

[Tleilaxu]

No its not too late, however if that zupreme food you are trying to feed is artifically colored you will not want to feed that since the chemicles in the colors will cause major internal issues later.

Now somebackround info, birds are creatures of habit, its a survival tactic. And this applies to food as well, birds rarely eat something because they like it (They have alomost no sense of taste)*Which is mos LOVE hot peppers, because they can actually taste it* they eat it because they have seen other eat it with no ill affects. In the wild a bold bird is a dead one.

Now some tipis:

1. if the food is a fresh veggie and fruit eat it infront of the bird while ignoring the bird, and acting like how cool this food is. They see that and with an outgoing bird this is usually enough to get them to want to try it.

2. If pellets play with them in front of the bird, again while ignoring the bird, it also helps if your partener is also playing with the food as well, as this is how birds learn in the wild, by observing others.

3. After this place the sdaid food out on the table along with the bird while you also are eating or fiddling with it, while at the time ignoring the bird, if hye approaches or actually eats it be sure to heap on the praises, make it fun and he will be eating new food easier.

4. Most important make it fun for the bird and dont give up, some birds will ignore a food for years and then suddenly eat it like its there favorite thing in the world. Also be upbeat and positive, if you are worried about this your bird will pick up on that and be "worried" also and further hesitant to try it.

I hope this helps, and remember be as stubborn as your conure when trying this, and besure to make it a positive experience each time, wether he eats or not. By the way this takes time as you are finding so keep at it, and a bird is never to old to learn new things.

Case and point we have a 31 year old amazon that was fed crap most of its life and he switched over to pellets with in a few days with no fuss, since he saw the other birds eating it.

Here are some good articles:

http://parrotisland.mainsecureserver.com/catalog/article_info.php?articles_id=18

http://parrotisland.mainsecureserver.com/catalog/article_info.php?articles_id=30

 

[Dark]

Thanks, I will certainly try these tips.

 

[arachyd]

I agree with the above suggestions. I used to have a blue-crowned conure for many years. He thought he had to sample everything he saw us eat or he'd start screeching and acting up.

 

[Mina]

I've had and bred birds of several different types for 15 years. I've never heard anyone ever say anything about colored pellets causing problems.
I've always fed colored pretty bird to my guys.
When, from who, and how long ago did you hear that?
In answer to the OP, keep offering the different food, just because they don't try it immediately doesn't mean they won't.
Eat some of it yourself in front of your bird, make a big deal of how yummy it is and how much you enjoy it, you might get your birds attention.
You can also try mixing new food with some of the current diet.