Ask Lafeber

Lovebird Nutrition

I have been trying to get my peach faced lovebird to eat your nutri berries with limited success. My bird will not break them apart so I crush them for her. Even doing this she will at times completely avoid eating them. I have tried mixing in Zupreem fruit pellets with limited success. I have also added a seed mix that the bird likes but mainly eats the millet, safflower and sunflower seeds and leaves the nutri berries behind. The bird was on a seed diet for about 3 years so getting her to switch has been problematic. I do try to include fruits and vegetables but she will only eat fruit. If I hand feed she will take the Zupreem and certain seeds from the nutri berries but I find myself putting the nutri berries into the wild bird feeders. I have read that some birds will avoid eating things offered to the point of starvation. Any suggestions will be appreciated. I like the idea that the nutri berries are a complete diet with everything needed to keep the bird healthy. Only if she would cooperate and eat it.

Hi Charles,

I wouldn’t be too worried that she would starve herself over trying the food. If she has already eaten them, then she will if she has to. She is possibly testing you to some extent. Since she likes fruit, have you tried her on the Tropical Fruit Nutri-Berries? Those are softer than the original berries. We also make a Fruit Delight Avi-Cake. Generally crumbling them at first is all it takes for a bird to start eating them. You might be giving in too soon and if she knows this, she will wait it out. Try removing her food dish when you turn the lights out at night. Then first thing in the morning, give her dish back with some crumbled and some whole berries in it. Leave her with this for the day – you can also have some fresh fruits and veggies. In the afternoon if you can tell it has not been touched at all, then give her something she will eat. But I feel like if she is left for hours with only these to eat, she should eat them. Also, make sure you are storing them properly. The best thing is to store them in an airtight container in the freezer, never the refrigerator. Only take out what she needs for the week and keep those stored in an airtight container, too. If they get too dried out, they get hard and some birds won’t eat them as well. Keep trying – she has a three year seed habit to break so converting her will take some time but I’ve never had a bird who wouldn’t convert.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda