I have different friend with a couple lovebirds.She emailed me tonight with a couple ?'s.I was hoping those of you with lovies could offer me some advice to pass along.Here's her email:

I need help. I have tried my hardest to get my little Lovies to eat their vegetables. I am not having any luck at all. I tried to give them grapes with no luck. They do love their apples. But they will not eat any other types of food, oh yea, they do like my Kashi Wheaties. Do you have any suggestions? I want to make sure they get the right kind of diet. Also, they won't play with any of their toys? Do you think it is because they are still so new to their surroundings?

Thanks it is great to have so many with different birds to ask advice.

Tell her to join PC.

My lovies love corn on the cob and crunchy greens like romaine, Swiss chard, bok choy, chinese cabbage. They also like papayas, mangoes and watermelon a lot. If she free-feeds them seeds, they will never eat anything but, she needs to give them enough seeds to fill their crop for dinner and fresh food for breakfast and snacking during the day.

I'm of no help b/c Beetle, try as I might, never ate vegetables and fruits. He ate his Harrison's pellets (I highly recommend Harrison's or organic pellets, like Totally Organic or Foundation formula) and enjoyed millet as a treat but that's about it :/

He would occasionally nibble at Beak Appetit's Veggie Delight or Apple Carrot Harvest for small birds. Your friend might like to try that. One container makes A LOT. I would freeze portions in a mini-muffin tray or ice cube tray for later. Thaw it out, sprinkle with pellets or millet and leave it in the cage for a few hours.

My advice would be to KEEP OFFERING veggies every day, even if it seems wasteful.

Sometimes the smaller parrots (and this goes for big ones, too) like to PLAY with their food. Get one of those mini skewers and thread corn on the cob slices, sweet potato, apple, etc. Or clip romaine lettuce to the side of the cage.

This a recipe that goes over well with some parrots: glop

Or make up birdie bread with LOTS of chopped up veggies The African Lovebird Society website has some good recipes, too: Recipes!!

As for the toys? If she has a pair, they might be so enamoured of each other that they don't see the need for toys. Most lovebirds like to chew, so I'd recommend shredders, veggie-tanned leather wrapped around pony beads or alpha beads, parrot-safe bells, etc.

Best of luck!

Thanks Beatriz and Eliza-I will copy both of your posts and forward them to her.

Grandma- I always suggest people join PC,but I know a lot of people are uncomfortable doing that,so I ask their ?'s for them-for the bird's sake.