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My cockatiel struggles to eat fruits and veggies. What can I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Bird | Unknown - Bird | Female | unspayed | 0.18 lbs

My cockatiel doesn't seem to understand how to eat anything but seeds? She tries to eat fruits and veggies but she tries to "de shell" them like she would a seed but everything just falls out of her mouth! What can I do?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Rebecca, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 18th, 2017

Birds are very messy eaters. If Tam is trying good other than seeds it's likely she is ingesting some of it. Seed is not a great diet for pet birds bc they will pick and chose what they like most and not get a balanced diet. It's like letting kids pick between candy or vegetables. I recommend trying to switch her more to a pellet based diet and continue to offer veggies and fruit and small amounts of other foods. Here are some articles that may help introduce new foods. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/cockatiels-feeding http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/education/ https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/bird-food-guide/

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