Food suggestions

[Limnori]

Hi Guys,

Forgive me as I'm sure there is probably a thread somewhere that answers this already, but I wondered if anyone could give me some suggestions on a complete food for the basis of a Linnie diet?

I'm sourcing my bird goods from Northern Parrots in the UK and a list of their pellet diets is here (sorry I cant filter out the larger bird options or nutriberries etc):

http://www.northernparrots.com/parrot-food-and-treats-dept156/?category=178

Do any of these stand out as especially good/something you have had success with before with Linnies? If none are suitable I also have a Prime account so Amazon is a potential.

I've been trying to convince Cicero to eat the 'Hagen Hari Tropican Lifetime Granules' for about 4 weeks and he hasn't actually eaten a single one from what I can see - I've tried every kind of persuasion/dressing them up that I can find and he is just sternly disinterested in them!

I withheld seed for a day to see if he would crack but when he didn't I put the seed back in (albeit reduced) the next day because I don't wanna starve him. I've tried this twice (giving 4 days of fewer seeds and more fresh foods in between) but it seems not to work on him and I'm concerned about repeating that process even though its often suggested as an option?

I'm giving him lots of fresh foods, to mixed success - he will eat his body weight in apple, will eat chilli relatively reliably and will give a cursory browse of peas, pear and grapes. I've cut his seed mix down to a teaspoon a day just to try and persuade him to eat some pellets - this has caused him to eat more fresh food but not the pellets!
I've given him limited access to walnuts, almonds and pumpkin seed to convince him they are "treats" and he has started to try these a little now he isn't getting his usual seed mix so much, but he still isn't especially keen.

The seed he does get is this brand which at least has fruit etc included and he does eat the fruit pieces
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Wor...d=1502972555&sr=8-5&keywords=premium+seed+mix
Obviously this isn't gonna sustain him on its own so I really want to get him to take some form of pellet too?!

So, basically if anyone could suggest a food/brand from that list that they think might be worth a shot, or if anyone has other advice, then I'd appreciate the help

 

[sunnysmom]

@Lady Jane ?

 

[Lady Jane]

I am only familiar with the Harrisons pellets. Is what you are feeding small enough because there is a photo of a cockatiel on the bag? I have always mixed pellets with the seed blends. The birds will get some of each that way. I also feed Goldenfeast golden'obles for small beaks. They are highly nutritious with fantastic ingredients. Size is small enough for finch to eat. Hope you can get them in UK.

I never had issue with linnies eating. Could be because I had a pair. Bird tend to eat their pellets and seed when there is more than one. Look into making birdie bread. You can add pellets and just about anything else. Last time I added Ceylon cinnamon and pumpkin. Amazon sells some nice birdie bread mixes. My budgies eat it like little piggies.

 

[WendyN]

 

[Limnori]

Thanks!
I might give the Harrisons a shot just to see if he is more interested in that. Cant seem to get the Golds stuff here? :/ a shame!

The Hari food is pretty small, people review it well for cockatiels etc, but it is bigger than seed so maybe thats it - he just doesnt seem into it at all!

I should opt for the superfine Harrisons I guess?
Then another part of me wonders if he might more of a "stick" shaped food? He does like to hold things in his feet and eat them (sunflower or carrot etc)

He has a very healthy appetite in general - he will eat big quantities of the things he does like but is just being a bit spoiled/fussy I think!?

I guess maybe its not unusual to do a bit of trial and error with food and individual birds?

 

[Milo]

Spot really loved the roudybush mini pellets. He needed to be able to hold his food while he was eating.

In terms of fresh stuff he LOVED chopped up bell peppers, snap peas, and halved blueberries.

 

[Lady Jane]

My linnies had trouble swallowing the mini pellets by roudybush. Smallest size are nibbles and that was ok.

 

[Limnori]

Spot really loved the roudybush mini pellets. He needed to be able to hold his food while he was eating.

In terms of fresh stuff he LOVED chopped up bell peppers, snap peas, and halved blueberries.

I dont think Roudybush is easy or possible to get in the UK :/ but if he doesnt eat the superfine Harrisons I might get him something distinctly bigger so its more of a "pick up and chew" thing - thanks!

Also I gave him some bell pepper today and he really loved it! Wouldnt leave it alone!

 

[Limnori]

Just to update this thread - he was not at all interested in Harrisons either >_< so the pellet search continues...

However he has accepted Nutriberries - I got a bag of the tropical fruit cockatiel size and he eats them no problem! So thats really great. I'm just going to try to figure out how many per day he should get.

Ill still keep feeding him other fresh items too - he seems to somedays love certain things then on other days he loses interest in them - lol!

At the moment im giving him nutriberries, fresh fruit and dried fruit every day - then every day I try him on a different veg treat to mixed results.
He also always has a bowl of dry hulled quinoa and a bowl of pellets but he really ignores these 99% of the time.

I moved to giving him sunflower seeds only as treat from my hand, and a general seedmix is used inside forage toys. Im more worried now he has a fruit heavy diet which may be sugary?

Ive tried making him copped & mixed "mash" as treats but he never seems keen.

He is greedy but picky - maybe all the choice I give him is creating a monster? This healthy feeding thing is tough!