Some Questions From A First-Time Bird Owner

[Shakenscribe]

Hello.

As of about two days ago now, I am the owner of a beautiful little Parrotlet. I've done a lot of research on this species in an attempt to understand how to properly care for my new baby, but I have a couple of specific questions that I can't find the answers to on Google.

First of all, my new girl is young, only just weaned and finished hand-feeding by the woman I got her from. It seems that she hasn't been eating anything but spray millet, and when I try to offer her pellets, she takes one, shifts it around in her beak for a minute, and then eventually it just kind of falls out. I'm not sure if her beak just isn't strong enough to bite through the pellet yet, or if she tastes it and then just spits it back out, or if the pellet-which is specifically for Parrotlets-is just not the right kind for her, but I've tried this several times now and she's done the same thing every time. Should I just keep feeding her spray millet and try to slowly adjust her to the pellets? Should I try a different type of pellet?

In addition, I've tried to give her several different types of vegetables-as well as some whole wheat bread-and she won't have any of it. Any advice on how to integrate these things into her diet, in addition to the pellets?

And, lastly, is there anything extra that I need for a young Parrotlet? I can't find anything that explains whether or not a baby needs extra care of any kind, and I would like to ensure that she has the nutrients she needs.

I'm so happy to have found this forum, and I am looking forward to learning about the newest addition to my family!

 

[Sweet Louise]

oh my. You will get lots of good advice. Doesn't sound like she was weaned or that she regressed and needs hand feeding again-which is pretty common with young birds. Can you call the woman you got her from and ask her what she was eating, pre-wean and post wean?

 

[TikiMyn]

For veggies, try to act as if you are eating iT yourself, and be really excited about it. As she is still so young there is a big chance she Will try it out. You could also try different shapes, really fine chopped, small chunks, strips, whole parts, on a skewer. The first veggie all my birds ate was carrot, perhaps she Will like that.

I agree iT would be a good idea to ask the breeder what she was eating before, if the breeder only gave her millet, that is not really responsible of her. You could try out different pellets and offer a high quality seed mix as well temperary(or permenant if you want of course, but if she won’t eat pellets different types of seed are better then just millet), you could even mix iT yourself or buy it. You could soak the pellets, or grind them up a bit. Act as if you are eating them, the same as with the veggies. You could try taking her millet away for a couple hours in the morning and only offer pellets in the place where her food usually is. I am sure she Will start eating new things soon, she has just Come home and is still adjusting to her new home.
Congrats on becoming a parront! What is her name?

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum. The pellets may be too hard/big for your bird. You can try softening them with water and see if she'll eat them. Or try some soft foods with her- some mashed sweet potato, etc. For now, you should let her eat anything she'll eat. She's young and likely scared and still adjusting to your home. Also, as mentioned, sometimes birds can regress and need to have some formula still. I would contact the breeder and find out what she fed and perhaps see if she still needs some formula. Watch her carefully to make sure she does eat something.

@Birdbabe? @karen256 ?

 

[Mizzely]

Birds learn from their flock what is safe to eat and what isn't. If she hasn't been told something is okay to eat, it is instinct for her to not consume it because it could be dangerous to do so. Laws of the Jungle and what not!

Her rolling the pellet in her beak to me signifies that she is feeling it with her tongue, but isn't recognizing it as food. In this instance you could try to moisten them up with water, juice, or even the handfeeding formula she was eating at the breeder, to try and encourage her to eat them.

Veggies I would just eat with her and share. You are her flock so you need to show her they are food!

Obviously you don't want to starve her but millet isn't a complete diet for the long term.

 

[LilSprout]

I've had great success converting picky eaters by grinding pellets up into a powder and then added seeds and some water to make a mash. Then I gradually reduce the amount of seeds, then I stop grinding the pellets and I only wet them and then finally I just serve them dry.
This is what I did with Sawyer and Kamara and it worked really, really well

 

[Shakenscribe]

Thank you all for the helpful advice! I will definitely try grinding up the pellets and/or soaking them, and contact the breeder to see what she was eating before. I'll also try out some of the suggested methods for vegetables.

@TikiMyn We're still searching for a name that suits her - I'm one of those people who has to find the perfect name, or have no name at all. We'll get there soon.

 

[TikiMyn]

I know exactly what you mean! @Shakenscribe I thought I was the only one Fëanor didn’t have a name for more then a week, I was torn between Zephyr, Mellon and Fëanor, but found that Fëanor suited his personality best

 

[iamwhoiam]

Welcome to AA and congratulations. You've received excellent advice. Just want to add that you have only had her two days she may be stressed and scared. If you are not feeding her the same food as the breeder then contact the breeder, get that food and continue with that and slowly convert her to whichever food/diet you have selected for her. It could also be possible that she wants to be handfed again.

 

[cassiesdad]

Welcome to you and your little one.

Great advice already given, so the only thing I'll say is post some pictures when you get a chance...we'd love to see her...

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Welcome to the Avenue. We absolutely love new Roadies and the figure the more the better! There are a lot of archived threads about the care and feeding of new babies, so don't igore the old threads. You will find loads of info and tricks to get your bird to eat certain things in those archives without waiting for one of us to come on line and give you info. Under the Parotlet themed thread, you will find species specific info.

 

[zoo mom]

Welcome

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Congratulations on your new little bird!

 

[lotus15]

Welcome! You've gotten some great advice already, but I just wanted to throw in a few more tips for getting the littles-- especially those who'd rather eat millet all day long-- how to eat pellets or any other foods. When I was trying to get my budgies to eat pellets, I would use mashed up pellets. Harrison's actually makes a product called "mash" that is basically their pellets ground up into a powder. I would coat anything and everything they liked in this, so take a little piece of spray millet and just cover it in some mash, that way when they eat the millet, they are also getting a little bit of the mash and are acclimating to the taste of the pellet. (You can do this with wet or dry mash, but if you're using the wet, don't leave it in the cage for very long.)

Another trick: bird bread! Make a bird bread packed full of whatever you're trying to get your little one to eat, whether that's veggies, pellets, etc. (There are tons and tons of recipes for this on this forum if you do a search, and several companies make bird bread mixes that you can buy that make it really easy!) Load it up with the healthy stuff, and then add in millet (into the batter itself, and then a sprinkling on top too so that they can see the millet). That's another good way to introduce new foods.

Last tip, especially for a just-weaned baby, try serving foods just slightly warmed up. When the budgies were young, they loved lightly steamed broccoli and carrots that were NOT hot but just a little bit warm, because it's more like what they would get when being hand fed (or parent fed). You can mix just a little bit of warm water with pellets too to warm it up and make it a little easier to eat (but again, this cannot sit out in the cage all day).

Best of luck and can't wait to see photos and hear updates about your little one!

 

[Smbrds]

Congrats on your parrotlet.

 

[Shakenscribe]

Thanks again for the advice and the warm welcome.

A few hours ago, and again a few minutes ago, I offered her some pellet mash. Both times, she took a bite, then promptly began rubbing and biting in an attempt to get it off, so I'm guessing the mash is a no-go. The way she goes for the dry pellets each time I give her one makes me think that she wants to eat them, but they're too big for her, as a few suggested. Is there any way that I could grind up her pellets without the use of a blender/grinder?

If grinding them doesn't work, I might have to try to get a hold of some of the formula that the breeder was feeding her.

 

[zoo mom]

To "grind" them put them in a zip lock bag and run a rolling pin over them. If you want them finer use a blender.

 

[Lady Jane]

Or you can grind them in a clean coffee grinder. What kind of pellets are they? Do you have any seed blends too?

 

[Lady Jane]

Parrotlets Place | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum when you can read through this forum.

 

[zoo mom]

Or you can grind them in a clean coffee grinder. What kind of pellets are they? Do you have any seed blends too?

It has to be a coffee grinder that has never been used for coffee.