Conure Losing Weight on Pellet to Pellet Conversion.

[Summzz]

Hi Everyone
I've been struggling for a long time to convert my two birds onto a better pellet than they are currently on. Every single time they would turn their nose up at it. I tried every single method I could think so I had given up for a while. I came across a post about pellet conversion and they talked about making "pellet pancakes", which with my birds being carb addicts (they hardly get any but freak out when the smallest piece arrives) I thought I would give it a shot. It worked, they ate it with such ease I was surprised. So now I'm slowly mixing in some pieces of the "pellet pancake" with just the pellet and water mixed. So far I was at 75% water and pellet and 25% pellet pancake. This was all great but along the way I've been checking their weight. My female had lost about one or two grams, which I wasn't too worried about as at first they weren't eating as much but as of last night they seem to eat just fine without any problem. My male seems to lose weight a little faster, I once again took it as well they must not be eating enough so I made sure to check on them to see how much they were eating. Once again, they seem to always be eating the normal amount. I'm totally terrified as of today as my female has lost about 3 grams and my male about 6ish. I even triple check with the scale this morning. I feel so awful and I have no clue what do to. Their other diet is great (chop in the morning, treats for training, and veggies throughout most of the day with their pellets being dinner). So far my plan is to just put them back on the other pellet. I honesty want them on this pellet as I know it will be so much healthy in the long term but I'm not willing to let them lose any more weight. My male is a hard bird to keep weight in the first place. Once again, I feel so awful and just wondering if anyone has any suggestion or just thinks I should stick with the old pellet.
Thanks.

 

[Summzz]

Just a side note to mention, my male is a very hyper bird. He's constantly moving and flapping his wings in excitement. We've always chalked this up as being the reason for his being a hard bird to keep weight on. If birds can have ADHD, then he has it. I'm not sure if that makes any difference but thought I would mention it.

 

[Mizzely]

My Jardine's has a hard time keeping weight up if I try to change his diet too much too. I think it would depend on if your bird was overweight or at a healthy weight before the change or not. My vet does not want Ripley losing ANY weight so for him keeping him on his preferred pellet (even if it's not MY preferred pellet) is what she suggests.

 

[sunnysmom]

I help with a bird rescue and the running joke is- What's the best pellet? Whichever one your bird will eat.

 

[Summzz]

My Jardine's has a hard time keeping weight up if I try to change his diet too much too. I think it would depend on if your bird was overweight or at a healthy weight before the change or not. My vet does not want Ripley losing ANY weight so for him keeping him on his preferred pellet (even if it's not MY preferred pellet) is what she suggests.

Yea, he started at a healthy weight but on the lower side. The vet was okay with his weight but never asked too much about it. I just think it's not okay for him to lose too much. I might just have to stick with his preferred lol.

I help with a bird rescue and the running joke is- What's the best pellet? Whichever one your bird will eat.

I like that haha. Yea, I guess if it's all they will eat better than not eating! I was just so confused because they were eating it, it's just like they weren't eating enough. I will put them back on the old ones, get his weight back up and rethink later. Thinking we might just stick with that "whichever one they will eat" lol. Thanks!

 

[Rain Bow]

You can always do sprouts & add a topper of crushed pellets... Don't be afraid of sprouts, it's one of the easiest thing to convert a parrot to.

 

[Summzz]

You can always do sprouts & add a topper of crushed pellets... Don't be afraid of sprouts, it's one of the easiest thing to convert a parrot to.

That's a good idea, we definitely aren't afraid of sprouts in this house lol. I had tried mixing it with their chop before with little success but will definitely try sprouts next! Thanks!!