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Converting Parrots to a Healthier Diet - Tips

jzarc17

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I read somewhere that parrots eat in flocks in the wild. (Can't remember where). Anyways... They actually watch their flock mates eat food from unknown areas or types & make sure that "1st partot to try" doesn't drop dead from the said consumed food. The reason has to do w/ toxins & poisons & immediate death (supposedly). Then they will eat.

I agree abt trying the pellet or veggie/fruit or sprouts. It's not going to hurt you & they'll eat better.

They know & I also want to explain this disgusting thing I do. Every mother says chew w/ your mouth closed.... Right? Well I show Buddy it's in my mouth & I am eating it, even swallowing it... He's a Zon whom was particularly aggravated that he wasn't getting his once 1/2 bowl of seeds & peanuts after bring w/ it for 25+ yrs of this terrible diet. I had to go that far w/ it! Gross but it worked!!! 4 yrs gotcha tomorrow & he now eats a 1-2 tablespoons of seeds a day (including treats). He eats pellets, sprouts & fresh anything we buy + occasionally warm food items like his 1/2 scrambled egg a week.

Anyone can do this if they take much time & practice on a bird.

Congratulations @Reems w/ doing this w/ your birds!
Agreed! My GCC will watch me eat my food and then try it himself! It’s really funny, he looks up at my face when I put something in my mouth then he tries it :lol:
 

barbs0nly

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i love this topic! personally my girl was on seeds since weaned, but i knew i needed to get her onto a better pellet, i tried zupreem naturals for weeks and she never budged. not even a little bit, and honestly i can’t force her, so i decided to try new pellets that fit her taste better, conveniently she chose harrison’s pellets one of the more expensive foods on the market and i switched her within a week! i started by adding pellets to her seed slowly but honestly it wasn’t as great of a method as i hoped, i have bowls that attach to the bars of the cage like a perch would but i added 100% pellets in that bowl, instantly she ate it throughout the day as i free feed her pellets, it was such a relief as she was such a seed junkie it was all she ate. it’s worth a shot to try both things if you’re struggling ! i also tried making a pellet seed mix paste but it was a pain having to take it out of the cage after three hours like a chop.
 

Leonardo

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Thanks Monica! I have tried lots of different types of pellets from different companies. I am at my last resort though, so I ordered ZuPreem Fruity pellets to try :)
That is the only pellet I can get my Goffin Cockatoo, Christopher, to eat. He loves it, and eats more of the pellet then seed. I have tried the version that has no flavor, or dyes, but it went to waist. Also the seed mix I buy for him, has pellet in it too, but again, its either left in the dish, or thrown on the floor.
 

Leonardo

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Agreed! My GCC will watch me eat my food and then try it himself! It’s really funny, he looks up at my face when I put something in my mouth then he tries it :lol:
I notice my Christopher, will watch me eat food too, and when I eat, and look happy, make happy noises, and eat more, he becomes very interested, but the problem then is mommy has different food them I do. He wants to eat my food that I have in my plate, and not the very same food he has in his dish. Do I need to eat out of his dish, or after eating the food in my bowl, give him that food, putting it into his dish?
 

jzarc17

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I notice my Christopher, will watch me eat food too, and when I eat, and look happy, make happy noises, and eat more, he becomes very interested, but the problem then is mommy has different food them I do. He wants to eat my food that I have in my plate, and not the very same food he has in his dish. Do I need to eat out of his dish, or after eating the food in my bowl, give him that food, putting it into his dish?
When you are eating try and put the birds food bowl near you, so if you are eating at the table try and put the birds food bowel on the table as well. Basically try and invite Christopher to dinner LOL. I have luck doing that with my birds. I try to make eating a group activity and act like a member of the flock. You can even try and act like you are eating the pellets yourself and that could help too.

Its tough to get them to eat pellets, I'm still working on it with mine. Best of luck! ;)
 

Monica

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she chose harrison’s pellets one of the more expensive foods on the market
Harrison's may seem rather expensive, but it's not necessarily true. It could potentially be cheaper than seed!

Lets say we have this info....

Pellets - 5 lbs $28 ($5.6 per lb)
Seeds - 5 lbs $15 ($3 per lb)

Lets say you have a cockatiel that weighs 100 grams. The cockatiel is likely to eat about 10% of their weight in pellets per day *OR* 15% of their weight in seeds. This would be 10 grams of pellets or 15 grams of seeds.

5 lbs is 2268 grams

The pellets could potentially last you for ~269 days. That may come out to roughly 10 cents per meal?
The seeds could potentially last you for ~151 days. This would be *nearly* 10 cents per meal.

That is, if my calculations are correct? But in this example, a $28 bag of pellets would end up being about the same cost of a $15 bag of seed. This of course doesn't account for food wastage! (what the bird doesn't eat, what the bird drops, what the bird flings, etc)

Add in your fresh foods.... and the daily cost of *DRY* food goes down!

Sure, you might be able to find cheaper seeds... or even cheaper pellets! But... the point is, although pellets appear to be more expensive, they aren't necessarily! And if a person buys in bulk, the cost could go down even further! (If you have one bird or a small flock, buying in bulk shouldn't be necessary)



I notice my Christopher, will watch me eat food too, and when I eat, and look happy, make happy noises, and eat more, he becomes very interested, but the problem then is mommy has different food them I do. He wants to eat my food that I have in my plate, and not the very same food he has in his dish. Do I need to eat out of his dish, or after eating the food in my bowl, give him that food, putting it into his dish?

You might need to figure out various ways to present food to him to make it more appealing. This could be as simple as creating a chop and adding in sprouted seeds or just dry seeds and/or nuts to get him interested in eating from the dish to chopping up the food in various ways or sizes or offering it like a toy or sticking it through the bars. You gotta be creative!
 

barbs0nly

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Harrison's may seem rather expensive, but it's not necessarily true. It could potentially be cheaper than seed!

Lets say we have this info....

Pellets - 5 lbs $28 ($5.6 per lb)
Seeds - 5 lbs $15 ($3 per lb)

Lets say you have a cockatiel that weighs 100 grams. The cockatiel is likely to eat about 10% of their weight in pellets per day *OR* 15% of their weight in seeds. This would be 10 grams of pellets or 15 grams of seeds.

5 lbs is 2268 grams

The pellets could potentially last you for ~269 days. That may come out to roughly 10 cents per meal?
The seeds could potentially last you for ~151 days. This would be *nearly* 10 cents per meal.

That is, if my calculations are correct? But in this example, a $28 bag of pellets would end up being about the same cost of a $15 bag of seed. This of course doesn't account for food wastage! (what the bird doesn't eat, what the bird drops, what the bird flings, etc)

Add in your fresh foods.... and the daily cost of *DRY* food goes down!

Sure, you might be able to find cheaper seeds... or even cheaper pellets! But... the point is, although pellets appear to be more expensive, they aren't necessarily! And if a person buys in bulk, the cost could go down even further! (If you have one bird or a small flock, buying in bulk shouldn't be necessary)






You might need to figure out various ways to present food to him to make it more appealing. This could be as simple as creating a chop and adding in sprouted seeds or just dry seeds and/or nuts to get him interested in eating from the dish to chopping up the food in various ways or sizes or offering it like a toy or sticking it through the bars. You gotta be creative!
I NOTICED THAT TOO! when she came to me her seed would be gone in weeks but a bag of harrison’s lasts typically 2 months for her, especially when i’m doing heavy fresh feedings. :)
 

Rain Bow

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Yep, Buddy & my wild birds get Harrison's. Buddy hates the peppered one & I got my hands on a bag by accidentally ordering peppered, so the between his sprouts, the wild birds... Everyone is eating well around here. I hate foods going to waste, & this was the best solution for all next time I'm inclined to get 2 different bags 1 for Buddy & 1 for the wild ones. The wild ones do seem to prefer their dusted TOPS seeds tho. So I am unsure. I may order that instead for my wild ones.

Anyway, it's only expensive if you throw pellets out till you find one for your floof. After Buddy's 25 year crap diet, this is one place, I will put more money out. If I do not feed him properly, I KNOW, he'll die quicker. His life, his personality, his love is far to important for me to let a few pennies, cost that!

My advice is start a little savings account for your guy. Doesn't matter how much you put in, but extra for the rainy day food, or toys you may need. This is what Piggy banks are made for! ;)
 

Aksarben

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I feel fortunate that I got our 2 new Budgerigars, Rocky and Adrian Balboa to eat Roudybush pellets in about 4 -5 days. I was taking their seed container out at the night when I draped the dark cloth over their cage and putting the fresh seeds back in again at breakfast after they ate some seed/millet out of my hand. They took about 1 week to get the idea that eating out of the hand is not bad and the hand is not as dangerous... provides seeds :)
Then I got a free sample of Lafeber pellets about the same time my Amazon order of Roudybush pellets came in (Nibbles). Gave Roudybush in the left feeder and Lafeber in the right and measured the amount in each with my milligram scale. 20.000 g in each dish. PLUS I gave them seeds mixed in with pellets of either brand, by hand, off and on during the day to make sure they were eating something.

In about 3 days I noticed they were eating the Roudybush out of the left food container (covered) and upon weighing each night it was obvious that Roudybush was being consumed, where the Lafeber was still at 20.000 grams. Each nigth I added back into each container, after cleaning out the dish of "dust" and debris back to 20 and then 30 grams.
Same routine. Food came out at night. Back in for ALL day with the pellets with a mixture of eating seeds/pellets out of the hand. Tonight I measured the drop from 30.000 grams of Roudybush to 17.037 g, or in other words, some 12.963 grams of pellets. I have observed both Rocky and Adrian at the left feed dish eating the Roudybush during the day. Their cage is in the kitchen, I'm retired now, so I see them quite a bit during the day.

So it took me about 5 days to get them onto Roudybush pellets with the alfalfa in the mix with Vitamin A and extras.
We have only had them since the very first part of December of 2021.
1-8-22_Eating-Budgies2 (Custom).jpg
 

Joe&Mango

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is pomegranate good for birds? and if exotic fruit isn't in season is dried fruit ok?
 

expressmailtome

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Pomegranate arils are fine both fresh and dried, however be careful as parrots tend to make a very large mess with fresh arils.
 

Joe&Mango

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Pomegranate arils are fine both fresh and dried, however be careful as parrots tend to make a very large mess with fresh arils.
I already fed it to him and no joke looks like a murder scene, Reason I'm asking is because someone made me unsure and said there not good for them so just needed to make sure, what about dried mango?
 

Shezbug

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I already fed it to him and no joke looks like a murder scene, Reason I'm asking is because someone made me unsure and said there not good for them so just needed to make sure, what about dried mango?
How is your mango dried? (Share a pic or brand name if you’re unsure)
Freeze dried is perfectly fine as it’s literally nothing but mango but normal old style dried (dehydrated) mango is generally covered with sulphur and often a lot of sugar so it’s not nearly as healthy to feed as freeze dried or fresh. I avoid all dried fruit unless it’s freeze dried.

Pomegranate does leave an awful mess but is honestly most definitely fine to feed. Burt loved them when he was younger but the last few times I’ve given them he’s been uninterested, I might have to buy another one and try it again
 

Joe&Mango

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these are the dried ones but they have added preservatives and things like you said
 

Shezbug

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these are the dried ones but they have added preservatives and things like you said
These ones are really yummy but I actually don’t share these with Burt, they’re really sugary. Omg now I want them, might have to visit the supermarket tomorrow lol.

I haven’t tried these ones but it looks like they’re only mango going by the front of the pack-I would just double check the ingredient list on the back to make sure they are only mango. I’ll look out for this brand and give them a try if they are just fruit.

Most of the supermarkets I’ve been to lately seem to have started stocking some freeze dried fruit in small snack packs, they’re not too badly priced and are honestly really yummy. Burt loves the texture of freeze dried foods. image.jpg
 

Shezbug

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ingredients are just the fruit and couple other just the fruit and little bit of juice
my sprout seeding skills are shocking they keep drying out then i put them in water over night and went to wash them and they started brewing up :S
If the ingredients are only fruit then give them a go. I didn’t see them at my local Woolies but I also rushed through as it’s school holidays lol

What are you making the sprouts in?
Are you rinsing/watering them three or more times a day so they don’t dry up or go bad in yuck water?
 

Joe&Mango

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If the ingredients are only fruit then give them a go. I didn’t see them at my local Woolies but I also rushed through as it’s school holidays lol

What are you making the sprouts in?
Are you rinsing/watering them three or more times a day so they don’t dry up or go bad in yuck water?
yeah there pretty yummy, your feathered and unfeathered kids would love them too :p
i stuff up bad i done it completely wrong now im doing it right hopefully they sprout, i first done it in a tray and they kept drying out and now i got told too leave them in the jar and wash and rinse 3 times a day and leave them in there with abit of water
 
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