ShadowWalk
Checking out the neighborhood
- Joined
- 3/24/20
- Messages
- 2
- Real Name
- Laura Sharp
Hi everyone. I got a Parrotlet last week, he is about 11 weeks old. The breeder has his Parrotlets in an outside aviary and he was feeding him budgie mix with sunflower hearts mixed in. I had done my research and want him on a pellet diet. The breeder gave me some of the food he was giving him and told me to mix it with pellets and reduce the seed gradually to get him onto the pellets. However, he isn't eating the pellets at all, he's even using his foot to dig around and get the seeds out. The second day I had him I had him eating millet I was offering him with my fingers, and he was tucking right into it but since that day he has shown no interest in it and if I stick it in front of him he shuffles away from it on his perch. I also can't get him to eat any fruit or veg. With the current situation the supermarkets in the UK are low on produce so I can't get a lot of the different things I'd like to try him on, have tried carrot, apple and spinach. He pecked a piece of apple once and quickly lost interest. He won't touch carrot and seems to be afraid of spinach lol, no idea why. I know it is early days and he is still adjusting to his new environment, but I have had him standing on my hand today eating seed from it, I could have brought him out the cage if I wanted, he would have let me, I just didn't because I don't want to push him too far too soon and I know although he has adapted well I probably have been a bit hasty with getting him to eat out my hand so soon after getting him. He let me touch him for the first time today and even bent his head for me when I was giving him tickles on his neck so it's not because he is scared as he is obviously starting to trust me, but he did make it clear when he had had enough so I respected that lol. I don't know if I should stop offering him new stuff and just keep him on the seed till he settles in more, but I know its not the ideal diet for him, especially with the sunflower hearts in it, and I'm worried about his long term health if I can't get him onto a healthier diet. I don't want to withhold the seed if he isn't eating anything else. I am also concerned that if I that's all he will eat how do I find incentives (treats) for training him. The breeder had millet sprays hanging in the aviary so that's not a new food to him and I don't understand why he just lost interest in it so fast after taking it so well from me. I'm a new bird Mum so any advice would be greatly appreciated