How do i wein him down without starving him

[Mrs. PBJ]

Ok so I have been reading that Skylar will starve himself if I take all his seeds away.

But if he is filling up on his normal diet how will he try new things. So my question is how much is to little.

Like if I gave him 1/8 of a cup of seed would he want to try the cornbread mix I made it this morning and boy does it smell good baking.

Thanks for the help I did stat pulling his seeds at nigh and he only has them for a hour in the monring and a hour at night is this right aslo?

 

[Bird_lover]

Bake the seeds in the cornbread mix, and take all other seeds out! I even bake pellets into my birdie muffins.

I mix the pellets into the muffin mix, and then I let them sit a while and get soggy before I bake them.

Good luck!

Jo

 

[birdlover82]

The way my vet suggest doing it is taking his seed out for the first 2 hours he's up and putting the good stuff in for those 2 hours. Then after 2 hours put the seed back in for during the day but taking it out again for the last 2 hours he's up and putting fresh good stuff in. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Billie Faye]

I'm sorry but what type of a bird is Skylar? A small amount of seeds during the day is NOT bad...but an all seed or all pellet diet for birds is not the best....
Have you tried sprouting the seeds? This is really a great way to give them to the birds...
I don't cook seeds...to me, it kills ANY nutrient there are in them...just personal opinion....I have found with my birds, you have to teach them what is good to eat...playing with the food in front of them...making a big deal out of it...eating it yourself BUT don't offer it them...birds love to "steal" from each other and you too! Ever watch a bird eating something and have another come over and try to take it out of their beaks? Looks good, I WANT IT! type of thing...for those who have a single bird, you are their flock and they watch what you do and eat what you eat...I have basically no problems introducing foods to my birds because they see the others eating it...Yes, you have be to consistant in what you offer them...just because a bird doesn't like something today or tomorrow doesn't mean they won't try it on the third day...I cut ALL my foods to the size of my thumbnail...reason for this is a bird will take a bite or two and go to something else...they like holding their foods in their feet and playing with it also...
here are some sites for 'picky' eaters to get some more ideas for you:
But He Doesn't Like It by Pamela Clark
Feeding Our Parrots Well
The Parrot University Circus Diet
Introducing New Foods to Picky Pet Birds
Land of Vos - Articles - Tips for Finicky Eaters

Hope this gives you some more ideas!

 

[Bird_lover]

There's a reason to bake the seeds into the bread when trying to get a bird to eat a greater variety of foods. If you just toss the seeds in, it's fairly easy for the bird to pick them out. If you bake the seeds into the mix, the seeds "stick" to the food, making it more likely that the bird will eat "more" of the bread mixture while hunting for the seeds.

Imo, it's a good way to introduce new foods to picky eaters. Gabby only ate Zupreem fruit flavored pellets, but now eats Zupreem natural and Roudybush because I introduced the new pellets this way. She wouldn't have anything to do with them before.

And, of course, what works for some birds won't work for others.

 

[Jally]

You are going to get so many different replies to this subject. It is quite contraversial, if you could imagine Lots of people feed pellets to lovebirds, limited seeds, etc etc. Each person has a different theory...

What I do with my birds is I keep seeds and little pellets available to them at all times. Other goodies such as Avicakes and Nutriberries are what they forage for. Mine ALL eat their veggies, fruits, and grains too. But, it didn't just happen. I had to offer it everyday for about a month then if he didn't eat it that way, then I offered it a different way for a month.

I say he because my first bird was a lovebird. Once I got him eating his veggies and such, the subsequent birds that came home all followed his lead. Out of 3 lovebirds, 4 budgies, 1 linnie, 2 cockatiels...only one lovebird does not eat veggies regularly but she does taste them from time to time.

Skylar may not eat the birdy bread this time, but keep trying. A good tip is to sprinkle millet seeds on the bread, or even what ever else you want him to try.

 

[jamie]

When I got my budgies to eat pellets I placed the pellets in a dish that was high in the cage and the seeds in a dish low in the cage. They eventually became curious about the higher dish and eventually began nibbling at the pellets. Once I saw that they were eating them, I gradually began reducing the amount if seed. This took a couple of months.
Currently my budgies eat some seed, some pellets and some bird bread as their primary diet

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

I am going to try ideas. I want him to get on the good stiff i ordered a whole bunch of food for him zupreem and couple of other that the love bird rescues feeds off there site. well i did not order through there site but I am getting them.

Also I did nto bake any seend in but I made a very small batch. a couple of muffins.

I am trying to make a new one a week tell I fond what he likes

Oh skylar is a love bird

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

so I can reduce his seeds by alot he gets half a cup a day now he eats as he pleases

Also what is the special flour that everyone uses