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I need some advice on a neglected baby budgie I received

Britnicorn

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Since I started giving Phoenix seeds, he refuses to eat pellets now. He’ll go through the bowl and pick out all the seeds, spitting out all the pellets, and if I fill up the bowl with only pellets he just won’t eat at all. How can I get him to eat pellets again? I even tried soaking them like how I used to, but he still won’t eat them :(
 

Snowghost

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Ugg converting birds to pellets is out of my skill set. I just got Paco back on Nutri Berries and some pellets. I got the wrong size, (smaller ones) and he won't eat them. I will follow this thread for suggestions.
 

Britnicorn

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Ugg converting birds to pellets is out of my skill set. I just got Paco back on Nutri Berries and some pellets. I got the wrong size, (smaller ones) and he won't eat them. I will follow this thread for suggestions.
Good luck with him! I read to put pellets in a separate bowl in the cage, and once they start poking at them then start slowly mixing a few into their seeds so they get used to seeing them and eventually they should try them. I just skipped that first step with Phoenix since he does poke them, but he immediately spits them out to look for seed. I also added more seeds than pellets now(before I was only adding about a pinch of seed mixed with a small handful of pellets) because I don’t want him to starve. I might try a different brand if he keeps refusing these pellets, but he used to like them... so strange
 

Shezbug

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Lol.

Sounds to me like he’s worked out the seed is yummier and also fattier- when watching birds in the wild, they’ll always go for the highest calorie foods first.

Wait and see what Zara recommends but I’d be guessing she’ll say something like offer pellets first and seed after pellets or less seed more pellet in the dish.
 

Zara

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First you offer formula, then after you offer a dish of only pellets, then maybe some veggies, then seed. We don´t want to starve him or make him go hungry.

I have stopped mixing seed and pellets like I used to after Adelie (who does eat both) started picking out only seed to eat and ended up calcium deficient and lost her flight. (Don´t worry, she´s fine now, she recovered pretty quickly)
 

Britnicorn

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First you offer formula, then after you offer a dish of only pellets, then maybe some veggies, then seed. We don´t want to starve him or make him go hungry.
I tried this. If there’s only pellets he gets mad, he’ll poke a few and fling them then be done with the dish entirely :(
 

Zara

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Try soaking the pellets, then sprinkñe some seed on top and gently press to it sticks ot the pellets.
You could try soaking seed too, so it sprouts but serve before it grows huge tail.
 

Britnicorn

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Try soaking the pellets, then sprinkñe some seed on top and gently press to it sticks ot the pellets.
You could try soaking seed too, so it sprouts but serve before it grows huge tail.
I’ll try that next time I feed him, it’s 2:30am right now :roflmao: I hope I can get him to eat the pellets again. Is Harrison’s not a tasty brand for birdies? I may try giving him some of the roudybush I have
 

annafauna

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This feels like an appropriate video to share here:


This sums up Pickle's feelings about pellets. (I love how she nibbles my hand, like, "There's gotta be seeds here, SOMEwhere!") She'll stand in their food dish and kick everything out if there are pellets in it. Ivy scoops them up with her beak and throws them overboard -- they're awful birds! :roflmao: The only thing that has worked a tiny bit has been to cook up a little plain oatmeal, add crushed pellets and enough water to make it a loose-ish paste, and then add in seeds and chop. Then they can't avoid the oatmeal/pellet mixture that sticks to the veggies. (I find the oatmeal makes it stickier than pellets alone, but I don't know what Phoenix is ready for.) Though I've seen Ivy wait until it dries a little, so she can toss it on the floor. At least Snowy and Gemmy are polite enough to take what they want and just leave the rest.
 

Lady Jane

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You can make birdie bread with anything in the mix you want. The soaked pellets would be one thing. I made it from a mix and added orange and yellow veggies for the Vit. A which many birds are deficient in. Sweet tater is a good addition too. I found the best mixes are sold by a vendor here in Canada but the shipping cost is pretty good plus she has so many other great items for birds to eat. Click ad at page bottom Avian Organics Feather dust is harmful to humans over time but if it comes from their own body should be ok. Macaws are sensitive to other birds dust.
 

Britnicorn

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Yeah Phoenix outsmarted the pellet-seed trick.. I didn’t even think about crushing it up and mixing it in with stuff I might just do that! I’ll make him eat it like a pill :roflmao: Thanks guys!


Feather dust is harmful to humans over time
Is it like... toxic? Or is it kind of like an allergy thing? I’m mildly allergic to all animals already, Phoenix makes me sneeze and puff up but it’s not that bad, all the other animals in the house make me do that too. I love animals too much for the allergies to keep me away:roflmao:
 

Britnicorn

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Uhhh
Phoenix had been trying to regurgitate for me all morning(like the past half hour I’ve had him out)- I didn’t think much of it since he was being super extra loving, but suddenly one whole seed comes out? There wasn’t any liquid, literally just the one seed. He must’ve accidentally swallowed it instead of breaking it open. Is it okay?
 

conureluv

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Maybe what happened was....
He tried to regurgitate too much so actual seed came out that he accidentally ate whole?

@Zara
 

Britnicorn

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Maybe what happened was....
He tried to regurgitate too much so actual seed came out that he accidentally ate whole?

@Zara
I also want to note it wasn’t like he was struggling to regurgitate or actually doing it repeatedly, I always try to make him stop because honestly I don’t like being thrown up on, so when I see him bobbing his head I pull away from him, so he stops, then he comes back and tries to do it again :roflmao:
 

Britnicorn

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He just regurgitated another whole seed :unsure1: he seems fine otherwise
 

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When you say whole seed you mean with the hull on?
I always try to make him stop because honestly I don’t like being thrown up on
It's a shame you feel that way. He's only giving you clean undigested seed, nothing discusting in it. Rejecting him could also affect your relationship, they can take rejection personally and turn their attention to other things and ignore you. Reciprocate. Hull a few seeds yourself and offer them between your fingertips or on a clean nail.
 

Britnicorn

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When you say whole seed you mean with the hull on?

It's a shame you feel that way. He's only giving you clean undigested seed, nothing discusting in it. Rejecting him could also affect your relationship, they can take rejection personally and turn their attention to other things and ignore you. Reciprocate. Hull a few seeds yourself and offer them between your fingertips or on a clean nail.
I actually don’t think the hull was on the seeds, but they didn’t seem like they were chewed up at all
 
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