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Pellet quantity and feeding question

Wardy

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I am happy that Mojo has transitioned onto pellets well however just have a few questions about her feeding on them, I tried 3 types off pellets and Mojo has rated them in this order -
Roudybush daily maintenance crumble - i will be continuing with this pellet
Pretty bird small bird - this is a little bit hit and miss ( i will be continuing with this pellet for the time being )
Lafaber Tropical fruit gourmet - this is a miss will continue with what i bought but wont be getting anymore

I really want Mojo to be eating more than one type of pellet for both a bit of variety and in case the pellet she is eating has availability issues

I am going to get some Harrisons High potency pepper and give that a try next along with some Roudybush California maintenance and see how she responds to both of them.

I do add some seed to her mix of pellets 30% seed 70% pellet and she is getting chop twice daily she is putting weight on so is getting enough food currently 76 gram the breeder i got her from said his pineapples avaerage about 78 grams so comfortable with her weight.

I currently leave her pellet( seed mix ) in her cage swapping them out for her chop when we eat mid day i also remove her pellets and put them on her play gym when she is out and about and i leave the pellet in overnight.

Should i leave the pellet in overnight ?

Should i feed the pellet on its own now and add seed in additional bowl ?

How much pellet are people feeding small conures ( pics appreciated )
 

Mizzely

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My green cheek ate about 2 Tbsp of pellet, 1/2 tsp of seeds, and about 2 Tbsp of chop and day. I left pellets available at all times, seeds in foraging toys, and chop given as breakfast or dinner depending on my schedule.
 

Wardy

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My green cheek ate about 2 Tbsp of pellet, 1/2 tsp of seeds, and about 2 Tbsp of chop and day. I left pellets available at all times, seeds in foraging toys, and chop given as breakfast or dinner depending on my schedule.
Thanks Shawna


Where you offering more pellet than your GC was eating or pretty much offering what the bird was eating was the amount your bird was eating ?

her chop consumption has stalled as i done a bulk amount and froze she is not a massive fan of it once defrosted picks at it so have gone back to preparing daily again :banghead: i dont mind preparing her fresh daily to be fair but such a waste of food as even refrigerated it does spoil. I am going to start adding a bit of seed to her fresh and frown mix and try and transition to frozen.
 

Mizzely

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Thanks Shawna


Where you offering more pellet than your GC was eating or pretty much offering what the bird was eating was the amount your bird was eating ?

her chop consumption has stalled as i done a bulk amount and froze she is not a massive fan of it once defrosted picks at it so have gone back to preparing daily again :banghead: i dont mind preparing her fresh daily to be fair but such a waste of food as even refrigerated it does spoil. I am going to start adding a bit of seed to her fresh and frown mix and try and transition to frozen.
I usually offer a little extra than what I know they'll eat in a day just in case I sleep in or am unexpectedly called away :)
 

KiwiConure

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I am happy that Mojo has transitioned onto pellets well however just have a few questions about her feeding on them, I tried 3 types off pellets and Mojo has rated them in this order -
Roudybush daily maintenance crumble - i will be continuing with this pellet
Pretty bird small bird - this is a little bit hit and miss ( i will be continuing with this pellet for the time being )
Lafaber Tropical fruit gourmet - this is a miss will continue with what i bought but wont be getting anymore

I really want Mojo to be eating more than one type of pellet for both a bit of variety and in case the pellet she is eating has availability issues

I am going to get some Harrisons High potency pepper and give that a try next along with some Roudybush California maintenance and see how she responds to both of them.

I do add some seed to her mix of pellets 30% seed 70% pellet and she is getting chop twice daily she is putting weight on so is getting enough food currently 76 gram the breeder i got her from said his pineapples avaerage about 78 grams so comfortable with her weight.

I currently leave her pellet( seed mix ) in her cage swapping them out for her chop when we eat mid day i also remove her pellets and put them on her play gym when she is out and about and i leave the pellet in overnight.

Should i leave the pellet in overnight ?

Should i feed the pellet on its own now and add seed in additional bowl ?

How much pellet are people feeding small conures ( pics appreciated )
I'm currently (and have been for a while) converting Kiwi onto just pellets, so she is still eating seed sadly, I just mix a bit with her pellets (not an amount to cover the seeds, but enough I know she isn't starving) but I always give Kiwi her fresh chop in the morning as a breakfast and take away the seed/pellets completely, because that's when I've noticed she eats it the most! I had the same question about leaving pellets/seed in there overnight for the longest time, but never really got a strict answer. So what I do is before bedtime I give her a fresh bit of pellets and seed in case she wakes up in the night, or earlier in the morning than usual, however I've found that she doesn't actually touch her seeds throughout the night or before her morning chop!
 

KiwiConure

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I'm currently (and have been for a while) converting Kiwi onto just pellets, so she is still eating seed sadly, I just mix a bit with her pellets (not an amount to cover the seeds, but enough I know she isn't starving) but I always give Kiwi her fresh chop in the morning as a breakfast and take away the seed/pellets completely, because that's when I've noticed she eats it the most! I had the same question about leaving pellets/seed in there overnight for the longest time, but never really got a strict answer. So what I do is before bedtime I give her a fresh bit of pellets and seed in case she wakes up in the night, or earlier in the morning than usual, however I've found that she doesn't actually touch her seeds throughout the night or before her morning chop!
Cover the pellets* sorry!
 

Wardy

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I'm currently (and have been for a while) converting Kiwi onto just pellets, so she is still eating seed sadly, I just mix a bit with her pellets (not an amount to cover the seeds, but enough I know she isn't starving) but I always give Kiwi her fresh chop in the morning as a breakfast and take away the seed/pellets completely, because that's when I've noticed she eats it the most! I had the same question about leaving pellets/seed in there overnight for the longest time, but never really got a strict answer. So what I do is before bedtime I give her a fresh bit of pellets and seed in case she wakes up in the night, or earlier in the morning than usual, however I've found that she doesn't actually touch her seeds throughout the night or before her morning chop!
Mojo is pretty good with her pellets now seed being mainly used as treats when training or hidden in foraging toys.
I do her a fresh portion of pellets when she is out of a evening that is placed on her play gym and the chop she gets for tea go's on the top of her cage and she flits between the two during the evening when she go's to bed the pellets then go in her cage overnight.
She eats during the night some nights others she doesnt.
She did drop a little weight but is holding at 75 grams right now.
Her foraging activity has improved massively as has the results with her training now i can use seeds as a treat.

I think i have been very lucky transitioning her as it went pretty smoothly i am giving her a mix of 3 pellets daily so she gets some variety.
 

Wardy

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Cover the pellets* sorry!
Try putting the seed in the bowl first with the pellets on top this might encourage the eating of the pellets to get to the seed or kiwi might just dive through the pellets but worth a go.
 

derin

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I am happy that Mojo has transitioned onto pellets well however just have a few questions about her feeding on them, I tried 3 types off pellets and Mojo has rated them in this order -
Roudybush daily maintenance crumble - i will be continuing with this pellet
Pretty bird small bird - this is a little bit hit and miss ( i will be continuing with this pellet for the time being )
Lafaber Tropical fruit gourmet - this is a miss will continue with what i bought but wont be getting anymore

I really want Mojo to be eating more than one type of pellet for both a bit of variety and in case the pellet she is eating has availability issues

I am going to get some Harrisons High potency pepper and give that a try next along with some Roudybush California maintenance and see how she responds to both of them.

I do add some seed to her mix of pellets 30% seed 70% pellet and she is getting chop twice daily she is putting weight on so is getting enough food currently 76 gram the breeder i got her from said his pineapples avaerage about 78 grams so comfortable with her weight.

I currently leave her pellet( seed mix ) in her cage swapping them out for her chop when we eat mid day i also remove her pellets and put them on her play gym when she is out and about and i leave the pellet in overnight.

Should i leave the pellet in overnight ?

Should i feed the pellet on its own now and add seed in additional bowl ?

How much pellet are people feeding small conures ( pics appreciated )
I recommend not doing Harrisons high potency because it can give them vitamin overdoses which are just as bad if not worse than a deficiency, as it is only meant for old or sick birds. Also feeding multiple pellets has drawbacks because each pellet has different amounts of each vitamin. I recommend giving a variety of veggies for variation.
 

KiwiConure

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Try putting the seed in the bowl first with the pellets on top this might encourage the eating of the pellets to get to the seed or kiwi might just dive through the pellets but worth a go.
That's a great idea actually! I've never thought of that all this time. Kiwi is a sneaky thing, she actually does eat her pellets IF they're in a bowl alone, but she won't eat enough to sustain herself, so to make sure she stays a healthy wait I put a bit of the "good bits" in there, and then she'll only eat the seeds! It's been a battle :lol:
 

Mizzely

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I recommend not doing Harrisons high potency because it can give them vitamin overdoses which are just as bad if not worse than a deficiency, as it is only meant for old or sick birds. Also feeding multiple pellets has drawbacks because each pellet has different amounts of each vitamin. I recommend giving a variety of veggies for variation.
This is not really accurate. From their website, High Potency is a:

(For fine)
"Year-round formula for conures, lories, quakers, cockatiels, lovebirds, doves and other small to medium parrots.

(For coarse)
Year-round formula for all medium to large parrots, especially African greys, cockatoos, large conures, eclectus, macaws and pionus. Other species may be switched to Adult Lifetime Formula after a 6-month conversion period.

(For all)
Conversion: All birds should start out and remain on High Potency Formula for a period of at least 6 months.
Special needs: For birds that are molting, overweight, underweight, particularly active, housed in a cold climate, recovering from an illness or affected by liver or kidney disease. Please visit harrisonsbirdfoods.com/specialneeds
Weaning Birds: Feed High Potency Formula for at least 6-9 months.
Breeding Birds: Birds should be fed High Potency Formula 1-2 months prior to the breeding period and until chicks are weaned or for at least six months before resuming Adult Lifetime Formula. "

Now, some birds likely do not need the extra fat and protein of High Potency but many do just fine on it :)

Also as far as mixing pellets, sure they have different amounts of vitamins, but you aren't going to overdose by mixing.

If pellet 1 has 80% of their Daily Value of a vitamin, and pellet 2 has 110%, then mixing half and half means your bird is only going to get 95% of their DV, not 190%. While obviously each pellet is formulated to be the only pellet in the diet, there are benefits of mixing pellets, such as variety, different ingredients, protection against recalls or the only food you feed otherwise suddenly being unavailable, etc.
 

derin

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This is not really accurate. From their website, High Potency is a:

(For fine)
"Year-round formula for conures, lories, quakers, cockatiels, lovebirds, doves and other small to medium parrots.

(For coarse)
Year-round formula for all medium to large parrots, especially African greys, cockatoos, large conures, eclectus, macaws and pionus. Other species may be switched to Adult Lifetime Formula after a 6-month conversion period.

(For all)
Conversion: All birds should start out and remain on High Potency Formula for a period of at least 6 months.
Special needs: For birds that are molting, overweight, underweight, particularly active, housed in a cold climate, recovering from an illness or affected by liver or kidney disease. Please visit harrisonsbirdfoods.com/specialneeds
Weaning Birds: Feed High Potency Formula for at least 6-9 months.
Breeding Birds: Birds should be fed High Potency Formula 1-2 months prior to the breeding period and until chicks are weaned or for at least six months before resuming Adult Lifetime Formula. "

Now, some birds likely do not need the extra fat and protein of High Potency but many do just fine on it :)

Also as far as mixing pellets, sure they have different amounts of vitamins, but you aren't going to overdose by mixing.

If pellet 1 has 80% of their Daily Value of a vitamin, and pellet 2 has 110%, then mixing half and half means your bird is only going to get 95% of their DV, not 190%. While obviously each pellet is formulated to be the only pellet in the diet, there are benefits of mixing pellets, such as variety, different ingredients, protection against recalls or the only food you feed otherwise suddenly being unavailable, etc.
I have actually heard many horror stories of people feeding high potency with a good chop and their birds overdose.
 

Mizzely

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I have actually heard many horror stories of people feeding high potency with a good chop and their birds overdose.
I've never heard of that myself. I'd be interested in any references you may have!
 

Wardy

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I have actually heard many horror stories of people feeding high potency with a good chop and their birds overdose.
Do you have any further info on this ?
 

FiatLux

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Following with interest. I’ll share what I do just to share not to recommend: roudybush pellet available all day and overnight (not measured) and small amounts of chop with sprouts changed out 3 times a day (available 9:30am to 9pm), plus up to 10 seeds as treats when out on tree or stand only. Failing at regular weighing but this thread reminds me to do so bc I may be over feeding.
 

Shezbug

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Don’t have a conure, I’m just sharing what I do and what works for me.
I mix numerous pellets- four avian vets have now said there’s not a problem mixing pellet brands and I’ve not found any issues doingin over 3 years of serving numerous pellets at once.

I leave pellets and dry food (seed for the seed eaters- Burt has no seeds) available at all times- changed daily (more if someone throws or poops in the bowl) so it’s pretty much always fresh.

I feed fresh raw and cooked foods at least twice a day (but usually more) depending on what I’m eating and doing but always at least twice a day.

What works for me may not work for others so I stopped comparing what I do with others and just made sure it was working for my birds and me.

I have one bird that eats well and causes me no food stress…
 
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