Stubbon Lovebirds - Pellet Conversion & Vegetables

[KanashiiDesu]

Hello everyone,
I just recently joined Avian Avenue so thank you all for the warm welcome.
3 days ago, I realized that the seed diet my lovebird pair was on was not meeting their nutritional requirements at all. So I then purchased a bag of colorful pellets and some vegetables. For the first two days, I mixed 1/4 of the pellets with 3/4 of their usual seed mix to feed them and left a bowl of vegetables and melon in their cage, which was very unsuccessful. The vegetables still haven't been touched. This morning I found a tip to moisten the pellets and seed mix together so that the pellets stick to the seed and the bird tries them. However this was also clearly unsuccessful as when I went out for a few hours, I came back to find this mess over the floor next to the cage. The vegetables are also still untouched.

Also, the pellets are the Kaytee Exact Rainbow Cockatiel Formula.
Is there anything else at all I can do to help my birds convert to pellets and vegetables?

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[KanashiiDesu]

Update:

My birds will now eat the pellets and will eat kale.
I did realize that they're on the wrong formula though! Oops.

 

[sunnysmom]

That's great! My foster lovie used to love mini peppers too. I would hollow one out and stuff it with chopped up pepper, broccoli, apples, a few seeds, etc. He loved it.

 

[Fuzzy]

Keep trying with the veggies and fruit. That's great they are eating kale now. Try cutting things up in different shapes and sizes. Or stringing fresh items on a birdie stainless steel skewer. That's a great recipe, sunnysmom!

 

[JSurdyBurdy]

So what was your trick? I'm new as well. Lazlo, my parakeet is not food-motivated whatsoever. He does not care about spray millet, fruits, veggies, or the seed really. I am about to start converting him to pellets as well. My vet told me about the pellet paste, but he also suggested only making the food available 2X a day for half an hour. I'm not sure I like that as much since he doesn't really care about eating. How will he know I'm going to give him 30 minutes to eat? He normally just eats when he's hungry. I don't want to starve him but it seems inevitable the first day of conversion.

 

[Zara]

he also suggested only making the food available 2X a day for half an hour.

I am not a vet, but I don´t like the sound of that. I believe little birds should have food available for the majority, if not the entire, day.

I got my stubborn seed eater converted with a combo of things...

1. feeding veggies in the morning, I would remove the seed bowl and place the veggies in there for an hour, then remove the leftover veggies and replace the seeds.
2. sprouts, they helped lots! Some general info on sprouting .. thought it might be helpful | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum
3. I would sprinkle some millet over the veggies in the dish and hide in two sunflower seeds.
4. I would offer veggies in the cage-ball to pick at.

Check this link for some great chop info: My Chop "Recipe"

 

[JSurdyBurdy]

@Zara That's a perfect resource.
I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling he should have food available most of the day.
I decided to give it a shot and I did a 30/70 pellet mash to seed ratio with little bits of broccoli mixed in. He's not happy at the moment. He's confused and wants to know where his real food is. He'll hop to the dish and hop back to the perch, then he checks out his water dish to see if it's in there. Fingers crossed.

 

[JSurdyBurdy]

Update! Lazlo is finally eating what I gave him and without me restricting his feeding time!

 

[Zara]

He's not happy at the moment. He's confused and wants to know where his real food is. He'll hop to the dish and hop back to the perch, then he checks out his water dish to see if it's in there.

lol I had that too. I felt bad but I know he would be ok because it was only an hour with no seed mix.
I threw the majority away most of the time... but with patience and perseverance we got there in the end.
Offer up a plate of a mix of everything and see what he goes for, it´s good to know what your bird prefers.