We made the switch

[mak]

When I bought my tiel, Tooky, he was on a seed only diet. At the time I was considering keeping him that way. I had previously tried to convert my budgies to pellets but I didn't get anywhere. I tried everything, mixing a little in with the seeds, grinding them to smaller pieces, soaking them in apple juice, nothing worked and I gave up. Because of my previous experience I had no intention of trying pellets with Tooky. However, seeing from AA members just how important it is, I decided to give it a try.
I started by offering a pellet in my hand as I would a treat. He took it and ate it! A day later I replaced his seeds with pellets and...... he ate them! He switched cold turkey! I never in my wildest dreams thought it would go so smoothly.
I do have a few questions:
I bought Nutribird pellets as those were the ones available in my area. I bought the cockatiel size which are way too big. He takes one and bites it so that most of it falls on the bottom of the cage. It's a huge waste (and mess). I have been breaking each pellet in half by hand (very time consuming) and I was wondering if I could buy him the smaller budgie sized pellets?
The second question is how much seed to keep in his diet. I have been putting in a bowl of seeds once a day and letting him eat till he's done and then removing. Is this ok?

 

[jh81]

I would go 25% seed 75% pellets, obviously in line with the veggies they get
you can buy the budgie version

my mom’s tiel are eating the parrot sized ones just a well. Its a matter of preference i suppose

 

[Mizzely]

The formulas are different:

B14


G14


That being said, the main difference is less fat and different ingredients, so you can give it a try and see how it goes.

Many cockatiel owners suggest 50/50 pellets and seeds, so that might look like 40 pellets/ 40 seeds, and 20 veggies, or 25 pellets/25 seeds, and 50 veggies.

 

[clarousel]

If you have a mortar and pestle you could grind the pellets down so you don't waste the bag you currently have.

I do this for my budgie cause the budgie sized pellets are too big

 

[Mantis64]

Remember not to give too many pellets as others have stated pellets if eaten too much can cause damage to the birds kidneys I believe.

 

[Aoi♡]

Remember not to give too many pellets as others have stated pellets if eaten too much can cause damage to the birds kidneys I believe.

Pellets only damage kidneys if it is the main diet with nothing else added.

Same with how plain seed causes fatty liver disease over time.

 

[Mantis64]

Pellets only damage kidneys if it is the main diet with nothing else added.

Same with how plain seed causes fatty liver disease over time.

I meant they are harder on smaller bird kidneys and I did mean if the main diet only.

 

[dollfish]

African Gray here, mine also seems to love Nutribird pellets but I'm afraid I'm giving him too much sugar by feeding him these pellets. Isn't it a general rule of thumb to keep sugar out of their main diet?

 

[Mizzely]

African Gray here, mine also seems to love Nutribird pellets but I'm afraid I'm giving him too much sugar by feeding him these pellets. Isn't it a general rule of thumb to keep sugar out of their main diet?

A sugar free pellet is preferable, yes, but the diet doesn't need to be completely devoid of sugar. If my options are between the bird eating a sugar pellet or no pellet, I'll take the sugar pellet everytime. I just make sure to limit fruit to a treat