question about pellet conversion

working on converting my budgie to pellets, currently using zupreem fruitblend because i hear its the easiest to get them to eat. i also have a bag of harrisons (that i spent a long time getting him to try but he wouldn't) and a bag of roudybush that didn't really work out.

I am going to keep pushing forward with zupreem though until she takes it. once she is used to eating zupreem will it be easier to get her to eat harrisons? i feel like the reason she doesnt eat harrisons is because she has ate seeds her whole life so she bites it but then realizes there's nothing inside so doesn't think its food. so hoping once she gets used to eating zupreem she will acknowledge pellets as food and will more readily eat harrisons.

It's not that he doesn't think it's not food, it's because they will always prefer seeds over pellets. But for smaller birds such as budgies I find they do better when you offer both, seeds and pellets. I see the smaller birds do poorly with just pellets alone.

How are you going about the conversion? There are a few methods out there.. Consider pulling his seeds out after dinner right before bed. Offer pellets in the morning and through the day. Moist pellets are more enticing and seem to speed the conversion process (shouldn't be left in cage for more than a couple hours though because of bacteria) I've had success with this for some larger parrots.. I had to do a supervised cold turkey with my macaw to get her off seeds and on Harrisons, monitoring droppings and weight. That might not be appropriate in this case. The methods listed on the back of the roudybush bag are good advice imo.

Newbie here, trying to figure out why pellets are better than seeds...?

Quinn_Duncan said:

Newbie here, trying to figure out why pellets are better than seeds...?

Click to expand...

You may find your answer in one (or more) of these threads
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/49445-pellets-diet.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/53965-best-worst-bird-pellets.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/55433-my-thoughts-pellets.html

Quinn_Duncan said:

Newbie here, trying to figure out why pellets are better than seeds...?

Click to expand...

basically seeds are like living on french fries. they dont provide full nutrition and even the ones that are in a blend are not good enough cus budgies will just pick out the yummy seeds. scientists have only discovered pretty recently that pellets can double or tripple the lifespan of any pet bird vs a seed diet, and people think budgies die after a few years, but they can live 10-15 years on pellets! they usually die after a few years because of malnutrition and or their kidneys fail from too much fat in seeds. Conure's can live 30-50 years or more, but the average lifespan for a pet conure in the US is only 10 years because people don't take good care of them in general. Also those 1$ gold fish you see at fairs and walmart that only live a few months, can live 30+ years - but people just put them in a bowl of water and call it a day, not realizing that their body produces chemicals and even though the fish is only 1$ you need a sufficient aquarium that will filter water 24/7 and maintain healthy pH.


i'm doing a pretty simple plan, i hear it works the best. btw i am using harrisons pellets.

basically im going to give her 1sp seed + 1sp pellet everyday +millet when I play with her, until this friday morning I will only give her pellets and nothing else. and if the next morning she still hasn't eaten I will give her 2 spoons of seeds, and then continue for the next wee 1sp seed + 1sp pellet, and try again the next friday.