Pellets or seed???????

Hi all I have 2 African Grey parrots and I have tried several times to switch them from seed to pellets without any sucess. I have tried Harrisons pellets which one parrot ate alittle of at times but the other parrot wants nothing to do with them and will only eat seed. I have followed the vets recommendations for the conversion but again with little or no luck. I have tried this now for several months without sucess. Please someone help. Can you also tell me which pellet is the best on the market for them nutritionally. Thanks, Critterman

everyone has their "favourite" brand of pellet, I like anything that has NO artificial colouring or preservatives.

Have you tried any other brands? when i had my rescue lovebirds, they were an a seed only diet.

We tried around 5 brands/type/flavors of pellets before we found one they liked.

You might be able to try contacting pellet companies and asking for samples? (if they will do that there) and tell them you are trying to switch over from all seed trying to find the one that your bird likes best.

I gave my lovies the pellets as treats at first while they were out of their cage then started throwing a couple into their dishes to see if they would eat them, once we found one that they would really enjoy we switched them over to it.

another option for you might be the birdie bread. if your bird enjoys it, if i am correct, you can feed it as a base diet since it is made of pellets and can therefore act as a part of their daily diet, with veggies and fruits of course!

Please switch them to pellets. Seeds are like feeding them a steady diet of potato chips. Try mixing the seed with th pellets then gradually reduce the seed and increase the pellets.

In normal blended seed for parrots it is only sunflower and peanuts having high contens of fat. Today I only use pellets but back in time I used seed. I will not advise you how to do, only telling how I do. If my bird on seed is in perfect condition I just remove the seed and only have pellet and veg in the cage. Normaly the bird will waite 2-3 days before eating pellets. When the bird is used to pellets I handfeed with sunflower and peanuts.

It is not possible for me to say what pellets is the best. For now I use Harrison

harrisons here as well but she is fussy an i also use lafebers nutri berrys :32: thay have pellets in, but there is also a lot of waste, so all i have done is increase the fresh! some lafebers in toys an a few pellets in another bowl

i do this to reduce waste on the pellets as she will throw them out, and as for the lafebers she picks out the bits she likes!:11:

I buy the pellets I can afford; FruitBlend and Roudybush Direct I ordered Harrison's to give it a shot and even if my parrots like it, that tiny bag for 10 bucks isn't within my budget.

I give them the Zupreem one day and Roudybush another day. I feed fruits and veggies throughout the day and also give them nutri berries, which them seem to enjoy.

Thats a great way to do it, No risk if a brand is closing down and of cause for the budget. When Polly has bonded even more I will introduce other pellet

Abzeez said:

I buy the pellets I can afford; FruitBlend and Roudybush Direct I ordered Harrison's to give it a shot and even if my parrots like it, that tiny bag for 10 bucks isn't within my budget.

I give them the Zupreem one day and Roudybush another day. I feed fruits and veggies throughout the day and also give them nutri berries, which them seem to enjoy.

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Thanks so much for the advice. I will try it! I just want to feed my parrots the best diet there is and keep them healthy. Again thanks! Critterman

I know alot of you folks won't agree with this method (I didn't either at first), but my vet (and she is strictly an avian vet) told me to just stop feeding my birds (2 macaws and 1 CAG) seeds and just feed them pellets. She said they won't starve and they will make the switch. Believe me I tried many times before over the last 17+ years with all kinds of ratios. I had never tried the cold turkey approach before but it worked all 3 of my birds are now eating pellets. BTW, I never stopped giving them their fruits and veggies. So, its pellets in the morning and fruits and veggies when I get home from work. I made the switch back in March and everyone is doing just fine.

I don't keep seed here. All our birds were just switched (they really don't starve!) Just monitor the normal range of their weight. Harrisons is a great pellet nutritionally, BUT it is rarely well accepted by birds switching from seed. We use Prettybird pellet as a middle transition (or more often for good). We use to feed fresh foods nearly exclusively (with tiny amounts of pellet for trace mineral necessities.). I use prettybird pellet because EVERY bird we (tiel to macaw) loves it. It costs us $22 dollars for a 40# bag (although we never order less than 400 pounds, so I'm not sure how much it is retail.

Side note: due to the weather in the midwest Aflatoxins in corn may be higher than normal, and most bird seed it processed in a plant that also handles corn, meaning the risk for Aspergiliosis in seed eating birds in the US may be higher this year than in previous years.... Additionally human grade corn is about 10ppb aflatoxin acceptable range and poultry grade corn (used in seed diets) is about 200ppb acceptable range.... GET THE BIRDS OFF SEED ASAP! (Pellet is baked at such a high temp under pressure you don't have to worry (I know because I spent the better part of an afternon on the phone with three different pellet manufacturers. If you don't already know, Aspergilosis can kill your birds. FYI

Good luck! . You will get them to eat pellets.... Just pay close attentions to their weights as you switch them, and keep in mind most birds birds lose a bit of weight when taken off seed (it's like going from chocolate cake to broccoli

I feed Pellets to all my big birds with some seeds as treats, fruits and veggies and what not....ALL my small birds they get a mixture of seed and pellets with less Sunflower seeds. I'm partial between seeds and pellets. I know what I've been through years back when I encounter the problems you can have with Pellets and I had to make the switch back to seeds for awhile. Several other breeders at that time agrees with me. Ever since then I feed both! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for pellets, but seeds isn't all that bad!!!!

I currently feed Pretty Bird Natural Gold pellets, veggies, fruit, birdie bread, etc, along with occasional seed as a treat (usually in the form of nutriberries). Once I'm about through with the pellets I have, I plan to switch to a mix of Harrisons and Roudybush pellets. As for how to switch, I would say it just takes persistence. I don't have any personal experience, as my breeder weans her babies onto pellets. When I first got River at 8 weeks old, he had never had any seed at all, only pellets and some fruit.

willist said:

I know alot of you folks won't agree with this method (I didn't either at first), but my vet (and she is strictly an avian vet) told me to just stop feeding my birds (2 macaws and 1 CAG) seeds and just feed them pellets. She said they won't starve and they will make the switch. Believe me I tried many times before over the last 17+ years with all kinds of ratios. I had never tried the cold turkey approach before but it worked all 3 of my birds are now eating pellets. BTW, I never stopped giving them their fruits and veggies. So, its pellets in the morning and fruits and veggies when I get home from work. I made the switch back in March and everyone is doing just fine.

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What if your birds still don't like their fruits and veggies? Mine only take very small amounts and only when I offer them directly. Should I give them just pellets in the morning and their normal seed/pellet mix when I get home or should I cold turkey them from seed all together and give them pellets in the morning and veggies when I get home in hopes that they pick up both?

I feed Pretty Bird African Special to my grey. That's what the breeder had been using and my grey seems to like it so I stuck with it. I also feed broccoli,carrots,banana,and sometimes apple either in the morning or at night. I usually try for both but sometimes Pearl only picks out the carrots while other times she eats all of it.

All my parrots (4 Greys, 1 White-fronted Amazon, and 1 Senegal) ate Pretty Bird Natural Gold.

Thanks so much for all the advice I will try and let you know how it goes. Thanks again! Critterman