sun conure food problem !

hello everyone i have had a sun conure for about 2 and a half months . he is off his formula and has been eating his pellets from the store we got him from . and thats good untill about a month down the road the vet says we need to change his diet so we did and his last food was much smaller and a little different . so now his diet contains of larger pellets and nuts and etc. he appears to be eatin g the nuts and seeds and etc. but he doesnt seem to eat the pellets i tried giving them to him by hand he eats them but at the same time the pieces falll out of his mouth he doesnt appear to eat it . but loves everything else and remember this is a new diet . he doesnt seem top like it . should i wait and see (like will he eat it once he gets used to it or not) . or go back to the other diet . even tho the pet store and vet say his old food is not good for him. what should i doo

What pellet were you using, and what pellet did the vet recommend? Is your vet a bird specialist or a general vet? Listed with the AAV?

I don't like to change food "cold turkey", I like to mix it with the old food, at first just a little at a time and then gradually more and more. You might try mixing the old food back in with the new stuff for a while.

One thing you can do if you aren't sure he's eating enough, period, is to weigh him every day, at the same time. If he starts losing significant weight, you will need to change something.

My concern would be that if he's eating the seeds and nuts and not the pellets, he may actually be getting a less balanced diet than he was on the previous pellets.

he is eating a pellet froim the bird store we got him from . i dont know what kind of pellets they are but he appears to be eating them a little when there is nothing else in the food but the pellets and the vet is a avian vet ( bird specialist). but wouldnt mixing in the old food just make the new food just as bad ????

and the new pellets are just like the old ones just larger

Is the bird not eating the new stuff at all, or just being picky? my georgie would go through picky spells, often by color/appearance of the food, but she was open to a couple brands of pellet (i bought harrisons and i bought zupreem).
Mixing may be a good idea. I am getting a new conure next month, and i know which pellet he has been fed (which is neither harrison's nor zupreem). i bought some of what he is used to, to mix with harrisons and try to transition him.
Is your bird pretty open to the 'other' foods, fruits/veggies/pasta? my sun conure was picky with that stuff too and would only pick out the stuff she liked best and threw the rest on the floor. i had to hide the other stuff to get her to eat it.
i would definitely stay on it to get him transitioned. i think it is do-able for you.

Did the vet say why you should change the pellet? Do you have the original packaging from either pellet? Most pellets come in different sizes, but are otherwise exactly the same, in which case it is fine to feed the bird whatever size it prefers.

I don't trust "open stock" bird food where it's loose in a bin at the store. t
too much risk of contamination and no way to know how fresh it is. If that's what you had from the store, maybe you can ask what the brand was.

(answer for last two questions asked) sorry for late response the vet said that not every thing in the food was the best for him that it doesnt sound like its good for him the pellets she said nothing about . the breeders where we got him from said we should get the different pellets and also they told us to try there other low fat diet and mix it with the pellets then give it to him and i dont know if any one is fimiliar with pet supplis plus i used to get there brand of colored pellets so no i dont have the original packaging . and apollo is being picky and i have tried veggies and fruits . he seems to like some but not alll which is good . he is a picky bird but is some what open to new foods.

ruffledfeathers said:

I am getting a new conure next month, and i know which pellet he has been fed (which is neither harrison's nor zupreem).

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What food has your new conure been on? Do you mind my asking? (just curious)

Isaiah - if you could make some calls and find out what kind of pellets your bird has been eating and what he's eating now, it would be helpful for us. It would make it easier for us to give you more specific advice.

It sounds as if he was on something like the Kaytee seed mixes that have some pellets mixed in, in which case the vet was probably giving the correct advice. Although, that said, I've never gotten Scooter completely off the seed mix he came eating.... I dutifully offer pellets and he dutifully ignores them, but eats a ton of veggies and fruit.

I'm lucky. My birds (the GCCs anyway) seem to eat whatever I put in front of them - from fresh veggies to veggie mash to sprouts to pellets of whatever brand to ... well... you name it. I can't say that for the budgies though... the stinkers.

my new baby conure is currently being fed roudybush food. i never used it before but i bought some to start him on, so he can have what he is used to in the beginning.
and actually my sun ended up needing the high potency formula for a while, and a lot of additional table food. something to keep in mind. when she went for a physical, her bloodwork showed her to be ever so slightly low in iron, protein and very slightly underweight. the normal pellets with veggies wasn't enough for her. i was glad she was tested, because we did get that corrected in time and her nutritional health was perfect. just took a little balancing.

DebsFlock said:

It sounds as if he was on something like the Kaytee seed mixes that have some pellets mixed in, in which case the vet was probably giving the correct advice. Although, that said, I've never gotten Scooter completely off the seed mix he came eating.... I dutifully offer pellets and he dutifully ignores them, but eats a ton of veggies and fruit.

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Sorry to derail, just wanted to offer advice on this one. Deb, Boomer would eat his pellets straight but not enough as he should. He loves the fresh veggies and fruits though. What I've been doing was sprinkling a bit of his pellets on top of whatever fruit / veggie I'd be serving. Once it gets nice and soft from the moisture, he is more prone to eat it. He especially loves when it the pellet gets soaked with apple / strawberry / rasperry / mango juices. You get the idea! I never leave soaked pellets too long though, I throw them out after.

As for Isiah, I agree with everyone else. Do a super gradual transition from the old food to the new. Find out what he was eating. For starters, just give him whatever he wants to keep the weight up. Then do the transition. Wishing your birdie the best!

DebsFlock said:

It sounds as if he was on something like the Kaytee seed mixes that have some pellets mixed in, in which case the vet was probably giving the correct advice. Although, that said, I've never gotten Scooter completely off the seed mix he came eating.... I dutifully offer pellets and he dutifully ignores them, but eats a ton of veggies and fruit.

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Chichi was the same way. Until I switched to a mix my breeder makes herself. It's got Roudybush pellets, a seed mix of some sort, dried fruits and veggies, Cheerios, fruit loops and Cheetos! So, I can't offer a brand since I pick it up from her in Un labeled bags. Anyway, now he eats everything but the Banana chips. I don't now why but he don't like them, lol.

Give him this: ZuPreem FruitBlend Flavor Premium Food for Medium Birds - Specialty Pet Month - Featured Products - PetSmart

put some in a apple juice or mango juice, and let them get a little wet. I think that will work, it's a good diet for them. It's okay to give your bird some fruit apple, mango, just research before you give him something. Also potatoe, corn, research..

When I brought Willy home (blue fronted amazon rescue) he was on only veggies and store brand food, no pellets. The advice I was given is this... any time you go to change a birds feed, you need to transition him. Start with three parts old food to one part new for one week then the next week go to two parts old to two parts new, the following week is one part old and two parts new and the last week should be all new. If picky you can do this in two week intervals. It has worked out well for us. Willy is now on all new food. We get our seed/pellet mix from our friend who at one point was breeding a large variety of parrots. As willy was in terrible health we also put vitamins in his water bottle, and put milk thissle on his veggies to help to detox his liver. He has only been with us one and a half months and has gone from a terrified and weak bird, to a bird who is starting to feel better, starting to interact with me, and I like to think is enjoying being a part of a flock insted of being all alone for days at a time. He just the other day showed such interest that I offered him my hand and he stepped up for me! This from a 45 year old bird that I have only interacted with since bringing him home.

thank you every one with the advice and help but i do not have a food problem any more he appears to be eating his pellets nuts and seeds and etc.

Great news Isaiah. Thanks for letting us know.

For the record, I heartily recommend Roudybush pellets. I've tried most of the others and keep coming back to the Roudybush. If anyone is interested in details, let me know and I'll be glad to share!

thanks to every one

WindyRed said:

Great news Isaiah. Thanks for letting us know.

For the record, I heartily recommend Roudybush pellets. I've tried most of the others and keep coming back to the Roudybush. If anyone is interested in details, let me know and I'll be glad to share!

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I would like to know why you picked roudybush over the others please