Converting from seed to pellet for Sun Conures

Hey guys!

I have a sun conure named bebe for 8 years and i wish to convert its diet to pellet. I bought a bag of harrison's and have a couple of questions that I hope to hear from some of the conure experts here.

1) There is an estimated amount of pellet to feed daily at the back of the bag of harrison's i bought. For birds similar sized to eclectus, the recommended amount is 1.5 to 2 table spoons a day. Is this the amount i am suppose to provide or how much my pet is suppose to eat? Weird question i know but my sun conure (AKA Bebe) is mostly just crushing them up and lots of them are falling down below so I am unsure how much he is actually eating.

2) I read a lot of methods to get your parrot to try pellets for the first time. Fortunately Bebe is experimenting with them (after watching me perform munching actions while bringing it to my mouth) The method i am currently using is emptying his food bowl when he goes to bed and giving him only pellets in the morning. At around noon he gets what he normally eats (seeds, apples, corns) because I am worried he doesnt eat enough pellets when just introduced. Is this bad? I have heard that birds on pellets shouldnt be given extra supplements or foods.

Thanks guys for your help! Really appreciate it. The pellet I am using is Harrison's High Potency - Coarse. More help regarding conversion to pellet would be nice too!

oh boy. I am about to say some things that a lot of people disagree with, but here goes.

For starters, Harrisons is considered the best, so good. If you must feed pellets, then feed several sizes smaller than what is recommended, that really helps reduce waste. If you have a sunny, feed budgie sized pellets.

Beyond that, I do not believe that pellets are they healthiest choice, any more than dry dog food is the healthiest choice for dogs. It is better than feeding dry seeds, sure, but so is basically everything else. We should not measure what we feed out pets by "is it better than the worst possible thing?" In the wild birds eat live food and fresh food. The healthiest option, I believe, is a sprout based diet with a lot of fresh veggies and a few fresh fruits added, with variety being the key word. I know that isnt what you asked, but hopefully it will help.

Check out this article, it basically says a lot of good stuff

http://featheredangels.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/views-on-pelleted-food-diets.pdf

Oh no! thanks for your help though i read the article and now i am wondering whether i should let him eat pellets. I have had him for 8 years and recently brought him to a vet for feather picking problems. The vet says that nutrition wise he seems to be well as the vet called him "plump". Bebe has been eating seeds for 8 years and besides plucking his tummy feathers he is a pretty healthy little bird. Perhaps I should stick to fruits and seeds then. Would like to hear more opinions though maybe I would feed a pellet and seed mix diet?

I don't know a whole lot about pellets so I can't really help you there.

Personally, I keep seeds out of Ducati's diet except for treats. He gets those when training and he gets three of his favorite right before bed. He's gotten to where he knows when it's bedtime because he'll see me grab three seeds and he'll get on his perch closest to his door. Occasionally he'll get seeds in his food bowl as a treat.

For normal meal times, we're experimenting with different dried foods (I typically go with if I can pronounce and know what all the ingredients are then I'll try that) for morning since I get paranoid that his chop will go bad before I can get home from work. For dinner he gets his chop mix which I add some sprouts to. I typically have two different variations of his chop in the freezer so he doesn't get bored with it.

you could try mixing it with some juice to get him used to it.

Hgh hmm, dry seeds are basically considered the worst thing you can feed your bird and get away with it, but SPROUTED SEEDS are very healthy. Basically it is the difference between feeding all potato chips, or feeding all veggies. Don't focus on fruit, as fruit has a lot of sugar. Rather, focus on feeding sprouts and veggies. Seeds and fruits are great treats though

Hey guys! thanks for your replies! could i have a few examples of sprouts because I am unsure of what those are. Currently Bebe only eats apples,fresh corn and seed mix daily. He also gets cooked rice, banana, oranges sometimes. A list of food I could experiment with would be nice thanks everyone!

Edit: I found this link. Is it a good guide on what to feed Bebe? http://eclectusparrots.net/sunconures.html

Every plant starts as a seed, then that seed is sprouted and grows. Sprouts are simply seeds that have been soaked and rinsed in the proper way begin the growing process. I use volkmans conure seed mix, alfalfa, quinoa, etc, you can find numerous threads here discussing the how to aspect.

Hi, mine is on Harrisons High Potency Fine, when I first crossed him over I was like you and worried. Percy now has a teaspoon a day in his bowl I think he is a smaller conure than yours. And as he is out most of the day I make sure that he has some out and about too.

You are correct about the dust, it is just where he is eating and grinding the pellets up. There will always be some residue I think, but it is up to you to satisfy yourself how much he is eating.

Once Percy was crossed over and settled on the pellets and I knew how much he was eating, I re-introduced some seeds as a treat and he also has fruit, veg, pasta, noodle, rice a little, but his main diet is Harrisons.

Sprouting seeds is fun I love it, but Percy never liked or took to them, now I have read this thread I will try again, see if he might have a go, especially if he sees me having a much of them. BTW I ate Harrisons too in the early days to encourage Percy! (Yum yum : p )

You have to be aware of hygiene around the sprouting seeds if I remember rightly because of bacterias and certain stages.

I am in UK and got mine from here and they were very helpful too with advice:

Bird Mixtures for Soaking - Sprouting Seeds

Hope this helps a bit!?

Ducati loves peppers. Any kind of pepper too. Bell pepper, jalapenos, I have some habaneros but I haven't put them in for him yet. He's not too fond of carrots but he'll eat them at the very end of his food. He likes couscous (plain, no butter). Right now the only fruits he likes are bananas and apples. I might make a fruit version of his chop in an attempt to get him to explore more fruits so I can use that for his occasional pig out treat.