Millet Confusion

Hello,
I am a bit confused with millet, One vet said it was ok to feed a strand a day, then the other vet said only one or two of the little millet balls for a treat. I am worried now that Poptart is addicted to the millet. He LOVES it and if there is none in his cage he goes crazy. I have him on the pellets & no seed. He enjoys eating but I am worried he is not eating enough of his pellets.

Any suggestions on what I should do to maybe wean him off the crack (The vet called it that LOL) She really didn't give me any ideas but scared me and said they sometimes starve themselves if they don't like their food! So now I am a wreck and afraid not to give him millet. I have only had him 3 months, I am still a newbie for sure! This site has helped me so much.

Thanks!

Take the millet out. Offer pellets and a variety of other foods, veges, fruits. He is young and He will eat! He won't go nuts for too long
I give Larry pellets and veges & fruit during the day. In the evening he gets 'a little' of another conure mix that also contains pellets, with no seed.
Offer the millet once or twice a week once he is eating his pellets, either a small spray (I cut them to around 2 or 3 inches length) or nutriberries. Mine loves the tropical fruit nutriberries

I'd like to say that Larry was getting addicted to millet as is your bird and that is how I broke him. Cold Turkey!
I'd also like to add that I offer two sizes of pellets. (I use Roudybush pellets, mini and small) I mix the mini in with the mix that contains no seeds. I offer the small size pellets all day and all night 24/7
I offer a small piece of millet spray one or two days a week or/ I offer a nutriberrie instead
I am not a vet and this is just how I feed my bird. It works for us.

Another way to do it would be to put bits of millet spray in with his other food and gradually remove a little every day until he is just eating the pellets and mix without seed. Good Luck.

You can start weaning back the millet & at the same time, count the pellets you put in his feed dish and rather than leave pellets & millet all the time, start mealtimes, where you leave one millet ball at a time and maybe 50 pellets for breakfast and the same for the next two meals.....keep a log of how many pellets are left at each meal change.....after 2-3 days, you should have a pretty good idea of her pellet consumption.

As you're counting pellets, you should start cutting back on his millet, maybe cutting a ball in half for 3-5 days, giving him a half at each meal (this all depends on what he's been getting), then the following week, go to thirds and on the third week, quarters.....I might also start trying fresh veggies & a couple of pieces of fruit...you'll have to do a bit of trying, even letting him eat off your plate, while making big deals out of eating this food or that...'tiels, like most parrots are big on attention & want to be part of the fun.....

Good luck.....

Thanks for all the ideas! He is just a baby 6 months old and he won't eat anything until I pretend to eat it first LOL. I give him a strand a day of millet so What I will do is make it smaller and smaller until I only give it as a treat. I will get some veggies and fruit along with the pellets. I appreciate the help

Taking away the millet for a while may be a good idea... My vet is literally the best in the West (recommended by all the parrot shops) and she said that millet is like eating French Fry's. It tastes great but is not good and fattening. When I took away the seed from Lilo she protested and didn't eat her pellets and birds can and will starve themselves to death! So just put it back UNLESS your vet said to take it away then I guess do what ever you like, I don't want to go against your vet because hey I don't know every health thing about birds! At all! But it is good for a treat! Sometimes! It all depends on your vet because I am so not an avian vet!!! Good luck on your cute bird! And I love the name poptart btw!

hgr1374 said:

he won't eat anything until I pretend to eat it first LOL.

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That has NEVER worked for me *personally*, and with SEVERAL different birds over the years. Never. I still try to do it and pretend I'm loving it, but they just stare at me blankly and if they don't want something they won't eat it for anything! LOL

I usually don't feed millet because the tiny hulls make a huge mess. Sometimes when it's given it me I'll use it, but I never buy it myself. I prefer Nutriberries as a more nutritious treat. Everyone loves the El Paso blend.

RavensGryf said:

That has NEVER worked for me *personally*, and with SEVERAL different birds over the years. Never. I still try to do it and pretend I'm loving it, but they just stare at me blankly and if they don't want something they won't eat it for anything! LOL

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Julie, your birds crack me up! I always laugh when reading your accounts of how your birds react to different things you've tried, because it always ends with, "...but they just stare at me blankly." Hahaha! A band of stoics, for sure!