best tiel diet?

hi. I'm new to keeping tiels. got a pair of 7 yr. olds from a bird rescue. they look good and love their seed but won't eat anything else. tried veggies and fruit and they won't touch it. it worries me that they aren't getting a balanced diet. should i remove the seed and just offer the fruit/ veggie mix for awhile to get them used to it? tried mixing w/ their seed but they just eat around it. any advice appreciated.

Have you looked through some of our stickies? Some AWESOME information can be found in them.

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thunderwings said:

hi. I'm new to keeping tiels. got a pair of 7 yr. olds from a bird rescue. they look good and love their seed but won't eat anything else. tried veggies and fruit and they won't touch it. it worries me that they aren't getting a balanced diet. should i remove the seed and just offer the fruit/ veggie mix for awhile to get them used to it? tried mixing w/ their seed but they just eat around it. any advice appreciated.

Click to expand...

My goodness, why not take the time to study a bit and give your birds a chance to orient themselves to their new environment. The links Wendy provided in the above post are filled with valuable wisdom. You should read it all, it covers a lot of your questions.

You really can't expect your cockatiels to magically transform into amazing companions, well trained and well-fed immediately after their arrival. A little patience would be helpful.

Agreed, give them a chance to settle in first, but good job knowing they need something else.

I have been able to transition many cockatiels and budgies, and here are my main tips.
First, realize that tiels are "not quite the same" as other parrots in a lot of ways, and diet is one of them. In the wild they feed on grass seeds, levels, and other things that grow on the ground unlike say, conures, which feed mostly in trees. They have different tendencies and different nutrient requirements, and they are harder to transition to fresh food.

The surest way that I have found is to simply start sprouting their seed mix. I actually think it works better to sprout budgie mixes in this case. There are tons of pages here and elsewhere on the web that can show you how to sprout, and it is pretty easy! I have never had a single budgie or cockatiel (which are in my opinion the hardest to convert) refuse sprouts, just be sure you are not allowing them to spoil in the dish.

After your bird has learned to eat sprouts, chop up the veggies you want them to eat into teeny tiny itty bitty seed sized pieces and mix them in. I suggest peppers, carrots, fresh green beans, and broccoli for starters.

Also, start adding food as toys. I particularly like to give kale leaves and broccoli florets to my tiels because they seem to like them a lot compared to other foods. Also, don't be alarmed if your tiels really never get into the fruit that much; for some reason tiels seem more into veggies which are better for them anyway.

Keep in mind that the natural diet of tiels includes some dry seed in the wild, and should never be completely eliminated from the diet. Dry seeds mixed in to other food 2-3 times a week is plenty though, or better yet just use millet as a training treat

A lot of people like to feed pellets. I personally believe fresh is best but I ALSO think it is best that every parrot learn to eat pellets because pellets are way better than seeds alone and I think it is always wise to make sure our birds are comfortable with them in case the birds move on to another home, even temporarily, and the new home is not willing to feed fresh. I also suggest NOT EVEN TRYING to introduce pellets until your birds are happily eating fresh without any fuss; too muc change too fast is hard on them. Do not mix the pellets with the fresh food unless you can be SURE to remove it in an hour or LESS because wet pellets are a breeding ground for germs,

When I teach my birds to eat pellets. They have already learned through the fresh food to eat strange things in their bowl. I simply feed the pellets cold turkey, at least one size smaller than the recommended, and that seems to really help. For example, if they are tiels, I feed the budgie size. It slashes waste and seems to be easier for them to eat. I feed the pellets only for two days, watching carefully to see if they are eating. Always replace the pellets daily, even if they are not gone. Stale pellets are gross (my birdies told me). I have never had a bird who was already transitioned solidly to fresh food reject pellets, but every bird who was still on seed has for me unless they ate pellets at weaning.

Best of luck with your new buddies! Best to get a healthy weight record for them and weigh them at least weekly at first to keep an eye out for any problems especially with the diet change.

The first few MONTHS with my tiel he would not touch people food except for trying to steal my Pringles. I offered every day. Finally about a month ago he began eating only cooked food. About a week ago I was lazy and didn't cook it. He ate it. His favorite is carrots. I do let him have half of a pretzel stick with me but I pick off all of the salt first.

He also likes nuts. I buy them from the baking section so they are just nuts.

Also just so you know I was able to get a semi tame tiel. He already knew how to step up. For a long time he sat with me every day. Two weeks ago he started ignoring me and flying away.

Yesterday he came over for food. Ate and left. Today he came over even though I had no food.he doesn't like to be touched much.

Allee said:

thunderwings said:

hi. I'm new to keeping tiels. got a pair of 7 yr. olds from a bird rescue. they look good and love their seed but won't eat anything else. tried veggies and fruit and they won't touch it. it worries me that they aren't getting a balanced diet. should i remove the seed and just offer the fruit/ veggie mix for awhile to get them used to it? tried mixing w/ their seed but they just eat around it. any advice appreciated.

Click to expand...

My goodness, why not take the time to study a bit and give your birds a chance to orient themselves to their new environment. The links Wendy provided in the above post are filled with valuable wisdom. You should read it all, it covers a lot of your questions.

You really can't expect your cockatiels to magically transform into amazing companions, well trained and well-fed immediately after their arrival. A little patience would be helpful.

Click to expand...

i have lots of patience. I've had them for 2 weeks now and they have come a long way in their socialization w/ me in that time. they come out of their cage on their own and i have no problem returning them to their cage. I've tried several times to give them fresh veggies and fruit. I'm concerned that they aren't getting the right foods. can't blame me for that. i spend hours w/ these birds a day so i have plenty of patience. i will check out these other threads. i just haven't had the time today to do it yet. thanks for pointing out where to look. thats why i asked here first. i appreciate it!