Parrot wont eat Harrisons and Rowdybush

[NorrisB]

I have a meyers parrot that I was feeding eggcite this product Bird food: Kaytee Egg-Cite Conure food from Drs. Foster & Smith he would only eat sunflower seeds after he flew into my car so this was a big improvement. Than he broke his foot (I think he fell off the cage I had a blanket on the cage and he was hanging off of it to chew the dry wall, bad move on my part) a couple months ago and the Dr said his diet was bad and suggested 1/3 Harrisons bird food, 1/3 cockateel mix and 1/3 Rowdybush. All he eats is the cockateel, he hasnt touched the Rowdy bush or the Harrisons. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[roxynoodle]

You could try one of the colored pellets like the Zupreem Fruitblend. That was the only one I could get my Blue Crown conure to try.

If the bird is interested in what you eat and you share your food with it, try putting some of the pellets on a plate and eating them yourself in front of the bird. I know you may not want to eat pellets, lol, but it worked immediately for me to get Rowdy to eat them. They are pretty dry, but not horrible, lol! My Blue Crown wasn't so easily convinced though and it took me awhile to get her to taste one.

I do also think that when a bird becomes a seed junkie the best thing to do is not give them seed anymore once you get them on pellets. Otherwise they will always eat the seed first.

You could also try Nutriberries. At least the seeds are shelled so the vitamins and mineral actually get into the bird.

 

[NorrisB]

Isnt anything with dye bad for them because it has to be cleansed by their kidneys?

 

[roxynoodle]

I know some people here are very anti the dye, but my vet says the Zupreem is fine if that is what they want to eat. She prefers Harrison's, but she also feels eating pellets is 100% better than eating seeds. She is also one of Lafeeber's nutritional consultants and thinks Nutriberries are perfectly fine as well.

 

[roxynoodle]

This is my vet if you'd like to read about her. I'm actually very lucky to have such a vet in my area:

Dr. Susan E. Orosz, PhD, DVM, Dipl ABVP & Dipl ECAMS Veterinary Consultant | Lafeber Pet Bird Food

 

[Spiritbird]

Where does the bird get sunflower seeds? If you are giving them to him than please stop. If you put the Harrisons or other pellets of your choice in the cage with NO OTHER FOODS he will eventually eat them. He will not starve either. It is kind of a tough love. I and others fed Bountiful Harvest for small birds along with the pellets in a separate dish and had no problems switching over. The BH food is a custom blend sold by mysafebirdstore.com

 

[Bobioden]

My Maxx HATES Zupreem Fruitblends, I put them in his foraging toys to get rid of them and he just THROWS them to the bottom of this cage. Roudybush Crumbles is his favorite.

 

[Bobioden]

You need to start mixing them 50/50 and gradually start weaning them from the seed mix. 60/40, 70/30, you get the theory.
Do this over a period of time, and eventually just have all pellets. They will eat them. As long as you are giving seeds, that is what they will want to eat.

 

[roxynoodle]

My Maxx HATES Zupreem Fruitblends, I put them in his foraging toys to get rid of them and he just THROWS them to the bottom of this cage. Roudybush Crumbles is his favorite.

Ok, but see? Some birds really DO hate some pellets I could not get my BCC to try the Harrison's. But, my amazon wouldn't really try the Zupreem. He ate a purple one once. However, he was picking up the Harrison's and eating them even though he had never seen it before. And he is a bird that can literally act afraid of a new food.

I think sometimes size of pellets has something to do with it as well. Some birds like littler pellets and some like big pellets they can hold in their foot.

 

[Bobioden]

My Maxx HATES Zupreem Fruitblends, I put them in his foraging toys to get rid of them and he just THROWS them to the bottom of this cage. Roudybush Crumbles is his favorite.

Ok, but see? Some birds really DO hate some pellets I could not get my BCC to try the Harrison's. But, my amazon wouldn't really try the Zupreem. He ate a purple one once. However, he was picking up the Harrison's and eating them even though he had never seen it before. And he is a bird that can literally act afraid of a new food.

I think sometimes size of pellets has something to do with it as well. Some birds like littler pellets and some like big pellets they can hold in their foot.

For Roudybush the recommended size for a GCC is the mini size, I tried those and Maxx ended up dropping the majority of them. I switched to the Crumbles and it seems to be the perfect size for him.

 

[NorrisB]

I was finally able to feed my bird the Harrison's and the Roudy Bush. I removed all the cockatiel seed and he didnt touch the Harrison's or the Roudy Bush for 8 hrs, so I broke up a piece of the Harrison's and gently forced it into his mouth. He spit it out but ate some of it and seemed to like it, than I keep doing that but started making the pieces bigger, than at the end he ate an entire pelit out of my hand. I think the problem was he didnt realize it was food, and me hand feeding him helped that. Thanks Spiritbird and all those who replied.

 

[MissyMe83]

Glad to hear it : )

 

[roxynoodle]

No, they often don't realize it's food. That's why if they see you eat it, it often helps, for anyone else reading this. I just had to eat a few, which got Rowdy all interested and begging for it. Then I handed her one through the bars and she ate it, then put it in her dish and she started eating it and that was that.

 

[NorrisB]

No, they often don't realize it's food. That's why if they see you eat it, it often helps, for anyone else reading this. I just had to eat a few, which got Rowdy all interested and begging for it. Then I handed her one through the bars and she ate it, then put it in her dish and she started eating it and that was that.

are you going to retry feeding your bird the harrisons like I did?

 

[roxynoodle]

No, they often don't realize it's food. That's why if they see you eat it, it often helps, for anyone else reading this. I just had to eat a few, which got Rowdy all interested and begging for it. Then I handed her one through the bars and she ate it, then put it in her dish and she started eating it and that was that.

are you going to retry feeding your bird the harrisons like I did?

I'm thinking about it. Although I may need to go down one size on the pellets as she is much smaller than the other 2 birds. So far she will get jealous of my giving them the other food, but then when I give her some she ignores it. She has been on the Zupreem for more than 10 years now. I think she doesn't remember the Harrison's anymore. I may have to try the eating it myself again.

 

[NorrisB]

try crushing it and forcing it into her mouth so she tastes it like I did