The old pellet question…

[Jcas]

Hi all,
So I know the topic of transitioning birds from seeds to pellets seem to come up on this forum just about every week, but I swear I’ve read almost every thread on this topic and I’m still stumped. Ever since I got JJ just over a year ago he has had kind of rough plumage and he also suffers from occasional seizures. There is a good chance both of these things are linked to dietary deficiencies. He came to me with a taste for seeds and human junk food. I’ve tried every trick under the sun to get him to eat fresh veggies with almost no success. I continue to try, but I also thought that getting him to eat some fortified pellets rather than just seeds would also be good. I’ve been trying to get him to eat pellets for about 6-7 months now and no dice.

I have learned three things:
Pellet size matters. He definitely has more interest in small ( but not too small!) pellets.

If he doesn’t like something right away, forget it. He never seems to acquire a taste.

JJ seems to be one of those rare birds who would rather starve than eat something he doesn’t like. I’m serious.

I’ve tried Tops ( he will nibble at these a little) Harrison’s ( hates them with a passion) Zupreem naturals ( takes them from my hand then drops them) and Nutriberries ( chucks them out of his dish).

I’ve tried:
Mixing pellets with seed.
Offering pellets in a separate dish.
Hand feeding pellets.
Pretending to eat pellets.
Offering only pellets in the morning when he’s hungriest.

Offering a variety of pellets.
Mixing seeds with wet pellet mash ( some succces).

Putting pellets in his favorite eating spot and seeds in his least favorite spot.

Sprinkling pellets on the floor of his cage for him to “ forage.”

Any suggestions on different pellet brands to try or tips/ tricks to get him eating pellets? Do some birds never, ever like pellets? Should I just focus on getting him to eat veggies? Thanks a million to anyone who has read this very long post!!!❤️

 

[LaManuka]

Hi all,
So I know the topic of transitioning birds from seeds to pellets seem to come up on this forum just about every week, but I swear I’ve read almost every thread on this topic and I’m still stumped. Ever since I got JJ just over a year ago he has had kind of rough plumage and he also suffers from occasional seizures. There is a good chance both of these things are linked to dietary deficiencies. He came to me with a taste for seeds and human junk food. I’ve tried every trick under the sun to get him to eat fresh veggies with almost no success. I continue to try, but I also thought that getting him to eat some fortified pellets rather than just seeds would also be good. I’ve been trying to get him to eat pellets for about 6-7 months now and no dice.

I have learned three things:
Pellet size matters. He definitely has more interest in small ( but not too small!) pellets.

If he doesn’t like something right away, forget it. He never seems to acquire a taste.

JJ seems to be one of those rare birds who would rather starve than eat something he doesn’t like. I’m serious.

I’ve tried Tops ( he will nibble at these a little) Harrison’s ( hates them with a passion) Zupreem naturals ( takes them from my hand then drops them) and Nutriberries ( chucks them out of his dish).

I’ve tried:
Mixing pellets with seed.
Offering pellets in a separate dish.
Hand feeding pellets.
Pretending to eat pellets.
Offering only pellets in the morning when he’s hungriest.

Offering a variety of pellets.
Mixing seeds with wet pellet mash ( some succces).

Putting pellets in his favorite eating spot and seeds in his least favorite spot.

Sprinkling pellets on the floor of his cage for him to “ forage.”

Any suggestions on different pellet brands to try or tips/ tricks to get him eating pellets? Do some birds never, ever like pellets? Should I just focus on getting him to eat veggies? Thanks a million to anyone who has read this very long post!!!❤️

I once had a cockatiel who was a bit like JJ, she absolutely refused any and all attempts to transition and really would rather have starved than recognise pellets as food!! I tried every trick in the book and as advised by my bird vet too with no luck whatsoever. The thing that finally worked for me was grinding up the pellets into a fine powder in a mortar and pestle and sprinkling that over her regular food, which was seeds at the time. BINGO!!! That way she got accustomed to the taste and over the course of about a week I gradually left the particles a bit bigger and BOOM she was suddenly eating them like she'd done so all her life!! Now as you say, JJ has already decided he doesn't like the taste so he may be a bit more fussy that way and you might have to try a few different brands, but maybe that might work for you?

Wishing you success!!

 

[Jcas]

Thanks for the idea! I haven’t tried that yet, but I will! May I ask What pellet you used for your cockatiel?

 

[LaManuka]

Thanks for the idea! I haven’t tried that yet, but I will! May I ask What pellet you used for your cockatiel?

You're most welcome! They're on Vetafarm Mini I've tried them on Harrisons and TOPS, they hated them!!

 

[Saravp]

Ok i know this idea wont be popular, but here goes.
No food is better than the food they were built to eat if they were in the wild. If your bird is refusing to eat the pellets it's usually because they taste bland or just yuck. I can't say exactly what to feed JJ as you didn't mention what type of bird he is but usually a good diet of seeds and fruit and veg is always better than pellets. To get him to eat veg you can try a few things, like removing all his usual food from the cage until he is hungry then push some seeds into the vegetables so he has to eat through a bit of the vegetable until he gets to the seeds, or soak the vegetables in something sweet like honey (Make sure to check if it's ok for JJ's species to eat honey before you try this) or rub millet spray over the vegetables so it smells like it. Just get creative, there are infinite ways to get them to eat fruit and veg, some birds only respond to one, you just have to find it.

 

[Jcas]

Ok i know this idea wont be popular, but here goes.
No food is better than the food they were built to eat if they were in the wild. If your bird is refusing to eat the pellets it's usually because they taste bland or just yuck. I can't say exactly what to feed JJ as you didn't mention what type of bird he is but usually a good diet of seeds and fruit and veg is always better than pellets. To get him to eat veg you can try a few things, like removing all his usual food from the cage until he is hungry then push some seeds into the vegetables so he has to eat through a bit of the vegetable until he gets to the seeds, or soak the vegetables in something sweet like honey (Make sure to check if it's ok for JJ's species to eat honey before you try this) or rub millet spray over the vegetables so it smells like it. Just get creative, there are infinite ways to get them to eat fruit and veg, some birds only respond to one, you just have to find it.

Thanks for the thoughts! Unfortunately I have been trying to get JJ to eat fruits/ vegetables for over a year and nothing has worked. I do sprinkle seeds in his veggie chop each morning so that he has to dig through the veggies to get at the seeds but he still doesn’t eat enough vegetables to account for a reasonable part of his diet. If he ate lots of veggies I would be thrilled and wouldn’t really be worried about him eating pellets, but he doesn’t. I’ve introduced other birds to eating fresh vegetables with out too much difficulty. JJ is just an unusual case 🫤

 

[Saravp]

Thanks for the thoughts! Unfortunately I have been trying to get JJ to eat fruits/ vegetables for over a year and nothing has worked. I do sprinkle seeds in his veggie chop each morning so that he has to dig through the veggies to get at the seeds but he still doesn’t eat enough vegetables to account for a reasonable part of his diet. If he ate lots of veggies I would be thrilled and wouldn’t really be worried about him eating pellets, but he doesn’t. I’ve introduced other birds to eating fresh vegetables with out too much difficulty. JJ is just an unusual case 🫤

Hmm I see, In that case i'm not sure what can be tried, sorry
Best of luck though

 

[DonnaBudgie]

You're most welcome! They're on Vetafarm Mini I've tried them on Harrisons and TOPS, they hated them!!

I really think you need to start them on pellets when they are learning to eat on their own, preferably during weaning. Breeders who don't do this and just wean them onto seed are (arguably at least), irresponsible. It's so much harder to convert them later. For budgies, cockatiels and other birds that eat a lot of grass seeds in the wild, pellets simply are not recognized by them as a natural food. I believe it does help if they share cages with other birds that eagerly eat pellets.
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[Jcas]

Since I know very little of JJ’s past history I don’t know what kind of breeder he came from. He came to me with some of the food he had been eating which was Vitamix seed blend, but I don’t know if that’s what he always ate 🤷‍♀️. Since he does nibble at the TOPs pellets, I think he knows that pellets are food; he just doesn’t like them, lol! I’ve always gotten younger birds. JJ is a senior and seems very set in his ways 😅. I’ll keep trying though!

 

[Inti's woman]

Since I know very little of JJ’s past history I don’t know what kind of breeder he came from. He came to me with some of the food he had been eating which was Vitamix seed blend, but I don’t know if that’s what he always ate 🤷‍♀️. Since he does nibble at the TOPs pellets, I think he knows that pellets are food; he just doesn’t like them, lol! I’ve always gotten younger birds. JJ is a senior and seems very set in his ways 😅. I’ll keep trying though!

Just like in dog/cat foid and human supermarketfood, you never know what's in them. my bird was used to pallets (breeder), but when I read the etiquettes it's mostly bad stuff!!! First mentionned on an etiquette is te most present.
I'm afraid it's a commercial thing. However, I keep giving some in case there's something good in it, but the morning starts with healthy veggies, fruits etc. most out of our garden.

So, in my opinion, don't take it too serious.
I had in de past a cockateel who became 18 years old. He only wanted to eat his seeds.

 

[Free as a bird]

JJ is like my cockatiel, rejects fake food and will only eat real food. Good on JJ for standing up for itself and refusing human made processed crap
😂

Pellets are mostly made from seeds anyway which cracks me up
😂😂

It's like "oh seeds are bad for my seed eating bird so I better feed it pellets instead which are made from seeds"
😂😂😂

Can you please post a picture of the seed eating culprit

 

[Niner10Tango]

Thanks for the idea! I haven’t tried that yet, but I will! May I ask What pellet you used for your cockatiel?

I use Roudybush (Mini) mixed with his seed. I consider myself very lucky because he eats both.

I wish you the best of luck. Birds can be stubborn when it comes to pellet.

 

[Jcas]

JJ is like my cockatiel, rejects fake food and will only eat real food. Good on JJ for standing up for itself and refusing human made processed crap
😂

Pellets are mostly made from seeds anyway which cracks me up
😂😂

It's like "oh seeds are bad for my seed eating bird so I better feed it pellets instead which are made from seeds"
😂😂😂

Can you please post a picture of the seed eating culprit

Free as a Bird,
I’m all in favor of birds eating seeds; as long as that’s working for them. My budgies basically eat seeds and veggies and they do great on that diet. JJ, however, is not doing great on only seeds; he has some health issues that appear to be a result of him missing some key vitamins that are not found in seeds and I’ve had little success in getting him to eat fresh fruits or veggies. I feel I would be remiss to not try some alternatives to see if that helps JJ. It’s like with my dogs, I’ve fed them a chicken and rice based dog food for years and they have always done well on that but my Mom has a dog who is extremely allergic to chicken and eats salmon dog food. If I told her she should just feed her dog chicken because my dog is doing well on it, that would be foolish. I try to treat each animal as an individual rather than having a one size fits all approach. ❤️

 

[Jcas]

You can see in this picture how JJ’s feathers are a bit rough. This is shortly after I got him and he looks a little better now, but still not sleek and smooth.

 

[Jcas]

Free as a Bird, here he is making a mess with his seeds 😅

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Free as a Bird,
I’m all in favor of birds eating seeds; as long as that’s working for them. My budgies basically eat seeds and veggies and they do great on that diet. JJ, however, is not doing great on only seeds; he has some health issues that appear to be a result of him missing some key vitamins that are not found in seeds and I’ve had little success in getting him to eat fresh fruits or veggies. I feel I would be remiss to not try some alternatives to see if that helps JJ. It’s like with my dogs, I’ve fed them a chicken and rice based dog food for years and they have always done well on that but my Mom has a dog who is extremely allergic to chicken and eats salmon dog food. If I told her she should just feed her dog chicken because my dog is doing well on it, that would be foolish. I try to treat each animal as an individual rather than having a one size fits all approach. ❤️

I'm allergic to eggs, chicken and turkey and lots of environmental things. Animals, including birds can have allergies, too. What I wonder is whether they can be allergic to HUMANS! Wouldn't that be awful!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

View attachment 56189
Free as a Bird, here he is making a mess with his seeds 😅

A damn proud maker! My Rocky would be proud!
JJ's cage looks like some of mine I bought on Amazon. What size is it?

I'm allergic to some of the seeds in your typical small bird mixes, too. Not sure which ones.

 

[Jcas]

DonnaBudgie it’s a double flight/breeder cage with a removable divider ( which I leave out so JJ has use of the full cage) about 48” long, 30” high, and 18” deep. It’s by Mcage ( though I think Pawhut and Yaheetech sell the same cage at a higher price). I did buy it on Amazon 🙂.

 

[Free as a bird]

Free as a Bird,
I’m all in favor of birds eating seeds; as long as that’s working for them. My budgies basically eat seeds and veggies and they do great on that diet. JJ, however, is not doing great on only seeds; he has some health issues that appear to be a result of him missing some key vitamins that are not found in seeds and I’ve had little success in getting him to eat fresh fruits or veggies. I feel I would be remiss to not try some alternatives to see if that helps JJ. It’s like with my dogs, I’ve fed them a chicken and rice based dog food for years and they have always done well on that but my Mom has a dog who is extremely allergic to chicken and eats salmon dog food. If I told her she should just feed her dog chicken because my dog is doing well on it, that would be foolish. I try to treat each animal as an individual rather than having a one size fits all approach. ❤️

Fair enough I try to introduce pellets and other foods into my birds diet for any extra vitamins as well.

Some people try to replace seeds for pellets. I disagree with that. My vet said to add pellets to their diet not replace seeds for pellets.

Also we can't be sure why your birds plumage is rough. I hope it gets better

 

[Jcas]

Fair enough I try to introduce pellets and other foods into my birds diet for any extra vitamins as well.

Some people try to replace seeds for pellets. I disagree with that. My vet said to add pellets to their diet not replace seeds for pellets.

Also we can't be sure why your birds l plumage is rough. I hope it gets better

Yes, I’m definitely not trying to eliminate seeds from his diet just trying to get his diet a little more balanced. As you can see from the second picture, he really enjoys his seeds 😄. Changing him to a higher quality seed blend has helped improve his feathers some, so I’m hoping it’s diet related, but time will tell.