Addicted to spray millet

[Maria_Metropolis]

My new cockatiel who is now around 8 weeks old is addicted to spray millet. I had him on two formula hand feedings a day, and now the vet wants me to make it one hand feeding in the evening. I know this fills him up but he hardly touches his regular feed mixture, and only wants spray millet all day. If I take the spray millet out of his cage, will he eventually eat his feed mix?


Right now it's Kaytee cockatiel mix, which the breeder gave me because that's what he was familiar with, in which I added some uncooked quinoa and chia sees (going to eventually get him on a better diet). He won't touch the pellets.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

Good news is that the vet says he's doing great.

 

[GaryBV]

I"m so glad he's doing well and you seem to happy with him. My birds love millet sprays also and I swear would eat just that if I would let them. So what I do is I put nutri-berries and avi-cakes in the millet holder - both are a mixture of pellets and seed- along with about 1/4th to 1/5th of a millet spray at the top (so they have to climb up to get it). The end result is the birds at getting great nutrition and learning to eat other than just the millet. I did notice also that there is a new kind of nutri-berry - one maybe I just never noticed before - called 'pellet-berries'.

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

Thanks Gary, I bought a bunch of goldenfeast food for him too, and herbs, greens made for cockatiels, but he still prefers the spray millet. I have to find some food foraging toys, and maybe I'll try the nutriberries.

 

[crimson]

When I first got 8-ball, just about a month ago, I got him for breeding purposes.
the first 24 hours he never ate....nothing, no seed,veggies, NOTHING.
I contacted his owner to ask what he was feeding him, and to my shock and dismay he told me millet, and sunflower seeds. needless to say I was shocked.

so, I put him in with 4 of my females, who INHALE veggies, etc....and within 2 days he was eating very well and still is!

just keep at it, you might want to try crumbling the millet on top of his regular food, but do not give him any more millet as a whole.
millet

he will not starve himself to death, but they are stubborn. like Gary said Nutri-Berries might be a good alternative as well....just keep at it.

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

Thanks Crimson, I was just worried if he was like my 7 year old son, who would rather starve than eat what I give him. LOL!

I'll take the millet out and hopefully, eventually, he'll eat the mix I give him. Putting a little millet on top is a good idea !!

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

Well, I took the large sprigs of spray millet out of his cage, and just put a few tiny pieces on top of his golden feast fruit, legume, and herb mixture, and he's been foraging through that, so hopefully this is a good sign he'll start eating other things. I hope!! At least he's eating and drinking. He's 3 ounces per the vet, which is a good weight for a 7/8 week old baby.

 

[cassiepengo]

im glad hes doing well you can gradually change his diet over. ive heard people powder up the spray and mix it with other seeds.most birds are really greedy for millet, and they cant separate it, so they just eat the whole thing. im not sure if he's gonna fall for it, he sounds really intelligent!! lol

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

Thanks,
I put his food on the table too so he can eat with us, and not just in his cage. I put it in a paper plate and he forages through there, so I can gauge what he's eating. I grind up a lot of food for him because some tiny morsels can still be difficult for him to eat since he's so young. I check his crop every day (he hates when I touch him there, LOL!).

I only give him some spray millet at night before bed time so he's full before sleeping, along with his one hand feeding. He poops every ten to twenty minutes, so it seems he's eating well. I throw in a veggie, part of an egg, piece of fruit from time to time, but he loves his seeds. I also crush up a little bit of pellet for him.

Right now I give him a mix of Goldenfeast legume blend, Australian blend, and fruit, veggie, nut blend, a little bit of ground up Zupreem pellets, sprinkle of spirulina and paprika, some quinoa, steel cut oats (tiny), and twinbeaks aviary herb blend.

So if anyone has any more nutritional advice, or if you need to tell me I'm doing something wrong, please do. I'm here to learn. Thanks!!

 

[cassiepengo]

wellll i know nothing about cockateils. i cant really tell you much. i found this thing... you say "healthy table foods- cockatiel cottage" ( so sorry!! my comp cant get the links) im not sure if this is what ur looking for, but just check it out