Getting 22 year old conure to eat pellets

[Conure10]

Our 22 year old Sun Conure has been acting strange so we took it to an Avian vet. The vet took blood for tests, results should be available in 3 days.

I had given our beloved conure some strawberries which I had washed, but fear he may have gotten some insecticide. I won't do this again.

Our vet said our bird would benefit from being on a diet of Harrison's food pellets.

I need advice on how to get a bird that has eaten seeds and human food for 22 years to start eating these "pellets".

Thanks for any help.

 

[Ecclipse]

Hi there, I hope the test results come through ok and your conure is on the mend in no time. When I introduced my parrot to pellets I pretended to eat them and went on about how yummy they were, I then offered him the pellet as a treat and used to put him on my shoulder when I was eating and when he wanted something too I would give him the pellet. I also mixed the pellets with the seed mix. Hugo was only a year then and not as old as your conure. I was lucky, it only took my 3 days to wean him onto the pellets. Im sure others on the forum have other great ideas on getting your lil fella onto pellets. I hope this helps

 

[genevieve]

Luckily my Meyer's parrot was on pellets when I bought him and the lovebird I used to have made the switch easily. However, others have suggested starting with a mix of 25% pellets to 75% seed. Staying that way for a few weeks, then switching to 50/50. And of course continuing to 75% pellets, and then eventually 100%. It could take a month or two and I bet you'll see a lot of pellets on the bottom of the cage at first.

Another user also suggested mixing the pellets with some juice.

 

[Riley's mom]

I wish you the best of luck with that. It's going to have to be a gradual transition. And it may not be Harrison's that your bird will eat. Most all vets recomment that, including the vet I work for, but not all birds will eat Harrison's. None of mine will touch it. You can try getting small bags of different kinds and just see which kind your bird likes best. I don't recommend cutting out seeds altogether. They do need some seeds in their diets. No sunflower seeds tho. Good luck to you.

 

[birdcrazy]

U can also try zupreem - they smell better to me than harrisons or kaytee LOL and my birds seem to like them the best. They come in a natural, fruit blend, and spicey varieties and various sizes and shapes. Also a bit cheaper depending where you go.

 

[Spiritbird]

I have been to 2 avain vets and they both liked Harrisons. With a senior bird who never ate pellets it will be difficult to change. It took me about 2 weeks but that was with a young bird. Look on the site of Winged Wisdom and read about this subject. Harrisons are expensive too but the best in my opinion. Good luck.

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww26e.htm

 

[Parkep]

you could try in the mean time putting crushed pellet in a birdie bread.

 

[Conure10]

I want to thank all of you for your suggestions for feeding our conure the pellets. We have tried the simple approach of just putting them in his bowl but he has been ignoring them, so we will now move on to your suggestions. Thanks very much!

As for its problem, it's getting better but still has bouts of fright and leg weakness, followed by grooming the leg and staring out into space a couple of times a day. We are expecting the blood and stool sample results tomorrow, and hoping that will tell us something. It's very disturbing for us, and clearly for him, but we think he's getting better.