how do you like my new idea for converting my budgie to eat parrots instead of seeds?

[Sarvesh]

i done a ton of reading and listened to other people's experiences, from what I saw birds in general love either harrisons or zupreem fruit blend. so what if i mixed a spoon full of harrisons with a spoon full of zupreem and put it in her cage in the morning, then near the end of the day see which one she ate and go from there?

my conure seems to love harrisons with no problem, but my parakeet throws them on the floor, so maybe she will like zupreem. i hear harrisons is better than zupreem cus its more organic and natural, but zupreem is still miles ahead of regular seed/blends. i saw some professional parrot people (ppp) with african grays and etc on youtube that feed their parrots zupreem fruit blend

 

[WilliamKenyon]

How small are the pellets that you are trying to feed your budgie since budgies have such small beaks she may be having trouble breaking the pellets up so she can eat them. For my cockatiel i feed her a brand of pellets called vetafarm parrot essentials which are very small (since i live in Australia they may not be sold where you live). as for converting her you need to make sure that the parrot is healthy and has some fat on them. then you put exclusively pellets into the parrots dish for no more than 12 hours (in this time if the parrots behavior, indicates that it is sick you should not continue, looking for food however is fine though). in this period the bird may begin to eat the pellets. often the bird will not start eating pellets on the first go. A tip with this is to put apple juice on the pellets to make them more enticing to the bird, but remember not to leave them out for more than 3 hours or else germs will start to grow on the food. If the parrot did not eat pellets by the first go try again a week later all the wile mixing in the pellets with its normal food. Then try again. normally the bird will begin to eat the pellets on the second go. repeat this process again if the bird doesn't eat the pellets by this time. This is the method i used to get my cockatiel to eat pellets so i know it works (she now like them more than seed). good luck with this and i hope it works.

 

[4dugnlee]

Your budgie eats parrots? Just kidding...I know what you mean..lol

None of mine would eat the Harrison's. They do get a little of the fruit Zupreem and the Natural Zupreem. They will also eat Roudybush, which is natural.

 

[Sarvesh]

I use harrisons superfine size but unfortunately the zupreeem i have is for medium size birds ill mix them tomorrow and see what happens...she has seen harrisons for a while cus i used to mix it with her food daily. but when i saw her fly to the bottom of her cage and eat her own crap i figured harrisons must taste worse than crap cus her crap had traces of seed in it so gave up

 

[Sarvesh]

How small are the pellets that you are trying to feed your budgie since budgies have such small beaks she may be having trouble breaking the pellets up so she can eat them. For my cockatiel i feed her a brand of pellets called vetafarm parrot essentials which are very small (since i live in Australia they may not be sold where you live). as for converting her you need to make sure that the parrot is healthy and has some fat on them. then you put exclusively pellets into the parrots dish for no more than 12 hours (in this time if the parrots behavior, indicates that it is sick you should not continue, looking for food however is fine though). in this period the bird may begin to eat the pellets. often the bird will not start eating pellets on the first go. A tip with this is to put apple juice on the pellets to make them more enticing to the bird, but remember not to leave them out for more than 3 hours or else germs will start to grow on the food. If the parrot did not eat pellets by the first go try again a week later all the wile mixing in the pellets with its normal food. Then try again. normally the bird will begin to eat the pellets on the second go. repeat this process again if the bird doesn't eat the pellets by this time. This is the method i used to get my cockatiel to eat pellets so i know it works (she now like them more than seed). good luck with this and i hope it works.

that seems like a good idea, simple and makes sense! i declare that from now on until she converts, every thursday will be pellet day!! on the other days i will mix 1 spoon of seed blend with 1 spoon of pellets.

i just took her seeds out and put in 1 spoon of harrisons and 1 spoon of zupreem just in case...and i will leave it this way all day and not give in now matter how much she begs!! if by the end of the day she isnt eating her pellys, tomorrow to next wednesday i will give her 1 spoon seed+1spoon pellet, then try again next thursday


will she be more pretty, active and playful and friendly on pellet diet?

 

[Sarvesh]

hey can i do it this way?

try 100% pellets, if she doesn't eat, next day do 1 spoon pellets, 2 spoon seeds

then day after again try 100% pellets

if she doesn't eat, next day do 1 spoon pellets, 2 spoon seeds

etc... ?

 

[Birdman666]

I was going to say, you cross bred a budgie with a pirahna?!

There's a visual for you. "Look at the cute little... OH MY GOD! IT'S A FLESH EATING MONSTER, AAAAHHH!"

 

[Dinosrawr]

how do you like my new idea for converting my budgie to eat parrots instead o...

Personally I think it's best to simply move away from the Zupreem fruit blend entirely, or at least only use it as a small treat. There's a LOT of sugar in it, and there's not a whole lot of research on how birds manage digesting food dyes (they do know that a yellow food dye we consume causes hyperactivity, for example).

Mixing it in gradually will work, eventually it's just making it so that high quality seed is a part of the diet, but not the only food they consume. Pellets and fresh foods are good as the main part of the diet.

edit: realized you were talking about a budgie, so modified a few sentences

 

[Sarvesh]

thanks guys, im gonna try the EXTRA SMALL zupreem pellets, because i did a lot of reading online and from other discussions in various forums apparently zupreem is like ralph lauren tees, they are marked one size too big. if you wear a medium, you should get a small RL tee shirt, and if you have a budgie you should get the canary/finch zupreem

gonna head to the feed store now, then see what my starving budgie thinks. poor thing hasnt eaten anything all day wish me luck!!

also i see zupreem has a fruit and natural blend, but they say even the fruit is way better than a seed diet, ill start on fruit to get her used to eating pellets then see if she converts to harrisons super fine or zupreem natural

 

[Sarvesh]

OMG GUYS MY BUDGIE IS FINALLY A PELLET EATER!!!!!!!!!!!

it may not seem like a big deal but i have struggled for the last 2 months trying to get her to eat pellets, it was a living hell for both of us!!

but anyways i went and got the extra small zupreem fruit blend pellets (its labled for canaries but my friend also said that the budgie version of zupreem is too big and the canary one is way better) - and within hours she is now a pellet eater DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD


granted i know theres a lot of controversy over the dyes and etc, but at this point im just glad she is on pellets. think maybe in the future i will try to wean over to zupreem natural or try harrison again, but now she is eating pellets so im sure once she spends a month or 2 eating pellets she will get in the habit then accept harrisons

but tbh if the zupreem fruit blend tastes good to her i rather give her that, cus lotta the people say the colors dont really affect them and lot of it is hearsay, but either way im happy she is eating pellets now cus seed blends do not provide enough nutrition and no matter what blend u get they are gonna only pick out the seeds they like and lot of it goes to waste....its so nice to look in her food cup and see it getting empty i prolly wont even have to wash her dishes as often too maybe just 2-3 times a week when i clean her cage DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

its only been a couple hours and i can already tell her feathers look so much more bright and crips DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD she also seems so much more alert and her posture seems better DDDDDDD also im getting better gas mileage in my car and my clothes are fitting better pellets ftw!!! ALSO THIS IS CHEAPER THAN DR HARVEYS AND HEALTHEIER WHY DIDNT I FIND OUT BOUT ZUPREEM XS FRUITBLEND BEFORE??????

 

[Dinosrawr]

It's not so much the dyes, but the sugar that's a big concern. But I do agree, it's better than nothing and is a step in the right direction. Congratulations on getting her to eat them

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

The super fine is the perfect size for your budgie. The regular fine would work for your conure - though either size would be fine for the conure.

I feed Peaches & Skittles the High Potency Fine pellets and they both love them. Skittles also LOVES their power treats. Peaches won't eat them cause they are too hard for her to break apart. She has like zero bite force.

Personally, I don't recommend combing both Zupreem and Harrisons. Harrisons is an 'all-in-one' organic pellet. All the nutrients they need are in those pellets. If Zupreem is not organic (don't know), then you could run into problems. So I would choose one or the other.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

By the way - let me know how your budgie takes to eating parrot.

Skittles will eat chicken, but I've never tried feeding him parrot before.

*I'm just being sarcastic, so you know.

 

[Sarvesh]

The super fine is the perfect size for your budgie. The regular fine would work for your conure - though either size would be fine for the conure.

I feed Peaches & Skittles the High Potency Fine pellets and they both love them. Skittles also LOVES their power treats. Peaches won't eat them cause they are too hard for her to break apart. She has like zero bite force.

Personally, I don't recommend combing both Zupreem and Harrisons. Harrisons is an 'all-in-one' organic pellet. All the nutrients they need are in those pellets. If Zupreem is not organic (don't know), then you could run into problems. So I would choose one or the other.

By the way - let me know how your budgie takes to eating parrot.

Skittles will eat chicken, but I've never tried feeding him parrot before.

*I'm just being sarcastic, so you know.

ROFL!!

the thing is harrison superfine is actually too big! i ended up talking to tons of budgie owners across the country and even though they mark it ok for budgies, its extremely hard to get them to accept it. however this zupreem for canaries is actually HALF the size of harrisons superfine, and budgies take it up quite nicely!

i do wanna get away from the dyes and sugar and etc, so i been looking at roudybush nibles, which is the smallest version of pellet by roudybush.

i did a ton of research and i feel like my bird will accept it, so i will try to either get a sample packet or just order the nibles online. some birds, especially budgies in general are really picky eaters, and its best to get a size smaller than whats recommended just to make it easier for them.

ie: roudybush recommends their crumble size for budgies, but also cockatiels, conures and ringnecks...

but their nibles size (which is smaller than harrisons superfine) they recommend for budgies, but also finches and canaries!! ITS A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU!! but im hopeful my budgie will accept it and they say roudybush is No added sugars or colors, 100-Percent edible and no animal by products and Scientifically formulated! Also looking at the reviews and some other frineds i met online with budgies who have tried roudybush, their seed junkie budgies accepted roudybush on the first go!!

since my conure accepted harrisons right away i will feed him harrisons and give my budgie roudybush

Im hoping to get some roudybush (sounds like a wild lady!) this week and I will let you guys know how my budgie likes it!

 

[CrazyAnimalLady]

This may sound crazy.... But. My greys shred their pellets and there is always an inch of pellet crumbs left in the bowl when I change it. So if it's clean, I throw it into the cockatiel pellets bin with their little pellets. I got tired of throwing away so much. And I have found the cockatiels love these crumbs. They are perfect size for them. I find this saves money. And makes me feel like I'm wasting less. Obviously I only save the leftovers of they are clean. Which they almost always are because of how high the dishes are.

 

[WilliamKenyon]

Well that is awesome that she is now eating pellets as they are a healthier and more nutritious food source than seeds.

 

[Sarvesh]

god damn it she didnt eat the pellets yesterday she was just eating seeds!! this bird has been nothing but frustration for me since the day i got her and now im glad i gave her another chance cus now i dont feel bad sending her home with my parents and i dont care what anyone else has to say!

 

[JerseyWendy]

This thread has run its course. :21: