Not eating her pellets...

[Pookamama]

Pepper just isn't that into her pellets. I asked her owner and specifically got the same exact food she already ate (one size up by accident. She was on Zupreem small-medium and I got medium). I asked her how much to feed a day and she said 1/4 of a cup.

Pepper is obsessed with our people food and we oblige by giving her it. I give her veggies like carrots and spinach, fruits like grapes and apple, and beans, and occasionally an almond (usually I have a kid feed her an almond as a treat). She attacks all of that with gusto-but she's hadly eating any pellets! I put a tablespoon in her bowl inside her cage and a half teaspoon more with her fresh food whenever I feed her that (twice a day) and she never even eats half of her pellets. Furthermore, when it's morning, she will ignore the pellets in her bowl and act super hungry when I'm making the kids breakfast. If it was her main food at her other house, why doesn't she want to eat it when she's actually hungry?

Am I being whacko to be concerned about her preferring fresh food, should I just go with it and try to keep her balanced? Maybe make a birdie mash and mix in the pellets with that?

 

[LittleGreenBird]

Ok, this is weird but bear with me...Have you ever tasted Zupreem? It is pretty gross. I bought it thinking I might transition my GCC to it (she eats pretty bird) or at least give her some variety...she didn't touch it at all. I thought, it can't really be all that bad, she's just being a diva. So I took me a little sample...blech. I had a pretty bird kibble too, just for a fair comparison. I know, I know, it's super weird. But I'm thinkin maybe now that Pepper has more experience with tastier food she won't settle for Zupreem? Or maybe when you're preparing food she just would rather eat with her flock. Sometimes I mix the zupreem in with cooked beans and pasta, and Casady seems to at least try it then. Good luck!

 

[Pookamama]

That makes sense! I have tasted it and wasn't too impressed. Looks and smells a lot better than it tastes! I have been trying mixing a little with sweet potatoes baby food and that helped a bit. since she likes apples so much maybe I'll try a little with applesauce.

 

[Lintini]

Okay I am having issues with my CAG Chloe to eat her pellets. She was eating all seeds when I got her and she was with my aunt (ughhhh) for 23 years. I've had her on a mix of seeds/pellets since the end of june and she flings the pellets. We have tried Pretty bird and Zupreem so far. *cry*

 

[Pookamama]

I have a 'seed junkie' recipe from a local bird rescue! There's a huge variety of foods to pick from so you can do whatever you can find easily in your grocery!
"Seed junkie conversion: Every week, I make this salad. Foods are layered in the following manner, from bottom to top: 1. Greens, chopped swiss chard, mustard greens, fresh herbs, French sorrel, cilantro, parsley, kale, collard greens, carrot tops, endive, escarole, etc. 2. Vegetables, chopped celery, bell pepper, zucchini, crookneck squash, cucumber, sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, shredded carrot, beets, green beans, etc. 3. Broccoli 4. Vitamin A vegetables banana squash, yams, carrots, etc 5. Raw, uncooked whole grain pasta 6. Cooked beans (soaked overnight, then cooked for 20 min). The 17 bean mixes are great for this, or you can use your own mixture. 7. Corn on the cob, sliced 8. Apples, chopped 9. Citrus fruits, chopped peel included 10. Grapes 11. Frozen mixed vegetables When I am ready to use each container, I empty this into a large bowl to mix the ingredients together thoroughly. At that point, I also usually add one or two other items, such as some of the softer fruits (plums, peaches, melons) and cooked grains, adding one scoop of a high quality seed mix and one scoop of pellets. I mix this together thoroughly, and serve. With birds that are transitioning from a seed diet to a whole diet, I will put a very small sprinkling of orange juice on top & mix. I will do this for a week. Each bird gets 1 cup of this mix in their cage or communal feeding stations until 4pm or so, then the bowls are emptied, cleaned & put away for the next day. Seed is given in each cage for the night. "

 

[lene1949]

I'd go with the natural foods... Parrots don't get pellets in the wild...

I make large salads as well, and all my birds love it...

 

[TheDoctorsBowtie]

What i do i dont buy pellets, i buy Bloo this ready made parrot mix, which has a mix of loads of different things, peanuts, sunflower seeds, more seeds i dont know the names of, dried red chilli(i think it is anyway, but She bloody LOVES them), dried banana bits, monkey nuts, some other little bits that i cant name off the top of my head.
Well i give her half a bowl of that every morning, and that seems to last her the full day (I give her fresh food through the day) and she just tosses out the bits she doesn't like.

Mixing the pellets with her favourite food does sound like a good idea though!