Weird eating behaviour

[Free as a bird]

Hi. I have 2 cockatiels, Shifty and Rocky.
Recently I brought them a different brand of food and they love it, its mixed seed with some pellets.
The unusual thing is that they love it too much, they are always eating now, at the bowl for hours on end. So weird. Before they would just eat normally now they can't stop eating.

It reminds me of the 2 budgies my mum had. She changed their food once and they went on a hunger strike. They refused to eat for days while my mum tried to feed them this and that. Eventually they started eating again when my mum brought the same brand that they were used to eating. Such fussy eaters. Only eating one particular brand of seeds.

Has anyone experienced such weird eating behaviours with their birds?

 

[onamom]

Sounds like they are really loving the new food! Did they have pellets before and now it's the seed and pellet mix? Most of our birdies go crazy for seeds but too much of it can be very fattening. I personally only give seed as a training treat or in foraging/puzzle toys for enrichment.

I have experienced a very odd eating behavior with my GCC - I tried to switch her to Harrison's pellets for the longest time and she didn't like it much at first. I would mix small amounts into the pellets she was weaned on and she would eat around them. Then one day out of the blue she started eating only the Harrison's! So, I switched her completely to it and she has been enjoying it ever since. I'm glad she decided to like the healthier pellets but I am still baffled as to why she made the sudden change!

 

[Free as a bird]

Sounds like they are really loving the new food! Did they have pellets before and now it's the seed and pellet mix? Most of our birdies go crazy for seeds but too much of it can be very fattening. I personally only give seed as a training treat or in foraging/puzzle toys for enrichment.

I have experienced a very odd eating behavior with my GCC - I tried to switch her to Harrison's pellets for the longest time and she didn't like it much at first. I would mix small amounts into the pellets she was weaned on and she would eat around them. Then one day out of the blue she started eating only the Harrison's! So, I switched her completely to it and she has been enjoying it ever since. I'm glad she decided to like the healthier pellets but I am still baffled as to why she made the sudden change!

Thanks for your reply.

Cockatiels and budgies eat mostly seeds in the wild. Therefore I feed them mostly seeds.

I see pellets as being a processed alternative, unorganic, so I'm not a fan. I've heard the claim that seeds makes them fat but iv seen no evidence of it in my experience with budgies and tiels over the years.

Too much of anything is not good and I'm wondering if this is the same. Coming home from work my birds used to yell out to me until I let them out of the cage. Now they'd rather keep eating or take a nap, full from eating like pigs. I might try mix up their food and watch them closely.

You would think with so much eating they would be heavier, right...
Nope. Both of them are about 10 grams lighter now. Amazing considering their always eating. Maybe they've molted a bit now that winter is coming to an end here

 

[Jcas]

If an animal is eating more but losing weight and the only change in their life is the food, then there’s a good chance the new food is less nutritionally dense than the old food. This means that they HAVE to eat more food to get the nutrients they need. They may poop more too because there is more waste product as they are consuming more volume but less nutrients.

 

[Free as a bird]

If an animal is eating more but losing weight and the only change in their life is the food, then there’s a good chance the new food is less nutritionally dense than the old food. This means that they HAVE to eat more food to get the nutrients they need. They may poop more too because there is more waste product as they are consuming more volume but less nutrients.

Good point I was thinking this as well. Less nutrients in this food.

 

[Free as a bird]

If an animal is eating more but losing weight and the only change in their life is the food, then there’s a good chance the new food is less nutritionally dense than the old food. This means that they HAVE to eat more food to get the nutrients they need. They may poop more too because there is more waste product as they are consuming more volume but less nutrients.

I think your right. I bought some of the old food from the bird shop and refilled their bowls with it. They immediately went for it but didn't gorge themselves for hours like they were doing with the supermarket stuff.