changing food woes

[ocatoro]

Hi there...

so I have a lovebird who'll be 5 shortly, and I know a completely seed based diet is bad, but he/she just won't eat anything else.

he'll have a nibble of cucumber and a couple of other fruits but only a couple of mouthfuls and then will avoid.

I've tried mixing in pellet food. won't touch it.

tried to just put only pellet food in and only fresh foods hoping that by the end of a day he'd be hungry and just get on with it. but he seemed happy enough to just starve until seed came back.

what do I do?

here's my favourite photo of Burd, the lovie

 

[Jottlebot]

Hi, it's tough when you get into a clash of wills! I succeeded in changing an Alexandrine to pellets, but mostly failed in changing an OWA, sadly she has other health issues and we lost her during the process.

My advice would be to be a bit meaner than it feels comfortable to be. So either put seed in for a couple of minutes at the start of the day or only put in a small amount. I went a day with only pellets and by the evening the Alex was eating them, but you clearly have more willpower/a lovebird (!) on your hands. I've never had success mixing, because they just pick out the seeds! I might have misunderstood, but if Burd hasn't eaten all day do you give him seeds as a last resort? If so giving seeds in the AM and potentially sending him to bed hungry (if he doesn't eat his pellets), might be an idea? You should monitor weight just in case.

You can also try and make the pellets more appetizing, wet them, add a bit of fruit juice, warm them up?

Also it's amazing how little birds actually need to eat. I feed my Alex the same amount as a Grey, which is possibly more than he needs, and it only adds up to about 25 actual pellets a day! Weigh the food, he might be eating more than you think or not need to eat as much as you'd think.

 

[Carl_Power]

Wet the Pellets until soggy and mash his favourite fruit into them. This worked like a dream for me. Worth a try beautiful birdie, love his colours x

 

[LordTriggs]

try offering the pellets in the morning maybe? That is when they're the hungriest so would make sense to do so. I started the pellet change with my conure cold turkey, I put some in in the morning which he took a quick look at then left alone. I put the tiniest amount of seed in there just to give him a meal but when I went out only pellets were left, when I came home some had been eat, most had been chucked. The next day he gave in and actually ate them.

I went with Zupreem fruit blend which a lot of people here have had success with so maybe as a bridge to the better pellets try that? Unfortunately on fruit I'm not much help, mine went nuts for fruit. Though some he wouldn't touch

 

[Notdumasilook]

Getting my youngins to actually accept pellets was not hard, only because they already had started begging/bumming food from me during mealtimes. Note they were not in a cage and very close to us during meals. My BFA would just about demand to try everything on my plate. But pellets... NO WAY.... until I put pellets in a bowl and actually ate them while the birds watched. Maybe it wasn't the tastiest snack Ive had but heck... it worked and now a mix of dif pellet mixes is about 50% of his diet....the other half is fresh veggies/fruit combo. If you can get your baby to get curious about what you are eating that can be the door opening for more variety. Don't give up. 5 years is a long time to be fixed on one diet and may take a lot of patience. Good luck.

 

[YUMgrinder]

Are you sure he isn't eating any pellets? Maybe he is and you just don't know it. I think mixing in a very small amount of seeds with his pellets and when the seeds are all gone he must choose the pellets will eventually work. I understand the concern that he would starve himself so keep an eye on his weight. mushing it with some veggies might help.

 

[GaleriaGila]

HOW PRECIOUS!

Harrison's Bird Foods
I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. 30-ish years ago, Harrison's was still a small company. My vet was actually able to talk to Dr. Harrison about my bird's species and status, and they decided on the High Potency. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff. My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day. I also like Harrison's via mail because I never have to worry about out-of-date products.

 

[ocatoro]

yeah, i got to the point where I was putting a set number in the bowl and counting them at the end of the day and not one had moved.

I will get some more and try to wet them with juice and cut with fruit. see how it goes.

how long is safe to be stubborn for? being so small and active, I doubt it would take much to drop weight significantly

 

[plumsmum2005]

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/lovebirds-feeding

 

[Flboy]

A good trick, shred some veggies and mix with the seed. Make sure to change it out to keep fresh!

 

[plumsmum2005]

One way I was able to get my 'too to eat pellets was to buy the easiest ones to eat, ie crumbled pellets (TOPs), he still will not eat Harrisons and I think this is because they are really hard. Just a thought .....