Gaining weight after cutting seeds

[ravvlet]

It’s all in the title. We have been giving Sammy NO seeds, a mix of veg and pellet in the AM (TOPS, Harrison’s and Roudybush) and then a bowl of pellet in the afternoon.

She’s up from 560 to 585 g this week!!

The vet suggested possibly getting foraging toys but also seemed stumped. What the heck?! Before we got her she was eating seeds and ignoring her pellet (Roudybush) and we only eliminated the seed once we were sure she was eating pellets.

It’s absurd, lol. I am not even giving her that much. In the morning she gets a tablespoon each of TOPS, Harrison’s and Roudybush with the veg, and she doesn’t eat all of the pellet (and still isn’t fond of the veg). In the afternoon she gets the same ratio/mix of pellet but no veg (although I may start putting a second bowl with just veggies).

She doesn’t usually finish her second bowl of pellet either. I am flabbergasted.

 

[Owlet]

more weight doesnt always mean unhealthy. I dont know the specifics of your bird so it's hard for me to make the judgement. has she been more active since making the switch? sometimes a better diet will have them be more active and possibly putting on muscle rather than fat. does she fly? I would definitely recommend foraging toys for her pellets though. it never hurts.

 

[SailBoat]

Not at all surprised as the pellets you are feeding are all fortified. If you compare the food value of a limited cross-section of market place seed vs. the pellets, adding weight is highly likely! In addition, seed tends too cause the digestive system to move quickly, where pellets tend to move at a bit slower rate, which results in the body picking-up more energy /weight.

We use a high-quality wide-spectrum seed, grain, nut (no Sunflower or Peanut) base with the diet heavy on fresh natural veggies with some Harrison's Pellet.

 

[PyroParrot]

Sailboat- what seed mix do you use? I have had quite the experience trying to get quality seed mixes! So many have additives and all sorts of junk. I would really love to hear about a decent brand. If you make your own, would you be willing to share your ‘formula’
thanks so much!!
the PyroParot*
* yes, there is a story to that!!! No burning birds tho!

 

[kme3388]

What are you giving for veggies? are you doing a chop?

 

[BirdyBee]

TOP's contains seed... so does Harrison's. If you are not allowed to feed him seed AT ALL, then those two brands shouldn't be fed.

TOP's:

Most Harrison's pellets contains seed, so I recommend checking your bag's ingredients.

 

[BirdyBee]

TOP's contains seed... so does Harrison's. If you are not allowed to feed him seed AT ALL, then those two brands shouldn't be fed.

TOP's:
View attachment 40255

Most Harrison's pellets contains seed, so I recommend checking your bag's ingredients.

Despite common belief, most seeds are low in fat, and about the same as a lot of pellets. The biggest issue is carbs in seeds. That's what leads to obesity, poor feather quality, etc in seed only or mostly seed diets. I'm sure your vet knows what they're doing, I just wanted to share this info anyway for other people possibly reading this thread. If your vet says no seed, that means no seed.

 

[kme3388]

Despite common belief, most seeds are low in fat, and about the same as a lot of pellets. The biggest issue is carbs in seeds. That's what leads to obesity, poor feather quality, etc in seed only or mostly seed diets. I'm sure your vet knows what they're doing, I just wanted to share this info anyway for other people possibly reading this thread. If your vet says no seed, that means no seed.

If anyone wants to pick an argument with my conure, and tell her no seeds be my guest... I'll hide behind you ha ha ha ha ha Yes she will scare me in this situation

 

[ravvlet]

Vet said no seed because they tend to pick a favorite and eat only that one. She prefers a pellet as they can’t just pick and choose.

I was under the impression TOPS is not a fortified pellet? I know Roudybush/Harrison’s are. I am feeding only slightly more than what I give Kirby, and he’s a smaller bird, so I’m surprised she’s chunking up. I still have the TOPS seed mix, but I stopped giving it, it was not helping her get into eating veggies any more than anything else.

Yes, it’s chop. It’s one of the recipes I posted on my chop thread. I also sometimes offer her whole stuff like peppers, baby carrots, etc. She rarely eats any of it, or not enough of it that I can see that she’s trying it. We have tried whole veg, chopped and puréed. Still trying to “crack that nut”, heh. I tried giving her veg only for the first hour of the day before offering pellet but she would just wait, hence mixing pellet into it.

She gets out of cage time now whereas she didn’t used to (previous home). She has attempted to fly a couple times too; which actually has been a bit of a problem since she still doesn’t fully trust us and is quite bitey. Not draw-blood biting thankfully, just “how DARE YOU not let me on your shoulder/put me back on my playstand!!”, lol. But she also isn’t quite ready for pets!! Flies to us then eventually gets nervous and bites someone. Birds. I remember ages ago my TAG was like that too, just smaller.

 

[BirdyBee]

Vet said no seed because they tend to pick a favorite and eat only that one. She prefers a pellet as they can’t just pick and choose.

I see, I thought it was because of the seed itself, so I thought I'd point it out anyway.

I was under the impression TOPS is not a fortified pellet? I know Roudybush/Harrison’s are. I am feeding only slightly more than what I give Kirby, and he’s a smaller bird, so I’m surprised she’s chunking up. I still have the TOPS seed mix, but I stopped giving it, it was not helping her get into eating veggies any more than anything else.

Yes TOP's is not fortified.






I wish you the best of luck with Sammy!