Help! My bird won't stop eating... pellets?

[Soyajam]

I see so many threads on the internet about converting your bird from seed to pellets, or from seeds to fruits and vegetables.

But I've never seen threads about birds eating too many pellets?

For context, my young Eclectus is moving off mashed vegetables and is in this weird spot where what she seems to want changes on a daily basis.

I feed my bird Veta-farm Eclectus pellets (not dyed, and approved by my vet) alongside her other food, and I often leave it in her cage between meals.

I have, and do, provide a range of vegetables and fruits, in varying sizes and states of being cooked.
When a dish of any of this is placed next to a bowl of pellets, she'll poke at the fresh stuff, but then stick her head in the pellets and that's what she'll eat mostly. The rest is sort of shredded but it doesnt look like much is eaten.

I've observed her closely, and in the 2 months or so she's been doing this, I've observed her behaviour and seen no issues, and her weight is steadily gaining (good as she is still young and still needs a bit of beef on her bones). I did notice she has an increased interest in drinking fluids but I've read that's standard on a drier, extruded diet.

I make an effort to provide an abundance of fresh stuff- but I don't know about any of you guys, I'm just not interested in spending several hours a day preparing a scientifically controlled variation in cuisine just to cater to her tastes. I'm inclined to give her chop with a 'take it or leave it' approach.

Mind you, if you give her a bowl of frozen peas she'll wolf down the lot. OH, or any human junk food, no problems there.

I digress. My question - given she is gaining weight, have vet checked her recently with a clean bill of health, and I've observed no behavioral or nervous impacts from the amount of pellets she's choosing to eat (toe tapping, wing flipping etc), is it so bad to allow her to eat as many pellets as she likes, provided I also provide the opportunity to eat fresh food (in the form of, say, chop, and other fruit+veg when convenient)? It seems to me that the pellets, (supposedly providing most or all of her dietary nutrients) is doing its job at nourishing her correctly and her physical appearance seems to indicate this too (excluding the fact she's in her first moult)

I am aware people feel strongly one way or another, so perhaps any experience from those who've tried a mostly-pellet diet for long periods, or have chosen to mainly feed pellets would be most helpful?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mommabird]

I would love to know the answer to this too! My baby Ekkie is doing the same! She loves her pellets over fresh food. What I’ve been doing is giving her fresh foods in the morning and when she’s eaten enough I’ll add pellets in. It seems to be working!

 

[caiquewalk]

I recently went through the same thing. I had always thought that pellets in combination with fruits and vegetables would be a good complete diet. My avian very who comes well recommended in Sydney, recommend differently.

The vet suggested I place my Caique on an eclectus style diet. Which means pellets are not included... Although i do sneak them in now and then to get through the original packet i bought. I figure it can’t hurt to get through them. Cost wise it’s definitely more expensive but I personally don’t mind.

The diet entitles, fresh vegetables, legumes & fruits with the option of a parrot seed mix with no sunflower seeds during the mid part of the day. I use sunflower seeds as training treats only. My little guy would jump through hoops to get one.
For example:
Breakfast - cooked cous cous, cooked beans and legumes mixed with uncooked carrot and fruits.
Midday - parrot seed (no sunflower)
Evening - Similar style meal to breakfast.

This sort of diet requires multi vitamin supplements. I am not sure the details but this sort of diet will apparently help my Caiques attention span and hormones.

My caique is a picky eater but I noticed if I hand feed him the vegetables given a couple of days he will start to like it and eventually eat it without being hand fed. I use the approach to slowly increase the variety.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Not an eclectus but Ducky loves his pellets and will gladly eat them over fresh foods. I put the pellets and chop in two seperate dishes, but then Ducky always eats from the pellet dish.

 

[Soyajam]

OK so it doesn't seem as evil as seed-only then

I offer the fresh stuff too and even try to offer fresh before I give pellets, but it doesn't seem to matter - she'll dive in to pellets with gusto anyway. We still love pomegranate, passionfruit, corn and peas so it's not all dried but I can't get as much variety as I'd like!

Poops are healthy looking too so it can't be too awful.

I'll keep monitoring her weight, demeanour and droppings and report back if I see anything out of the ordinary.

Thanks for your input guys!