Need advice on feeding pellets

[brittish]

I purchased a green cheek conure(hatched january 2012) from a guy back in march. The guy I got Tango(my birds name) from fed him a mixed seed diet a and gave me a full bag of Tango's food to take home with me. I have been feeding him the mixed seeds, but he really only eats the sunflower seeds and safflower seeds out of all the other seeds. I want to switch him to a pellet diet. Which brand do you recommend and if tango doesn't eat/like it, what can I do to the food to make transitioning from a full seed diet to a pellet diet easier and yummier to him. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I want my baby to live a long and healthy life.

 

[BreannPearlLang]

switch to healthier seeds or nutriberries.
google nutriberry recipes, buy bulk nutriberries, and figure out which seeds to buy

 

[DebsFlock]

I do a mixture of pellets and seeds with some added goodies (pasta, chile peppers). I have to say that of the three birds, my GCC who came as a seed-eater has never really adapted to eating the pellets. I keep offering the mix and hoping he'll eventually decide they are tasty. But he eats fresh fruits and vegetables and sprouts really well, so I haven't made it a priority.

General consensus I've heard is a) do the transition gradually unless you want to weigh your bird every day to make sure it isn't starving and b) try making it into a mash with favorite foods.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I only ever recommend harrison's or totally organic, but when switching a bird very stubborn bird over to pellets I think it's easier to use a whole bunch of pellets so there's more variation.

Rosie was only eating sunflower then safflower when I removed the sunflower. She was very sick(organ failure and a calcium deficiency along with being overall unhealthy) and I added roudybush, lafeaber's, and zupreme natural all into her seed. It took 6 months until she was on pellets completly.

remember that a bird on colored pellets is still better then a seed diet.

 

[tab_xo]

if he doesnt like eating them, you could try making a warm mash out of it.. Fargo isnt too big on eating his pellets at the moment, so in the mornings i make up a mash of all his different pellets, and he loves it nice and warm!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

if he doesnt like eating them, you could try making a warm mash out of it.. Fargo isnt too big on eating his pellets at the moment, so in the mornings i make up a mash of all his different pellets, and he loves it nice and warm!

How old is fargo? In the wild parrots only get warm food from their mates and it can make him hormonal is you do it to much.

 

[tab_xo]

he is 8 months old.. i would just prefer him to be getting some pellets then none at all! its only about a tablespoon.. then he has the dry stuff in his cage

 

[Featheredsamurai]

he is 8 months old.. i would just prefer him to be getting some pellets then none at all! its only about a tablespoon.. then he has the dry stuff in his cage

That's still to young for him to be hormonal I would slowly start adding some dry pellets into his mash.

 

[momto3]

I have tried every pellet known to man it seems and our quaker will only eat the Pretty Bird pellets and Zupreem Avian Entrees. The Avian Entrees smell really good and they are enticing. She hates Harrisons and I tried that for a long time when she was a baby...finally gave up and started trying other brands. She prefers to eat pellets out of our hand and not so much in her dish...might try that to get your bird started.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

The Nutriberries would be a logical step to start. I had even used Avi-cakes at one point with a stubborn bird.
Georgie had been fed Harrisons once she was weaned, so she was easy. She ate most anything i gave her.
My Gilbert was weaned on roudybush, but after i got him home, i gave him Nutriberries, Roudybush, Zupreem and Harrisons to see what he would eat, what he preferred. He now eats any of them but his first pick was the Nutriberry. Seems universally yummy to them.

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

-Gradual transition.
-Measure exactly how much of the food you give is pellets and measure how much much is eated ea day to see if any are gone.
I- highly recommend not feeding colorful blends so that Tango doesn't get picky based on color (which definitely can happen).
-Pritti's favorite is Zupreem all natural (they are all a tan color), and he's been fed many others over the years.