Pellets Other Than Harrison's for Picky Grey?

[Cockatude]

My Congo has been healthy all his life except for two issues. In '21, he and my other bird caught an infection at a boarding place, and recently, he suffered from watery poop. This last time, the vet put him on fluconazole because she found a lot of yeast when she checked him. Now he's fine.

She said I should improve his diet. He gets some Kaytee Fiesta in the morning, and other than that, it's what I eat. Fruit, bits of pasta and pizza, a little meat, eggs, and so on. Can't get him to eat green vegetables. I keep seeing people recommend that, but I have never seen a bird go for it.

Fiesta contains a lot of seeds as well as dried fruit, peanuts, and pellets.

I tried getting him to eat Harrison's High Potency because it's supposed to be a gateway to Harrison's regular pellets. He will literally eat almost nothing until late afternoon if I give him this stuff and nothing else. He hates it.

Is there a pellet out there grey owners have had success with? I don't want to force him to eat Harrison's if he can't stand it.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I'd rather eat pizza too.

 

[Cockatude]

Yesterday we had red Thai curry.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

My budgies eat anything that we're eating and drink anything we're drinking. They fly over and steal food off our plates and try to drink out of cans. I shoo them away if it has onions or something else toxic to birds. They also like to lick up grains of salt from our plates. Eating is a very social activity.

 

[rheashard2]

I don't know why but my CAG loves Harrison's lifetime pepper blend. She loves it to the point she eats every crumb. I stress every crumb. Purchased it on a whim. She's been eating High Potency Coarse since 4 months. Those she nibbles on.

 

[Jcas]

I feed Tops and Lafebers to my ultra-picky Quaker parrot and he will at least nibble on them occasionally. He absolutely loathes Harrison’s. He threw it to the dog ( wish I was joking but he really did ) . He is also not a big fan of greens and veggies but I keep trying. After two years, I finally got photographic proof of him eating broccoli!

 

[cnyguy]

The only pellets my CAG Scooter would eat were ZuPreem Fruit Blend, and only certain colors.

Whatever pellets you try, you might try softening some in a small glass with water or unsweetened fruit juice. Let them sit just long enough so they're soft and a little mushy, then offer some to your Grey. That helps introduce pellets to parrots unused to eating them or who might be reluctant to eat dry pellets. My Quaker Ralph thought they were a special treat and he had to have some every day.

 

[kme3388]

Parrots can be such picky eaters. Some of them could be professional food critics. I finally have all 4 of my parrots on the same food. It took forever. My jenday conure was being a stickler. It took years to get her to accept pellets. My husband is a big softy, and would give her peanuts, and sunflower seeds behind my back. I’m more of the “strict” diet one in our marriage. It really can take a long time to transfer a parrot from a seed diet to a pellet one. Don’t get discouraged.

All 4 of my parrots like to eat what I’m eating. They beg like dogs. One of my parrots can become aggressive over food. One of my parrots is aggressive over his food dish, and means business.

 

[Cockatude]

I had a respected avian vet tell me to just deprive my birds of food until they ate pellets, but that sounds like a way to drive feather-picking. Honestly, I would rather see a bird have a happy life and die at 40 than live in misery and die at 60. I didn't buy him so he could live like a life-expectancy fanatic.

I am suspicious of the prejudice against seeds. The web says that in the wild, their main foods are seeds and nuts, so when people say seeds are like candy for birds, they're saying their natural food is candy. Many nuts are just big seeds.

I've seen people crusading against meat, saying it's unnatural, but greys eat meat in the wild, including carrion. I think there are those who project their own dietary morals onto pets and then cherry-pick dubious authorities to back up their hopes. Like the people who insist their poor dogs prefer vegetables to meat.

The mix I give him is full of pellets, dried fruit and vegetables, and nuts as well as seeds, and it's pretty low in sunflower seeds. He is pretty good about eating citrus, but he likes to fling other kinds of fruit he used to love. He will eat apples, but not much. He loves cheese, and it doesn't seem to hurt his digestion. He also likes yogurt.

His weight is fine, and he looks great, except for his feathers, which are always disheveled because I play with him.

I am going to dump the Harrison's and keep working with the seed mix and food from the grocery. Thanks for the replies.

 

[TiredOldMan]

The biggest problem with seeds and nuts in a captive birds diet is that they don't get the exercise they would in the wild.
If yours is a healthy weight and in good health then I would say keep on keeping on.

 

[rheashard2]

My concerns with primary seed diet is the high calorie, limited nutritional value. Too mych of any substance for or ill can be negative. An all pellet diet falls into that category. It's all right to take medical advice under consideration. It's alright to question said advice and do your own research!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I personally think eating manufactured food stinks for people and animals. Who would want to eat such a diet? Food is supposed to be pleasurable. If I had a dog or cat I would make it vet approved homemade food. Some dogs do like veggies and dogs are omnivores unlike cats.

I agree however that an all seed diet for captive birds that don't free fly all-day is too fattening. I would focus on a nutritious chop as their primary diet.

Maybe you can give the Harrisons to a shelter.

 

[rheashard2]

If my CAG was bit more consistent I'd agree. Yesterday was a 99.9% chop day with bowl rattling when empty. Pellets were a lite bedtime snack. Today is a total reverse, a token nibble on her chop. She will swing to extremes without apparent reason. Majority of the time she's ok. I try to keep diet healthy with flexibility.