Plucking feathers after changing diet from sunflower seeds to mixed birdfood

[Smajid11601]

This is our first time owning a pet and we’ve had a pineapple conure for 4 years. We’ve only recently discovered that a daily diet of sunflower seeds is very bad for him, he only eats a few a day since we feed him fresh fruit and veg etc daily. Since learning this we’ve changed his food to mixes we’ve seen recommended. Issue is we see him go down to eat and come back up immediately, he doesn’t seem to hate or love the new food and 2 days later he now seems to be plucking his own feathers. How do I go about adressing this as well as his diet change since we’re worried about him eating?

Many thanks

 

[zERo]

This is our first time owning a pet and we’ve had a pineapple conure for 4 years. We’ve only recently discovered that a daily diet of sunflower seeds is very bad for him, he only eats a few a day since we feed him fresh fruit and veg etc daily. Since learning this we’ve changed his food to mixes we’ve seen recommended. Issue is we see him go down to eat and come back up immediately, he doesn’t seem to hate or love the new food and 2 days later he now seems to be plucking his own feathers. How do I go about adressing this as well as his diet change since we’re worried about him eating?

Many thanks

Changing a birds diet suddenly can cause them to become very stressed to the point of plucking, especially if they've only eaten one thing for years.
What brands are you offering? Is it pellets or seed?
Have you seen him eating the new food? Birds can and will starve themselves if they aren't familiar or don't like a new food.

 

[Smajid11601]

Changing a birds diet suddenly can cause them to become very stressed to the point of plucking, especially if they've only eaten one thing for years.
What brands are you offering? Is it pellets or seed?
Have you seen him eating the new food? Birds can and will starve themselves if they aren't familiar or don't like a new food.

We’re using the Hagen Tropimix and Tropican, we’ve tried different foods before and he won’t even touch them however we have seen him eat this new food multiple times. Most of his diet is fruit and veg so he’s still eating generally but when he gets hungry he will eat his birdfood.

Although he eats the new food we have seen him burrowing looking for sunflower seeds and throwing the food out of his bowl.

 

[zERo]

Fruit should be given in moderation, maybe 3 times a week. What fruit and veg are you offering? Do you train him? You could use sunflower seed pieces as his reward. Target training is a great way to have a 'hands-off' training session.

 

[Fei's Companion]

This is our first time owning a pet and we’ve had a pineapple conure for 4 years. We’ve only recently discovered that a daily diet of sunflower seeds is very bad for him, he only eats a few a day since we feed him fresh fruit and veg etc daily. Since learning this we’ve changed his food to mixes we’ve seen recommended. Issue is we see him go down to eat and come back up immediately, he doesn’t seem to hate or love the new food and 2 days later he now seems to be plucking his own feathers. How do I go about adressing this as well as his diet change since we’re worried about him eating?

Many thanks

I'm a bit late here, but hopefully you might still find my advice helpful. I am also a first time bird owner and have found Bird Tricks to be an invaluable resource. Here is there information on diet and nutrition.
https://birdtricksstore.com/blogs/birdtricks-blog/diet-nutrition?_pos=1&_sid=07a730281&_ss=r
I hope things have gotten a bit better for your baby.

 

[HeatherG]

I’m betting he feels the difference now that he doesn’t have such a high fat diet. But you are correct; he can’t be eating just sunflower seeds.

I bet that the sunflower seeds also gave him something to do, with cracking them and getting the seeds out. Maybe he needs some sort of gadgety or preenable toy to fuss with?