Preparing for Harley's arrival tomorrow!

[Gizmomania]

So excited to be picking up my new baby Pan Am tomorrow! I just came back from grocery shopping for him, and have a few questions for the experts here:

1) Can I switch him cold turkey onto a pellet/veggie/fruit diet if all he's had to date is a seed diet?

2) Do I partially steam the kale, broccoli, and carrots, and cook the sweet potato, or can he have them raw?

My conures don't like any of the items listed in #2, so just wondering how they should be prepared for Harley.

Thanks all. Pictures coming soon!

 

[Echo]

I breed Conures but my advice is DO NOT change his diet cold turkey! Stick with whatever the breeder has been weaning him onto and offer whatever you want him to eat IN ADDITION TO. This baby is going to have enough of an adjustment changing homes and people, let his diet routine be familiar.
Focus on making him comfortable and help him become familiar with you and his new cage. By ADDING good food to his seed only diet, you can gradually make sure he gets the proper nutrition. The most important when getting a new baby is that the transition to you is smooth and that he eats.

I would suggest making a mash that would include all veggies, grains, legumes, seeds, sprouts etc. Babies tend to like veggies soft.

PS: your Conures should definitively eat #2

 

[JerseyWendy]

I agree with Echo, transition him slowly, even though I doubt you'll have "much" of a stressed Amazon baby - they are pretty resilient, and move quite well.

As for the food, you can give it all raw. The only thing I would cook/steam is the sweet potato. You can chop, cut into strips, mash, put through food grinder...until you find a way your fids will try it. And then they may like it chopped today and blended tomorrow, lol.

You must be SO excited. One more sleep.

 

[Mayden]

I offer two bowls. Their 'standard' food, then their new stuff that they'll be on. I offered Charlie his pellets as a 'treat' and voila, instant transition. Saw no need to keep the seed since he was happy with his pellets.

Merlin was on pellets asap but I think he was on his 'normal' diet for a week. So I say just give him the option and see how he takes, and then reduce the amount of time/food they have of their normal food.

 

[Pajarita]

You can't switch a baby. Besides, you will have to provide soft foods for him at the beginning or he will lose weight (they always regress a bit when they go to their new home, it's a VERY traumatic thing for a baby). The only thing I would cook would be the sweet potatoes, the rest is OK raw.

 

[henpecked]

I think that Pan is about 7-8months old, it not really a baby. It's been weaned for awhile.

 

[Gizmomania]

Well, he's MY new 'baby', even though he's almost 7 months old

I appreciate your advice on the seed mixture. Picked up a bag of Higgen's Mayan Harvest, and hope to be able to wean him off that stuff as quickly as possible. Guess I could use it inside his foraging wheel in small amounts.

His cage, new toys, new perches and his amazing Java perch all arrived today. Now all that's left is to pick up my new little guy!

 

[Echo]

Higgins Mayan Harvest is a good quality mix. All my birds get the Yucatan blend. Only good stuff in both Mayan and Yucatan. Good choice!!

 

[Gizmomania]

That's great to hear, Echo. The one that the breeder was using looked disgusting. Who on earth would feed their birds, for example, unshelled peanuts that had been dipped into colored dye? What's the point of turning them into green and red colored peanuts?