Switching a cockatiel diet from all seed to pellets.

[Customcasket]

I need some luck with this one! My first pet bird was a cockatiel named Jake. About 8 or 9 years ago my family gave him to my grandfather. We were always busy with activities and didn't have the time to give Jake the attention he needed (there was no shortage of love! I still love this little guy!) We gave him to my grandfather because he is almost always home and only leaves to go to the store, visit a relative, or take his Sunday morning ride. He was lonely and Jake was lonely. They were perfect for each other. Jake is spoiled rotten by my grandfather! The only problem I've noticed since becoming more experienced with birds is that Jake is on a seriously crappy all seed diet and has been his entire life. My grandfather is one of those people who gets stuck in his ways. For example, the vet told him that his black lab is allergic to beef and needs to stay on a chicken, lamb, and rice diet. My grandfather always tells us "oh i don't know if I can switch her over. All her favorite treats are beef!" I always explain to him that there are sweet potato treats and plenty of chicken treats out there! This dog doesn't really need treats and could definitely lose a few pounds. Can't tell him that!

My mom and I have been going over once a week and scanning slides. (he's got 22 trays of 120 slides each. The scanner only scans 4 at a time! ) Every time I go over I spend some time talking to Jake and looking in horror at the food he eats. (I'm pretty sure it's from Walmart and it's loaded with sunflower seeds) Today I took a trip to the local bird store and got my guys their pellets, millet, and some snackies. I also picked up a small bag of the Zupreem FruitBlend pellets in Medium. It's what I feed my Sun Conure. (he hates the bigger ones) I'm hoping my grandfather will agree to at least try to feed Jake some of it. I'm not saying totally switch his diet right away because that's not the way to do it. I just want to see Jake slowly start eating the pellets. I would've picked up the "natural" pellets, but I haven't had any luck with any of my birds when it came to switching them from seed to pellet. They always took right to the FruitBlend. I need some luck with this endeavor! I'm sure switching Jake to pellets will be easier than convincing my grandfather that's the way to go. I'm hoping the fact that it can be bought at our local Petsmart will make the idea easier for him. It's not like it's something he'd have to drive out of his way to get... he's already there getting the dog food. Wish me luck!

Ugh! I'm dreading going over his house tonight to scan those slides. I love my grandfather... I don't love pictures that don't have any people in them. The ones with my mom and uncles in them are classic! We've also discovered that my younger brother looks EXACTLY like my grandfather did at the same age. It's quite freaky actually. I always joke after we scan one with my grandfather, "Look it's Dan!" The other random relatives have all come to the same conclusion too. My brother, Dan, looks like Pop Pop. My brother even agrees. The only one who doesn't agree is my grandfather, lol

 

[anderrl]

i have tried the fruity pellets, but my teils prefer the natural pellets. They still dont eat any of the veggie bits that are in the mix.

 

[Customcasket]

I ended up not going over last night. My grandfather called as we were getting ready to leave and said he was really tired. :/ I'm hoping Jake will try them. If he doesn't then I'll try the natural ones next. I just really want this bird off the crappy Walmart sunflower seed diet.