What to feed?

[Kristy28]

Hey everyone,

We got Homer a pacific parrotlet about 2 months ago. We got him froma petstore. We have had birds in the past (cockatiels, cockatoo, quaker parrot, and budgies) but I was too young to remember what we feed them. When we bought Homer he was eating Prestige Premium Parakeet food. It is a seed mixture. They made us buy a small bag to feed him regardless of whether or not we wanted him to eat it. We read that it is not good to feed him only seed so we picked up ZuPreem fuit blend flavor diet which is a pellet diet. We are currently feeing him a mixture of both but I was wondering if there is one blend that is better for parrotlets that would ensure he is getting everything he needs.

Thanks

PS we have tried giving raw fruits and veggies as well as dried and he is not interested.

[skthurley]

Sift through our diet section for lots of suggestions what to feed. Definitely take a look at the sticky at the top of the section where Reta suggests and advocates Shauna's Mash Diet.

Another thing to remember, keep offering raw veggies, and fruits.... try dicing, mincing, chopping, shredding.... but don't give up. Giving up is a common mistake owners do. They think my bird doesn't eat this, so why should I continue feeding it. The problem is the bird doesn't recognize it as food.... ignores the veggies... owner thinks they don't like it.... so they stop giving it, and thus the bird never sees the veggies and fruits as food, and thus we have an endless circle.

Good luck, and keep offering him fresh foods!

[ParrotletsRock]

I chop the fruit and veggies very fine and add a little seed to it. Sometimes I sprinkle a few small peices of walnut or pecan on top and he used to just pick thru it for the seeds and then figured out it was edible and GOOD!!...lol I have only had him for about 2 1/2 weeks so it didn't take to long. at first he just ignored it to .

[Kristy28]

Thanks, everyone I will defintely try the suggestions. Hopefully Homer will come around. He didnt really like the pellets when we first started feeding them. One more question. Should I be chopping up the veggies/fruits and placing them in his food bowl or seperate? Before when i tried I was feeding from my hand.

[ParrotletsRock]

I have a dish I use just for his chopped veggies and fruit...It is a little one that only holds a tbsp or 2 and the clip to hold it slips in between the bars of the cage...that way I can pull it out and put it in quick and it washes easy.

[Rosekeet]

If you put the fruits and veggies on top of the seed, you'll have to change out all the seed in a few hours since the fruit will go bad. I also have a sepearte dish for fresh food. Try sprinkling some seed on top to entice him to eat.

[musicjan]

Do read Reta's sticky (she's Chapala).....I've worked over many months to improve Bitsy's diet, and now he loves his fresh food. I've gotten most of my info from Reta. Since I only have the one bird, I do mix up a mixture of foods, chop it as fine as possible in the small food processor, then freeze it in ice cube trays to feed later. I always have 3 or 4 different mixtures either fresh or frozen so he doesn't get the same thing all the time. The other suggestion that works so well for me is to stir a few pieces of DRY whole wheat pasta into the mixture. It soaks up extra moisture and keeps it fresh longer. Will be eager to hear a report as you make improvements in his diet. Good luck!