[sachman]

Looking through old posts I see that many people are OK with the fact that their p'let does not eat pellets. Mine used to eat Tropican. Maybe becuase I gave him so many other foods, he stopped eating them altogether. But I was concerned that he was taking only to the less healthy foods.

I cannot get him back on pellets. I have tried ZUpreem and Lafebers. I might try Harrisons along with birdie bread. Any suggestions? He nibbles for a few seconds on Lafebers, but nothing from the others. And I am afraid he will starve himself so I give him other things he likes at night.

I also considered feeding Goldenfeast Australian blend in place of pellets. Any thoughts on that?

Is there something I can put onto the pellets to make them more palatable? I was thinking maybe red palm oil might help. But I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

Mike

 

[Bryan]

I have tried many different brands and my Pip likes Roudybush the best. He has started eating the Harrison's a little too but Roudybush is still his favorite. If you are interested in trying the Roudybush you can email them from their website and they will send you samples. They are the best at giving out samples they will send you two eight ounce bags of pellets in different sizes to try. That's 1lb of food for free.

The issue with seeds is that they do not get enough nutrition from them. It is the same with fruits and vegetables they will pick out what they like and leave the rest causing deficiencies in the diet. I had read that if you are going to be feeding seeds/vegetables that you need to supplement with a vitamin supplement and that the powdered kind was the best sprinkled on the food.

When Pip slows down on eating his pellets I just cut back on his other foods so he will eat more of his pellets and that always works with him. He does not get a lot of other foods though but he does get a few seeds and millet everyday but not a lot. I have seen people posting about putting some water in the pellets to soften them up a bit.

 

[David Miller]

Mike,

You are right when you suggested that you gave your bird ( name?) other foods and he decided to eat the tastier foods. Pellets are fine. But , I have noticed in this forum for the last 6 years that the parrotlets who lived the longest were eating seed mixes with fresh veggies ( 19 years and 18 years and 17 years). This is by no means scientific.



Right now, my p'lett, Ricochet eats fresh veggies (no seed or pellet alone can give the fiber and digestive bonuses that fresh veggies give), and 30% of his diet is Harrison's Super fine pellets. I am increasing his pellet diet to 50% if I can.




I got Ricochet when he was 10 weeks old and he was fed seed mixes and fresh veggies, etc. Some Crumbles were in his diet.
I got him to eat more pellets by getting fine pellets and sprinkling them on some fried eggs that were chopped up. I gave him a little bit of fried egg each day with pellets and he had to eat the pellets because they were stuck to the egg, which he loves. Now, I just put the pellets in a feeding bowl and he eats from that and he eats seed mixes in another bowl. He loves food. His vet says he is one of the most robust and healthy birds he has ever seen at 38 grams.


I also give him a liquid vitamin supplement. This is a wise thing to do. Powder is okay, but he has to eat more to get the benefit of a vitamin. In using liquid in his daily water, all he has to ingest is his regular amount of water intake to realize the benefits. Since I change his water each day, he gets fresh vitamins each day. I use Ecotrition Vita Sol liquid vitamin. One drop per ounce of water.
Powder or liquid...either way. You can't go wrong!



You have to find what works for you. This is the power of this forum! There are different ways of doing things and all of them work! Try things until you get results.


Goldenfeast Australian Blend is a great product! It smells so good that you want to eat it! Keep it in the refrigerator. It is perfect for sprinkling Harrison's super fine pellets in it ( heavily!). The color blends right in. Goldenfeast is a very healthy food product for your bird. Use it, but add pellets or some hemp seeds or rape seeds in it.


David and Ricochet

 

[sachman]

I appreciate the quick replies. Looking forward to even more. My oversight: "Mine" means "Forest" (short for Forest Gump!). He's 15 months old now. A real cuddly guy: like scritches and beak massages, but watch out if you get too close to the inside of the cage! Mr. Territorial!
Mike

 

[JackieRTP]

My parrotlet does not eat pellets. Believe it or not that parrotlets are so active, that they actually need some seed. I use Goldenfeast Petite Legume Blend, the Australian Blend, Higgins Sunburst Cockateil food plus veggies and some fruit. I do give him at times things that I eat such as brown cooked rice or quinoa. I serve millet and nutriberries as treats.

 

[TheBeans]

Daisy is a very picky eater and always has been. She'll try something but if she doesn't like it, there's just no getting her to try it again. When she was very young she would try vegetables and fruit but the only one she liked out of the plethora that I offered her was a strawberry. She makes war on the berries. She does love honeydew melon seeds and she adores green pepper seeds. But she won't eat any other kind of food related berry, fruit or veggie. So, I tried for a long time to get her to eat pellets because I was worried that she wasn't getting the full spectrum of nutrition she needed. She would have nothing to do with them. Until one day when she was about a year old and she "discovered" that she loved the crunch of pellets and she was immediately won over. Since then, she is fed pellets on a daily basis and LOVES them! (Roudybush Crumbles) I will feed her seed bars occasionally and even millet occasionally but she prefers the pellets. Crazy blue bird! I also add a few drops of vitamins/minerals to her daily water cup as another option....figured it couldn't hurt!

 

[Bryan]

I also add a few drops of vitamins/minerals to her daily water cup as another option....figured it couldn't hurt!

I had seen on the Roudybush website that they do not recommend giving additional vitamin or mineral supplements so I do not give Pip any. How long have you been giving Daisy the liquid vitamins?

I had thought about getting the drops for Pip's water but after reading the Roudybush website was afraid to..idk

 

[JackieRTP]

I had seen on the Roudybush website that they do not recommend giving additional vitamin or mineral supplements so I do not give Pip any. How long have you been giving Daisy the liquid vitamins?

I had thought about getting the drops for Pip's water but after reading the Roudybush website was afraid to..idk

Roudybush adds vitamins and minerals to their pellets, which is why they recommend not giving additional vitamins and minerals. Too much (overdosing) can be just as harmful as not enough.

 

[Mrs.JP3]

Pellets are just ground seed and usually corn with added vitamins for nutrients. Mine don't eat pellets so i give them Lafebers Nutriberries, they hull the seed and coat them with vitamins so you get the same result as feeding pellets but in a seed form. I mix mine with Goldenfeast petite hookbill blend, a small amount of Volkmans Parrotlet seed and Dr Harvey's parakeet seed along with dried egg food, herb salad, calcium suppliment and spirulina.

 

[TheBeans]

I put the vitamin/mineral drops on her pellets only when she's going thru a molt. She hasn't shown any sign of this being bad for her and I figured molts have got to be zero fun so I'll do what I can to lessen that event for her. I also give Nutriberries but usually as treats when she is playing/working outside of her cage. One of these days I'm going to try giving her a little bit of hard boiled egg to see what she does with that!

 

[Bryan]

Pip loves eggs.. I have eggs in the morning and he gets about a nickel sized portion of his own. It's not hard boiled it is microwaved in a glass bowl kind of scrambled style but he loves it. I sometimes worry that I might be giving him to much since it is about everyday but it does not seem to slow down his pellet eating any.