# Cockatiel Weaning and Only Eating Oat Groats?



## Khulood (Feb 23, 2018)

Hi everyone,

So my 12 week-old cockatiel is still on one hand feeding a day, which he eats up voraciously (he gets about 8-10cc). He was fully weaned, eating everything, but regressed heavily when we brought him home. Now, the only seed he eats is oat groats and the occasional chomp of millet. I've been offering him a large variety of other seeds, pellets, chop, veggies, but the only thing he wants to eat are the oat groats and formula.

Is he learning to wean again? Is this normal for the process? I tried to hand feed him pellets, which he eats, but I don't have the time to sit there for an hour and feed him pellet-by-pellet. When I came back from work yesterday, he was extremely skinny and shouting like crazy- he hadn't even touched his food bowl save for the sprinkling of oat groats.

To make sure he doesn't starve himself to death while I'm at work, I bought oat groats and put a larger ratio into his food bowl with other seeds/pellets. Although I know when I get home that's all that's going to be eaten. Even the millet stays untouched.

Should I be concerned that he'll only learn to eat oat groats? He won't eat anything else...all other seeds he literally just spits out


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I've never had this happen, so it's very strange to me. Will he eat with you? Like if you put his bowl of food next to your food at the table and eat dinner, will he eat with you then? Tiels are flock animals and typically only eat with their flock. Has he seen Peeve eat? It might be good for him to be around Peeve when you offer millet and see if Peeve eating it can get him to eat it.


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## Khulood (Feb 23, 2018)

If I eat it, he could care less! I always have Peeve out with him when I'm trying to introduce him to new foods (be it seeds, veggies, chop, etc). Peeve loves to steal his seeds since it's a treat from his more nutritious diet that I'm converting him to. Macaroni just sits at the edge of the bowl and stares looking for oat groats while Peeve eats everything else! Like I said, he'll pick up other seeds but then drop them from his mouth immediately after. I even tried offering him budgie mix since that's smaller and easier to eat, but nothing. The only thing he's eaten that Peeve GLADLY eats is millet, lol. Even then he takes 2-3 bites and is on his way looking for food. 

It's crazy, the second I pull out the ziploc bag of seeds he runs with all his little-legged might to the bag and jumps in. But instead of eating the seeds he flings them to the side looking for oat groats.


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## Khulood (Feb 23, 2018)

Here’s a pic of him scavenging


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Honestly, I don't know. I never watched my birds that closely to see which seeds they were eating and which ones they weren't. You could try honey sticks and see if he likes those as well. Seed should be a main part of their diet it's just frustrating that he's only eating one kind.


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