# Pellet vs. Seeds? Please help..



## uccelloowner (Apr 23, 2013)

Hi everyone. I have been currently looking up what I should be feeding my cockatiel. The controversial topic of pellets vs. seeds has gotten me confused! I am currently feeding my bird Hartz Bird seed for Medium sized beaks. I occassionally give him Ecotrition Oat Groats. Also, I was giving him Zoo Med's Avian Plus vitamin and mineral supplement but lately it seems that when I give it to him, it is left in his dish. Is it neccessary for me to give him that?

According to something I read, pellets are good to feed when you don't supply fruits and veggies. I figured that would be good for him and me so he can really get good nutrition and it's easy and quick for me to change his food. 

I have also been looking into feeding him sprouts. Can I sprout Old Fashioned Oats that you can get in the grocery store? Also, I know you can sprout sunflower seeds, but I heard they were fatty and not good in large amounts. 

Thank you!

P.S. My tiel plucks his feathers. I have been spraying him with warm water every other day. I am also hoping that with diet changes, his feathers will come back in. I was looking into the Roudybush Rice Diet. Has anyone fed that to their bird and saw good results? I figured I would change his diet to more variety and if that didn't work then maybe I would get the Rice Diet.


----------



## urbandecayno5 (Oct 24, 2012)

I can't answer all your questions(I'm sure someone else can)
But
I personally give my girl this:

As soon as she gets up she gets a bunch of cut up herbs
She has seed available 24/7(I believe its like healthy select cockatiel diet)
She hates pellets so I give her 2 nutriberries a day(suppose to have all the nutrition of pellets)

Also she picks at my food throughout the day(and my moms. She eats a lot of vegetables so it works out nicely)
So she gets a decent variety


----------



## Snowify (Apr 22, 2013)

I personally feel seeds are a little bit better than pellets, so long as you're feeding them some fresh fruits and veggies as often as you can. And most birds seem to prefer seeds over pellets, atleast from what I have seen! It's better for them to get the nutrients and vitamins they need from veggies, if at all possible. 

Sprouts are definitely a great idea, and yes you can certainly grow them from the oats you get at the grocery store. You're right about the sunflower sprouts, they're a little on the fatty side, but they do make for a nice treat now and then! I know my birds personally just love them. I also give my birdies vitamin-filled treats that I got at my local pet store, they actually really love them, so if you feel your birds aren't getting the nutrients they need, you could certainly see what's available! 

I'm really sorry to hear your tiel is plucking.  I can't say I've personally dealt with that, but I do know some reasons why they might start.. They need to get a lot of sunlight if at all possible, and preferably at least 12 hours of sleep at night. Diet is definitely important, but it seems like you're already really on top of that! Is he around a lot of noise? Sometimes that can stress them out a bit.. You could try playing him some soft, calm music, birds love that usually! And I'm sure you give him lots of love already, but cuddles and time together will definitely de-stress him and help with the plucking. I'm sure you already knew most of this, but that's the best advice I know for plucking.  Again I'm really sorry he's going through that..


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27479 This sticky explains the best diet for tiels.

Also, I would stop giving the vitamins. You could overdose the bird on vitamins and that's not good. When I sprout, I sprout my regular seed mix and my guys love it so you could go with that!


----------



## uccelloowner (Apr 23, 2013)

urbandecayno5 said:


> I can't answer all your questions(I'm sure someone else can)
> But
> I personally give my girl this:
> 
> ...


Thank you everyone for all your answers!! I greatly appreciate your quick replies!  

urbandecayno5, I was wondering if the recall they had on some of their Nutri berries was still in effect. I mean, I don't think it would be since your birds are probably fine, but I just wanted to check.  Also, I tried feeding my tiel some seed that was a fruit mixture, and it he didn't care for it. Would the nutri-berries still work then?

Snowify, Cool! I think I will (eventually ) sprout some oats then! Do they just eat the sprouts or the oats too? Thanks for the plucking concern. I have to put some of your ideas into practice! 

roxy culver, Thank you for the thread on a diet for tiels! On the vitamin note, will fruits and veggies and some other variety such as sprouts will suffice for good nutrition?

I also have some other questions! I fed my cockatiel some cherries before and he absolutley adores them! What are some veggies or herbs for finicky eaters? 

Thank you all again!


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> roxy culver, Thank you for the thread on a diet for tiels! On the vitamin note, will fruits and veggies and some other variety such as sprouts will suffice for good nutrition?


Vegetables will, tiels really aren't naturally fruit eaters although there some exceptions, but yes a varied diet will provide the nutrition needed. 

As to offering things, anything you can hang in the cage usually works for mine, celery, romaine lettuce, broccoli, etc. There is also birdie bread that you can make with veggies in it to get them to eat those.


----------



## Snowify (Apr 22, 2013)

You're welcome!  I really hope he gets all better soon. And mine tend to eat everything, the sprout and the oats too haha, but I know some birds choose to eat just the sprout. Either way it's definitely a healthy idea!

As for the foods for picky eaters, I'd try some of these options: http://www.cockatielcottage.net/tablefoods.html There's quite a bit you can feed them, maybe try some and see what he likes best? My cockatiels really like lettuce, banana and cucumber best it seems. But definitely experiment with it!


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i believe variety is best, a little bit of everything. pellets should be a supplement into the diet, up to 20-30%. 

you can see what i feed my monsters here for an example. they get a bit of everything. we like mash and chop in this house lol

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.108798165946254.18215.108747479284656&type=3


----------



## Snowify (Apr 22, 2013)

This is also a really good site to read if you have the time, it goes in depth about what is best and what you should be careful with: http://www.cockatielcottage.net/diet3.html


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> This is also a really good site to read if you have the time, it goes in depth about what is best and what you should be careful with: http://www.cockatielcottage.net/diet3.html


We really try to keep people here on our forum as much as possible, cockatielcottage does have a lot of good info but a lot of it is also old and outdated too. http://talkcockatiels.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34 This whole section in our sticky library has a bunch of tips on what's safe and not safe to feed our birds.


----------



## Snowify (Apr 22, 2013)

roxy culver said:


> We really try to keep people here on our forum as much as possible, cockatielcottage does have a lot of good info but a lot of it is also old and outdated too. http://talkcockatiels.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34 This whole section in our sticky library has a bunch of tips on what's safe and not safe to feed our birds.


Oh, sorry Roxy, I'm still new.  Good to know though, I'll refrain from linked to anything outside the forum from here out!


----------



## uccelloowner (Apr 23, 2013)

Snowify said:


> Oh, sorry Roxy, I'm still new.  Good to know though, I'll refrain from linked to anything outside the forum from here out!


To tell you the truth, by you doing that, Roxy posted a link to something I was looking into! Good did come out of this!  Okay, thanks for the sprout info.

roxy culver, thanks again for the information! 

MeanneyFids, thanks for the advice!

Some more questions!  I looked at stainless steel bowls-anyone have some experience with them? Also, if I have fruits and veggies in the food dish with seeds, I heard that you have to take them out in about four hours. Is that true? Do I have to have seperate bowl for seeds, fruits and vegetables (one dish), and sprouts? 

Thank you again to everyone!


----------



## RowdyTiel (Jan 24, 2013)

I have a stainless steel bowl for my tiel's water. He has separate bowls for seed and another for pellets. (I hang his leafy veggies). I LOVE the stainless steel bowl! I eventually would like to change them all to stainless.


----------



## uccelloowner (Apr 23, 2013)

Thanks, RowdyTiel! I think I might invest in some...


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

stainless, ceramic, and glass are the best, but i like stainless out of the 3. i have stainless for my lovebirds water dishes. the rest i use glass and ceramic. glass and ceramic can break, where stainless does not.

plastic can harbour bacteria easily, which is why i avoid using it for water unless absolutely necessary (for my travel cages for example)

outside links are ok, as long as they arent another forum, but generally we prefer to keep to the information on this forum  unfortunately, cockatiel cottage is very outdated with a lot of their information.


----------



## uccelloowner (Apr 23, 2013)

MeanneyFids said:


> stainless, ceramic, and glass are the best, but i like stainless out of the 3. i have stainless for my lovebirds water dishes. the rest i use glass and ceramic. glass and ceramic can break, where stainless does not.
> 
> plastic can harbour bacteria easily, which is why i avoid using it for water unless absolutely necessary (for my travel cages for example)
> 
> outside links are ok, as long as they arent another forum, but generally we prefer to keep to the information on this forum  unfortunately, cockatiel cottage is very outdated with a lot of their information.


Thanks for that info. As I said before, I really need to invest in stainless steel, ceramic, or glass. You reassured me!  Do you (or anyone) reccommend a particular type of dish for water and seed?


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

my birds (and i) prefer shallower wider bowls for seeds and pellets and veggies particularly


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

Blah, of course plastic is worst... that's what I use with Rocko :frown: I wash his dishes regularly though, so hopefully that helps... I'd get some other dishes made from different material, but my cage has really weird slots for the dishes. I don't know if I could find any that would fit right.


----------



## uccelloowner (Apr 23, 2013)

Amz said:


> Blah, of course plastic is worst... that's what I use with Rocko :frown: I wash his dishes regularly though, so hopefully that helps... I'd get some other dishes made from different material, but my cage has really weird slots for the dishes. I don't know if I could find any that would fit right.


Here are the dishes I was looking at. They seem to just clip into the cage, I think.

http://www.petco.com/product/14434/Petco-Stainless-Steel-Coop-Cup-with-Clamp.aspx


----------

