# Pellets



## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

All the 'tiels are getting from now on are pellets. But what I wanna know is how long did it take for your 'tiel(s) to convert(?) to the pellets?! 

I got them a fruit and nut mix too, but they haven't touched that or the pellets yet, lol. One more thing.. should I add seed at all? I am giving them the fruit & nut mix plus the pellets.. I'm hoping it won't take them long to realize how yummy pellets are.


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

I had pellets as part of my birds diet for a while but i didn't notice any health improvements significant enough to make the extra cost worth while. All my guys tried them right away though, and picked at them in addition to their seeds.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Really, so the pellets aren't as healthy as they make them out to be? 

I got a bag of them for $9.00, the lady told me pellets and Soluvet (for vitamin deficiencies) should really help with their health improvments, the Vet told me this Soluvet helps a lot because last time I took Mali to the vet when she started breathing heavy he told me to get Soluvet and it'll help and it did, and she's started breathing again so that's why I got more.. it's a bit of a worry considering this is the second time it's happened. I think she may have some kinda respiratory problem - so looks like I may have to take a trip to the Vet again.

The babies sure love the pellets, they're the only ones who're munching out on it. I just seen them sitting around the food dish eating them, yayy.


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

Mine eat pellets they only get seed Maybe 3 times a month I don't like the fact that all the nutrients of the seeds are in the hauls and they don't even eat that part.where as the pellets they get their nutrients in every single bite even if they don't eat a whole pellet they still get the nutrients they need Plus they get veggies, and cooked foods 

When I convert mine, who all came to me eating seeds - I put more seed then pellet in the dish, then gradually (every few days) reduce the amt of seed and increased the amount of Pellets 

Some switched over quickly some took longer. I think the longest a few took was maybe 2 months 

my 1st budgie tweety was the quickest to convert, He converted in a week


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

I found a way to get more pellets into my birds diets. I made a batch of beans that were particularly moist so now every time I take a new batch out of the freezer I add about a cup of Zupreem fruit pellets. They are really loving it! I also have added another pellet dish on the aviary. They ate them before but not as much as seed. (I offer both) but now they eat them more. At the very least you should still offer millet. besides them loving it it is good nutrition as well.


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

Solace. said:


> Really, so the pellets aren't as healthy as they make them out to be?


They are healthy, i just didn't think they were that much better that it was worth the money. For $9 did you get Vetafarm pellets? I didn't like them much at all, and the birds weren't fussed either. I found that there was lots of wastage. The pellets i was impressed with and the birds gobbled down happily were Harrisons, but at $20 for a 500g bag i couldn't possibly afford to keep them on that diet.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> All the 'tiels are getting from now on are pellets.


I assume you know that pellets shouldn't be more than 80% of the diet according to the manufacturers! More than that is dangerous. It's generally recommended that the remaining 20% be vegetables. 

Nobody really knows what the ideal diet is because there hasn't been enough study. But a lot of people (including me) don't have enough faith in processed food to feed an 80% pellet diet. The amount my birds get is more like 10% of their diet. A lot of people also think that cockatiels need to have some seed in their diet, since they're seed eaters in the wild. Even the Harrisons pellet company recommends giving cockatiels a teaspoon of seed a day in their Handbook for a Healthier Bird.

You can boost the nutritional content of seed by soaking or sprouting it. As with any wet food, you have to be on guard against problems with mold and bacteria growth.



> I got them a fruit and nut mix too


Cockatiels generally don't recognize fruit as food although some will eat a little apple. They're better with vegetables. Mine are especially good about vegetables that resemble a seed (peas, corn kernels, broccoli florets, etc) or a thin stem (asparagus, lawn grass, carrot greens, etc). Wild cockatiels eat seeds and chew on stems to extract the juices.

I don't know how well they usually accept nuts, but my tiels won't eat small nut pieces that I offer them. Tiels are too little to crack whole nuts in the wild, so maybe they don't recognize nuts as food.


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## huskymom (Jan 17, 2008)

with Maui it took me two days to convert.. Jack and Cotton did take over a week.. so actually really fast... I had no luck witht he budgies I had except for one.. the rest refused to eat them and I tried for almost a year...

they are a bit pricey but one thing that was a huuuge plus for me was that there was no waste at all... no hulls all over the place (hubby freaked every time and I had to vaccum 3-4 times daily) and no tossing out seeds along with the hulls when refills were made... also a bit more pricier as i have to order them over the net... but I order bulk 10lbs should last me 6 months and they cost around 35 with shipping.. more than half of that on shipping.. last time I ordered 20lbs...

but now that the birds are in an outside aviary(LOL) more like enclosure... I´m thinking going back to seed.. to save a few $$.. and build a bigger place for them....

as Bea said they seemed pretty nice and I have had no health problems at all, but I don´t see a significant difference... maybe I have to compare them to other birds seed fed, and see side by side differences... but I´m content with them eating them

one other thing, the poops, at start do seem bigger than with seed...


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Yeah Bea, it's Vetafarm. They seem to have no problems with them though..they're all eating them.. both the pellets AND the nuts and fruit mix.

I have put a bit of seed in with the pellets and the fruit and nut mix and they ate it all, so they sure do like it. They won't eat veggies, I already asked the Vet what more I can do to get them to eat them and he said you can't force them to so don't.. I have tried all different veggies (even Tilly won't touch lettuce anymore) but they don't like veggies so that's why I got them the pellets and fruit mix - I'm not buying veggies only to have them wasted, so I'm not going to push them to eat it.. I know it's part of their diet, but they don't even like fruit - grapes, apple, peach, Oranges etc.

I've looked on tons of sites to try different ways into getting them to eat it and I have tried and tried but no success. They have been given the veggies and fruit every single day for the past 5 months.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

If you're having trouble getting the to eat pellets you could try soaking it and adding a little to a moist food they eat. Also try different brands. I tryed for months to get my guys to eat pellets and tried several different brands when I brought home Zupreem fruit diet it was like magic. One by One they started eating the pellets. I still give them both seed and pellets and I'm happy to say they eat both.


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## Amy1569 (Oct 14, 2008)

My 5 1/2 month old male LOVES the Zupreem fruit pellets...I add alittle warm water to it and he inhales it. I just put it in the same kind of dish he eats his seed mix out of. I do both...Seed mix and pellets....is that ok?
He likes cheerios too! (and Apple Jacks....do you think those are ok? once in a while?)
I use Millet as a treat...for training....


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## huskymom (Jan 17, 2008)

I use roudybush... zupreem was good, and I could get it at a pet store.. but... it was hard to find smaller sized pellets.. becuse the ones intended for the tiels were snapped and half of them flew all over over the place... hence I better have the smaller ones so ther´s no flying pieces anywhere and no waste at all...

and I prefer the uncolored ones.. as it has been know to color the poops too.. so a bit harder to know if a bird is sick or if it´s just the coloring... JMO..


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Apple jacks probably have too much sugar. This can cause yeast problems with a bird.


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## Amy1569 (Oct 14, 2008)

He just had the apple jacks the one time....and he only had like one or at most 2. He sure did like 'em though...........


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Spike gets his seed mix and pellets and will eat both. He also gets veggies but won't eat them every time. I find if I put them on a plate and sit on the couch with him and read he is more likely to eat his veggies.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

sweetrsue said:


> If you're having trouble getting the to eat pellets you could try soaking it and adding a little to a moist food they eat. Also try different brands. I tryed for months to get my guys to eat pellets and tried several different brands when I brought home Zupreem fruit diet it was like magic. One by One they started eating the pellets. I still give them both seed and pellets and I'm happy to say they eat both.


They're eating the pellets fine, but if it's better to give it to them moist I will do that. All my 'tiels love the pellets, they started eating them the first night I gave them some - it's just the veggies they won't touch.

Oh and they get a bit of seed as well, so they get the pellets, fruit and nut mix (which they all eat and love) and the seed. A bit of a mixture. Plus they have cuttlebone fish and a mineral block in each cage.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Sounds like a pretty well rounded diet except for the veggies. What kind have you tried to give them? They like young dandylion and chickweed.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

I have never heard of young dandylion and chickweed. :lol:

I have tried to give them Corn (raw and cooked) Carrots, Peas, Spinach, Pumpkin, Broccoli. I buy a bag of mixed veggies, it's got everything in it. If there's another way then I'd be more than happy to try. One way I tried was putting millet and seed over the veggies but they just took the millet off and weren't at all interested in the veggies!


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Dandelion and chickweed are two common weeds...around here anyway. Dandelion grows mostly in peoples lawns. I found some pics on google.






Dandelion flower







Dandelion Seeds







Chickweed It's the broadleaf stuff not the grass.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

I'm gonna get some of that, thank you. 

SUCCESS! I know what I was doing wrong the whole time. I was leaving the seed and etc in the cage and putting the other stuff in as well. So I removed the pellets, seed, and fruit and nut mix and put in spinach and lettuce and at the moment, Tilly & Theo are eating it. 

It may not be much but it's a start?


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Cool! Success!


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## Amy1569 (Oct 14, 2008)

Can that dandelion flower and seed be picked right from your yard and given to them than? (obviously next summer/spring..and not so much with winter coming! lol)

And where can you get that chickweed? 
I've been meaning to check out our local bulk food store....
barley? (is it 'hulled' or is there 'regular'?)
quinoa?
legumes
spelt?(what the heck is this?):blink: lol
lentils

I got these names from when I had a parrotlet...and some of them are beans..like the lentils? 

(i've seen the lentils in the seed mix..but I think he picks around it. Can you cook them...I mean I guess you can..but would he like them better that way and are the nutrients still as good after cooked?)

Pasta.... I think I heard is ok? but I assume in light amnts?

And your right xxspikexx.....If I have something I'm eating, Toby is more apt to see what I have and have a morsel....stinker...


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Chickweed is a common weed here. I don't know what the genus or species is. Dandelions can be picked from the lawn. They don't eat the seeds just the young greens. They are good in a salad too! You want to be sure that you take them from an area that has never been sprayed of course.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Some of the grocery stores in the US sell bunches of dandelion greens. Which is good for me because they don't grow wild in southern Arizona, except for something that looks like dandelion leaves but is completely covered with small thorns. I don't know what the international availability is like!


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Pasta is fine Amy.

I still gotta go and look for the other things, I'd go if it wasn't raining.


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## Amy1569 (Oct 14, 2008)

Thanks  I'm going to the grocery today....I'll see what they have as well...


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Quinoa is a great addition. It is a grain that looks like millet. Cooks like rice. You can also soak it. It sprouts quickly. It is very high in calcium making it high on my list. I always add it to my bean and rice mixture They seem to love it. Lentils and are in the legume family. I add those too. Nothing wrong with pasta. It starts as a grain.


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