# Cockatiel not eating



## mouseb (Aug 2, 2012)

I purchased my new cockatiel on Tuesday the breeder told me to purchase ZuPreem but I couldn't find any in several pet stores and I looked online and noticed there are different types of ZuPreem such as entree and fruitblend. 

I bought some KayTee Fiest Max instead since I couldnt find ZuPreem I give the daily 4 tbspoons but I can barely tell a difference in the levels if my cockatiel has eaten any or not.

I do so him/her munch on some millet that I stick in the cage every time I enter the room though. 

He/she was a handfed bird but hasn't eaten anything from my hand except millet I have tried a variety of vegetables also. 

May this be due to him/her being use to the ZuPreem? Also what food do you use?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

offer seed too. cockatiels should not have a lot of pellets in their diet. 

you should offer seed mostly. then veggies and pellets. make sure he has a good seed mix as his staple food supplemented with pellets,

in cockatiels, diets high in pellets are too high in protein for them, and in the long run this can cause kidney problems. as well as too high of levels in some vitamins. 


feed him what he will eat, new birds often dont eat at first in their new homes. so if he wants the spray millet, let him have it. spray millet is excellent for new birds and sick birds. also, hang it from the top of the cage so he feels more comfortable to eat it. hang some soaked romaine lettuce from the top so he can lick some moisture off of it to drink if he feels too scared still to eat.


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## mouseb (Aug 2, 2012)

DallyTsuka said:


> offer seed too. cockatiels should not have a lot of pellets in their diet.
> 
> you should offer seed mostly. then veggies and pellets. make sure he has a good seed mix as his staple food supplemented with pellets,
> 
> ...


Yea the Fiesta Max is a basically a mixture of seeds but I haven't seen him touch it. Also the millet is hanging from the top and he eats that in front of me and out of my hand when training. He may eat when his cage is uncovered but the food dishes that came with the cage is at the bottom but he prefers to but up top in the middle. Should I buy food dishes to put in the area he likes to sit the most?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

for the first little while it might be helpful to have food dishes that can be put up top near him so he can feel more comfortable to eat


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## mouseb (Aug 2, 2012)

DallyTsuka said:


> for the first little while it might be helpful to have food dishes that can be put up top near him so he can feel more comfortable to eat


I'll go check some stores tomorrow for some more food sources.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

A bird in a new home is often too scared to eat at first - see http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27080 for advice on encouraging him to eat.

You can contact the breeder and ask which specific type of Zupreem he's used to eating, and order it on the internet if you can't get it locally. You can gradually teach him to eat other types of food and phase out the Zupreem if you want to. But right now the top priority is to get him to eat, and familiar foods are the best way to accomplish that.

While you're talking to the breeder, you can ask what other kinds of food he likes and exactly how these foods were served - for example, were vegetables served cut-up in a cup, or is he used to eating leafy greens clipped to the cage bars? Then you can offer the same types of food served in a similar way.


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## Dragten (Jun 6, 2012)

I have had my cockatiel for only 5 days. I have never seen him eat, not did I notice any decrease of food in any of the bowls. However, he does eliminate many times a day and Tielfan told me that it means he have eaten in recent hours.
On second day, he was only hanging out on the bottom of the cage. I put some food on the bottom (I feed him Vitakraft Premium Menu (http://www.pet-dog-cat-supply-store.com/shop/shop_image/product/f213183e028c2514b5fe6ce852728733.jpg )) and covered the cage to relax him. A short time after, I could hear some cracking sounds from the cage, which I assumed to be the sounds of him feeding.

So according to Tielfan (cheers!), if he eliminates, he eats.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

If he is eating when you are in the room, he is flock eating and you should sit with him and encourage him to eat.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> I have never seen him eat, not did I notice any decrease of food in any of the bowls


When birds eat seeds, they crack the shells off first and the shells usually drop back into the bowl. So take a close look at the contents of the bowl to see whether it contains whole seed or empty shells.

You can take the food cup out of the cage and blow the empty shells into a trash can. The whole seed is heavier and won't blow out unless you're blowing really hard. If you blow through a drinking straw it will keep your face further from the cup so that seed shells don't end up in your eyes. You need to monitor the cup of course to make sure that it contains enough whole seed to get him through the day, and that any layer of empty shells isn't so deep that it's hard for him to reach the whole seed.

If he feels more comfortable eating on the bottom of the cage it's fine to put some food there, at least until he becomes more comfortable with eating from the regular food cup. Cockatiels are ground feeders in the wild so it feels natural for them to eat off the floor. If the breeder fed the babies on the floor, your bird might not fully understand the concept of eating from a cup that's higher up. He'll learn it eventually though.


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## mouseb (Aug 2, 2012)

I have got squirt to eat some of the seed mix I have out of my hand and even out of my hand you can barely tell the difference but the sunflower seed he attempted to eat got flung across the room lol. So I'am happy that I know he's eating out of my hand at least also tried some lettuce but he just licked the water off of that and took little nibbles.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's good that he's eating and getting some moisture. If you're worried that he isn't getting enough to eat, you can check his keel bone (breastbone) area to see if he's too thin. It's not always an easy thing for an inexperienced person to determine, but there's a good thread on how to do it at http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=17680 You should be able to feel the breastbone but it shouldn't be sticking out really far.


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## Ghosth (Jun 25, 2012)

My birds have always seemed to dislike having to go down to bottom of cage to eat. They by far much prefer to hang out at the top of their cage. Also the cup type feeders always collect all the empty hulls and discards. Forcing birds to pick through them to get to good seed. So I prefer silo type feeders placed just above the level of the front perch. Lower maintenance for me and I feel healthier for them. Placed where they are it is virtually impossible for them to poop on their food. 










Feeder most to the left has pellets, the other 3 have seed mix. Also the hulls don't pile up on the good seed so I feel like I waste less.


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## mouseb (Aug 2, 2012)

Thats a nice cage set up but I cant find any that size I find the huge feeders.


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## Ghosth (Jun 25, 2012)

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5950+21009&pcatid=21009

http://www.petco.com/product/6391/P....aspx?CoreCat=MM_BirdSupplies_FoodWaterDishes

Not the big one, but the 6" x 1.25 costs 1.60$

I have one I'm using for pellets and two I use for water. They will pass a bit bigger seed variety than the smaller bullet type. And best of all can be placed almost anywhere.


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## mouseb (Aug 2, 2012)

Thanks I'll get some

Edit:
Grabbed some little pink food cups for the time being earlier and guess who got caught snacking.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

lol. so good that he is eating!


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## mouseb (Aug 2, 2012)

Yup and this morning he ate off a saucer and couldnt wait for the water and almost knocked it out of my hand.


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