He just eats the green pellets!

[SweetnSassyQ]

Hi everyone. My new baby Quaker, 10 weeks old, was weaned by the breeder to Kaytee Rainbow Pellets. He will only eat the green "spaghetti shaped" ones. He throws the rest out. I would like to start him on another brand of pellet anyway, so do any of you have any suggestions on how to do it? Should I do it like I was converting him from seed to pellets? I am going thru a lot of pellets trying to keep him full!..... and am having to handfeed him twice a day because he doesn't get enough of the green ones to fill him up. :confused:
Also, I have tried to give him seed treats and he doesn't know how to crack them because he's never had them! Will he eventually learn? I want him on a diet of pellets, some seed and fresh foods......that's taking a while too, he wants no part of fruit or veggies .....yet. Just green pellets! :rolleyes:

Thanks!
Deb & Cricket

[Wolat]

birds can be VERY stubborn. i sorry he's decided to eat only green pellets. Give him some of the rainbow stuff in the morning and thens ome new pellets in the evening. restrict seeds to be treats only, but to learn them, leave a few in his feed.
again, birds are VERY stubborn once they've decided one things is edible and not another. be very patient, it may or may not atke several weeks for him to start eating "right". also, once he starts eating the new stuff, decrease the old stuff... since he has already obliged eating the new stuff, he'll be forced to eat more of it to not be hungry. increase the new and decrease the old slowly until u have only new. this may take from a few days (with some rare birds) to several weeks.

good luck converting him =)

[SweetnSassyQ]

Hi Wolat, I was so worried about him not eating enough, and he was begging for food, that I started handfeeding him. Now he does not want to eat anything but formula!

Did I make him regress? :( Or was he not properly weaned to start with maybe? Or regressed because of the change? I would think a 10 week old quaker would be weaned, but I know some do take longer. They told me he was completely weaned when I bought him. ????

I ordered some Roudybush minis that are shaped like the green pellets he likes. They should be here tomorrow, well later today, it's 3:15 am here. No stores around here sell them.


Thanks!
Deb

[Wolat]

well, birds do love their attention... and yes he may have regressed. but if he was weaned before, you can probably do it again. offer less formula less frequently each day until he is ONLY on his 'kibble'/pellet. hand feeding is very tender and loving, but after a certain age, baby has to eat on his own and not depend on momma. we wouldn't want 3 yr olds breast feeding, same goes for ur baby.

birds are extremely manipulative and they adore attention. being handfed is notonly a bird version of breasfeeding but he gets your total and uninterrupted attention. its understandable that he would want such from u.

i think i made my point several times? sorry i have to much blood in the caffeine system still... gimme a few more sips and time.... mmmmm

[Pepsidoodle]

I have read that some have success with giving cream of wheat and oatmeal instead of formula and then introducing fresh fruit and veg. I have the same problem with my 7 year old quaker. She still is on Zupreem fruit and only eats the little bananas. I am tentative to give her the natural pellets as suggested. Hey, maybe try wetting the pellets to soften them. I tried that a while ago. She ate it for about 5 days then tired of it.

[Von L]

Pepsidoodle,

LOL...how funny! Squirt also gets the Zupreem fruit blend (as well as the garden goodness blend, and lots of fresh foods), and he eats everything but the bananas. In fact, he won't eat anything banana, including the fresh fruit. :p

Yvonne