Pellets?

[birdgirl]

How many people here feed there birds pellets? I just started feeding Hamlit pellets and he seems to love them. what are your birds diets like?

[Redstorm1721]

Hello again, My bird eats everything. She loves tomatoes and peppers the sweet one's. She eats baby food with rice and vegys. I give her pellets with a little apple juice in it to soften them,or sometimes in baby food. She hates pellets,she throws them out LOL. She has all the fruits you can think of. I give her cherioes,she loves them. Oh yeah sweet potatoes wow she looks so funny when she eats them. She has it all over her face. Just about everything except junk. She gets no junk at all. She wants it sometimes but I just don't let her. W/b

[birdgirl]

Hamlit will eat anything I eat. Hamlit doesn't like fruits but he can't get enouhg veggies he sits in front of the frig until I get him some.

[Redstorm1721]

That is so funny.. Now hamlet is he an Budgie?

[jackie]

well, sam is on a all seed diet....i've tried to feed him other things, but he gets really sick and starts breathing heavily. Jake will eat anything he can get his beak into...even the inedible :( he loves apples, grapes, crackers, mac and cheese, spagetti, chicken, and the list goes on and on.

[Redstorm1721]

Did you ever ask your Avery vet why your Sam does this? He gets that sick from eating differant foods? Wow that would scare me too. I wonder if you tried him on some vegys,baby food? My bird loves it. I give her the sweet potatoes and the all vegys.I get her the organic kind in your grocery store, in the baby food isle.Try some of that for Sam,maybe he will like it. And it won't be so harsh on his tummy. If he doesn't like the texture try putting some plain bread crumbs in it for him? I did that as well. I recieved this info from Jenny and she was right Sunni loves it!!!!!! Maybe Sam would like some apple juice and you can put some pellets in that? Or right in the baby food. It softens them up for Sam to eat? Good Luck.

[birdgirl]

yeah, Hammie's a budgie a big fat budgie some times I can't help but call him my little piggy ;)

[Jenny]

Yep, my birds eat pellets too, though after reading some of Alicia McWatter's articles I feel a little guilty about it, but I don't have a food processor so cant' really make the diet she describes! Mortie eats the Zupreem parrot/conure pellets. He used to eat only sunflower seeds, and I thought that I'd ahve a hard time switching him to somethign healthier, but when he got that first pellet he absolutely loved it! Kirby gets the same kind, and always drops them in his water bowl to soften them up first, then fishes them out and eats them! The budgies eat a seed mix and every few days some Kaytee budgie pellets. Of course, all the birds eat "human food", many different kinds of fruits and veggies, seed ball treats, foods I make for them, baby foods, and a bunch of other healthy stuff! Jackie, that's too bad about Sam! How old is he, and was he the wild caught one? Poor guy... One suggestion would be to buy some hand-feeding formula, mix it up, and see if he'll eat it- I'd dilute it with extra water since it's easier on them this way. The really sick birds at my vet who won't eat usually get tube-fed this, and it's not hard on them at all, since it's made for little baby bird bodies!

[jackie]

sam is the wild caught one and he is about 15 years old....i tried him on some baby food last night and therefore slept with a hyperventilating bird on my chest. i so afraid that one of these days i'm gonna try and give him something and he'll just fall over dead:( ! He is so unhealthy...really over weight and stuff, but i don't want to put him through stuff with the vet and stuff.
thanks for the tips guys

[Jenny]

Poor Sam! I'd really try to work on his weight problem, since that will make his health even worse and being over weight puts tons of stress on his joints which he definitely doesn't need. What kind of "exercise" does he get each day? Also, what kind of seeds are in his mix? If there's any sunflower seeds, take them all out b/c they're really high in fat. I would definitely take him to a vet! It will only help him, unless you take him to one not experienced with birds. Find a vet in your area that sees lots of birds each week, and i wouldn't worry then about it being bad for him. There's tons foods and supplements that can help a bird digest food and handle it better, but only a vet could tell you exactly which ones would be best for Sam. There's obviously somethign majorly wrong, and if you dont' get it checked out then he doesn't ahve a very good chance of living 40+ years. Also, do you give him vitamin and mineral supplements in his food? Well, poor guy, I hope he gets better! One last thing, I just remembered about this- there si a board certified avian vet who is willing ot answer questions peopel e-mail him, of course he can't give you any medicine or treatment without seeign Sam, but coudl at least give you some good advice. His e-mail address is AskTheVet@birdieboutique.com. Iv'e e-mailed him myself, so I know it works!

[Redstorm1721]

So Sorry for the poor little baby of yours. Seed diets are high in fat, thats why its best to try and give anything but. Only a teaspoon a day would be great if They would do it. Unfortantly most don't. Pellets, Pellets, Pellets are the best. But if your bird is not use to them try putting some in his dish each day so he can get used to them. looking at them alot maybe he will try them. The vets can maybe give some medicene for your little baby,and help him lose some of the weight. Thats whats happens when they eat too much seeds. I hope all will be okay for you? W/b and let us know. Gail:confused:

[jackie]

yes, we've been working on his weight problem and he has been slowly progressing since we got him 3 years ago. he doesn't have a cage and basically stays on his tree all day. he has a bunch of climbing ropes and toys he's always swinging from, so i'm sure he's been getting plenty of exercise. also, when i have time, we play games like peekaboo and hide and go seek. in the summer we lie on the trampoline and go swimming.....well actually, he just goes floating around on a float. his diet consist of all seeds as i've told you before, and those little hard crackers they sometimes put in. he doesn't have any dark sunflower seeds, just white and striped. he has a lot of sowflower, millet and a bunch of others i've never heard of. he also gets vitamins and mineral supplements. I've brought him to the vet for his problem and he gave me some pellets. i tried for 3 months and he never touched them at all....even when it was the only food given to him. when i went back to the vet he said that they might have too knock him out and stick tube and stuff in him and then he would have to be stablized for months. if he dies, jake, my other bird, will die too.....one night, they slept in different rooms and they cryed and sqwaked until i finally put them together at like 4 in the morning. well, thank you all for your concerns

[Jenny]

Well, it sounds like you've done everything you can, then! That's great that he's improved since you've got him. Is he the one that that mean lady had before you got him??? :( Also, does his seed mix have dried fruit and that kind of stuff in it, or is it completely seeds? Anyway, bye!

[Redstorm1721]

Yes, well you did mention he was 15? Wow thats great. He is a budgie? Thats great he doesn't even have a cage. Was he always that way or did you teach him the tree? I think you are a good mommy to him, and he will be just fine the way you are with him. He is so used to that way he may just never want to change.Hugs and kisses to him ,and I clap my hands to you for your wonderful ways with your baby. xx 00

[birdgirl]

is he ok with out a cage? I only know two people who have ever done that and they leaft there birds home well they were at work and the birds just went where they wanted I think thats so cool.
you are a vary good bird mom even if he never eats anything but seeds you tried your best ;) hats off to you.

[Redstorm1721]

Your very sweet!!!!:)

[jackie]

thank you all. jenny: yes, he is the one that i got from the mean old lady....she used to hit their cages with sticks to make them be quite and now he about hasd a heart attact whenever he sees a stick bigger than a pencil. i can't believe you remembered that all of this time....redstorm:no he s not a budgie, he's a green cheeked amazon...aka mexican red head...i think that from the time they caught him in the wild, till the time i got him about 3 or 4 years ago, he had been in a cage. he was extremely scared of of comming out, but after i took the cage away, he had no choice lol....they did learn to stay on their tree and have always stayed there until just a few months ago when they all (yes, it's all three now, not just sam anymore..lol) decided they like staying under my bed instead...it used to bug me, but as long as they are being good and not getting themselves in trouble, it doesn't really matter to me. birdgirl: thank you. yes, they stay out of their cage all day...i didn't like the fact that they would have to be couped up all day while i was at school. the only disadvantage i see is it took them a while to understand what is theres to climb on and what wasn't and that you can't cover them at night.

[Redstorm1721]

Jackie,are you ever afraid that they will get outside? I have alot going on in my home kids and all that I have to cage mine. But Sunni is out all day.

[Mrs.Birdy]

Speaking of diets, I converted my pellet eating cockatiel and seed only budgies to Laferber's nutriberries. They took to them right away. This happened with I got my Marcel, our new Pionus. He was raised on and very used to nutriberries. They provide variety in each bite and all the vitamins and minerals they need. They are usually vet approved and I did online research on them. Go to Lafeber.com to learn more. A little expensive, but on the bright side, the whole food is eaten, little or no messy left overs.

Anyway, I feel so much better knowing all my birds are going to be at their best with the new food.

Marcel eats the berries whole, but I do have to crush them for the tiel and budgies. :)

[Redstorm1721]

I tried pellets today with the cockatiel and she loved them? I also gave her some apple and squash,and she took to all of it. I feed mine zurpeem I need to check out what you get. Have seen it before, but I just thought the stuff I am buying is also good. I am feeding the cockatiel the same as the store gave her just a little more .You know something funny my parrot hates millet and the others love it? funny. Sunni gets everything except junk. She eats all vegys and all fruits and all the greens she can eat. She loves it all. Sunni hardley gets seed.:D

[feathermagic]

Charlie hates pellets alot! He hated them so much that he went on a hunger strike! He eats just about anything else. He likes to attack fruits and vegetables. I'm serious! He jumps on them!:p

[Redstorm1721]

:D That is so funny. Sunni hates them too. She will not eat them if her life depended on it. But the new cockatiel loves them? Funny how are birds like certian things. Just like humans!

[jackie]

redstorm: jake and sam are in my room. my door is ALWAYS closed!....while i'm at school, i close it so that incase they decide to wonder, they won't leave the room. when i get home, i go into my room and close my door. i don't like people peeking their heads in on me. resources say that they sould be in a room where there are always people around. they used to be in our family room, but they would sqwak everytime you passed by. Sam used to live in a cage in a dark room, so he even feels safer in my room than he did "out in the open". Also, we have 2 new puppies. they stay downstairs and know that they are not allowed upstairs. although it might sound mean for the birds to be kept in my room all day, it is the safest thing for them. Also, when the weather is nice, they have a large "outdoor cage". in the summer, we have a pool, and they like floating around on floaties. Jake has flown away 3 times but i've been able to easily get him back all three times. he's flown around the neighborhood and was so scared he came flying back to me, he's flown to the top of a tennis court fence which i had to climb to get him down, and he's flown onto the roof of petsmart where i had to ask them to go up there and bring him down lol....this all happened before i learned to clip their wings. now, they both get a weekly inspection and they have learned to cooroporate and lift their wings up, one at a time for me. since i check weekly, i clip any feather that has grown in and i'm xonfident that they can't fly on any given day.

[Redstorm1721]

:D Well that is pretty cool. I am impressed that you clip the wings yourself. My parrot is trained to the paper and when I tell her to poop,she pushes it out and does a poop! LOL How cute. Anyone that see's her do it, laugh like crazy. They didn't think I could train her to go poop when told. Also I ask her to shake my hand and she puts her foot up in my hand. she is very smart. Gail

[Jenny]

Wow- everyone has written so much since I came here yesterday that I hardly know where to start!! Jackie, I'm so amazed that you were able to get them back after they flew away! You were really lucky! I've read a few times about people who have trained their parrots to do free-flight and come back, and I think that woudl be really awesome to be able to let your birds fly outside and trust them to come back! I'd just be too worried about hawks swooping down on them, though. That's so neat that they've learned to expect their wing trims and lift their wings up for you! :) That's also cool about floating in the pool! Have they ever jumped in the water on accident or anything! Gail, that's so great that your little 'tiel (did you name her Perl?) ate the squash, pellets, and apple! Lucky you! Mrs. Birdy- my birds love LeFabre's too! They're a little expensive though so I don't buy them that often, but when I do, the birds go crazy! Has anybody tried the Kaytee ones? Jackie, I have another question- where did you get the climbing tree? Is there a website for them or anything? I always make my birds theirs, but they're not manzanita and "highly chewable" so after a few months, they start looking pretty bad!

[jackie]

jenny- i bought my manzanita tree from up in CT. there's a little store there called exotic feather. although that is the only place i've seen them, i will never buy from them again....they charged me $1200 for Jake which i later found out usually go for about $600, and $500 for the tree. plus, when i bought Jake, i bnought some of the food that they had been feeding them, and when i got home, i realized there were bugs in it.....it was so awful. they have a very good reputation but all of my experiences with them have not been good.

[jackie]

these people seem to have some reasonably priced metal play stands: http://www.kingscages.com/parrot.htm
i bought the top t-stand on this website and i absolutly LOVED it. they can't really go anywhere, but i would stick it in whatever room i was in so that they could watch me....unfortunetly, when we moved, the base never showed up. the 4th picture down, the tree, i kind of like mine except mine is prettier and has better perching places on it lol... : http://pamperedparrot.com/acc.html
this tree...bush...whatever you call it is neat...perfect size to just stick on the table or something.....what type of birds do you have again? i always have to look them up lol:
http://www.crystal-parrot.com/playstands.html
if this is for a smaller bird, here's one on ebay:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2317040304&category=20735
and another one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2316786185&category=20735

hope these help you some:)

[Redstorm1721]

That is near me. Although I called one time to ask a few questions about Sunni,when I first got her. The lady was so mean to me ,I ended up crying and hanging up. She told me Sunni was to young to let go and they should of never sold her to me, that she would die and to bring her into them for her to tell me how to interact??????? On and ON I was so upset i will never ever go there!!!!!!1:mad:

[Jenny]

Thanks for the information Jackie! I especially love the tree-stand on the Pampered Parrot website. ( i only wish I had enough money to buy it! I'd better start saving) :) Off the subject of play stands, yesterday I took all the birds except for the 'keets outside for fresh air and sunshine. Kirby and the lovebird were kept in their cages (since Kirby's wings aren't clipped) and I was planning to walk around with Mortie on my hand. I had checked Mort's wings before to make sure he wouldn't be able to get any lift, but I guess I didnt' look close enough because as soon as he got scared, he took off and landed near by in a tree! Thankfully, he landed on the very low branches so I could easily get him! So, I of course went inside and clipped a few more feathers and he was fine after that. :) They all absolutely loved being outside! Does anybody else take their birds for walks or anything? And something else- today we sort of lost our lovebird! My mom had left her in her room while we were outside for a little bit, and when she came back, she couldnt' find the bird! So, we all started looking, and finally I found her all the way on the inside at the very top of our curtains on the rod! She was about 8 feet off the ground and her wings are clipped- we found out she's an EXCELLENT little climber! It was dark, so I guess she just decided to roost somewhere a little different for a change! One last thing- Mortie ate mango for the first time today, and LOVED it! What are all your birds favorite foods???

[jackie]

jake has aloso flown when his wings were clipped....just because of the way their wings are made, they can go flying off if they catch an air current or something. our budgie, berrie, also loves climbing....she whould always climb to the top of our curtains and then cry because she was afraid to come back down. i ued to always take my birds out on walks, but now, almost everyone in my neighborhood has an outdoor dog, so i'm kinda scared too. jake loves mango and he xcan say "mango mango mango!" like in the movie paulie:) he also likes all kinds of pasta...i always have to give him a bath afterwards cause he always ends up with spagetti sauce or something all over him!

[Redstorm1721]

Thank You Courtney,I am still trying to give her differant foods. Today I added some carrots and rice and some grapefriut. I doubt she will eat it but its worth a try!:(

[birdgirl]

well even if she doesn't eat it today she might eat it tomarrow or the next day :D don't give up

[Sky1RN]

Hi Birdgirl,

I try and feed all my birds pellets but not all will take them. The ones who do eat them will get Zupreem Pellets. The Lovebirds will eat just about anything I put in front of them. MY Tiels are a little more selective. The Birds we let out of their cages on a regular basis eat table food. Whatever we are eating they eat, and those are the ones with the nicest looking feathers. Of course we also add some vitamins to their food and water.

Frank
"Sky1RN"

[Redstorm1721]

Hello Frank,nice to meet you!:cool:

[birdgirl]

how did you get an Avatar??

[Redstorm1721]

UM...............WHAT IS AN AVATAR?

[Sky1RN]

Hi Birdgirl,

First let me say to Redstorm that a Avatar is the picture you see by my name. In this case the Americian Flag. Okay, Birdgirl are you ready? First thing you have to do is find a avatar you like. Then you have to edit it that it's no bigger then 50 x 50 pixels. Once you've got that done you come to the forum and click on "User CP" that will bring up a new screen you now click on "Edit Options" Scroll down the page to the bottom where it has the Avatar fields. Once your there it gives you the option to upload the picture you edited from your computer (Where the file is located) or if you have it on a web site you can put in the URL of the site and your all set. That's all there is to it. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I hope this helps.

Frank "Sky1RN"

[birdygirl]

eat their pellets. My pi has always eaten them. My budgie didn't. She learned from Sophie.

[birdgirl]

thanks for your help Frank:D I did it

[birdygirl]

Did you get an avatar or did you get your bird to eat pellets??

[Sky1RN]

Hi Birdygirl,

Birdgirl was refering to her avatar.

Frank "Sky1RN"