Millet

[birdgirl]

Hamlit LOVES millet and gos nuts when ever I buy it for him it never lasts long. do you feed millet to your birds??

[Jenny]

I feed millet to my birds occasionally, and they absolutely love it too! The only problem is that six birds go through it rather quickly and it's kind of expensive in the little packages of it! Last year at a bird fair here they were selling it extremely cheap and I bought tons, but this year the guy wasn't selling it anymore. :( (much to the disappointment of my birds!!!)

[Redstorm1721]

My Birds love it too. I only give it to them as a treat. :D

[birdygirl]

I found it in a package for less than two dollars at a petstore. But I only have two birds so they don't go through it very fast.

[birdgirl]

I only have Hamlit so I get it for him every time I go to the pet store. I get it for 1.00 for three sticks(if thats what you call them)

[jackie]

i've bought jake ans sam both the small size and the parrot size but they don't even touch it....i don't think they realize that they are suppost to eat it lol

[birdygirl]

I would try putting it places where they normally are in the cage. Like by the highest perch. Their curiosity will get the better of them and then you will have a mess of millet on the floor.

[Mrs.Birdy]

I gave regular millet to my Pionus. His beak is so big that he was just shredding it and not eating.

Then I tried Mega Millet (larger kernals). He loved it and was able to manage eating much better.

My other birds absolutely go crazy for millet. When they see me take some out they flap and jump around impatiently.

I do monitor their intake of millet though.

[JSimko]

I used to get it for Tweety all of the time, however I discovered something she likes much better. Her favorite treat is an apple flavored beak block. Once she starts on it she reduces it to powder in less than an hour. I buy one for her once every week and a half or so. Sometimes when she gets the powder on her feathers and then takes a bath, some of her feathers turn red and stay that way until they fall out.

[dlaura]

Hi Jason,

I can vouch for tweety loving her beak block - I only discover that Jason has gotten one for tweety when I see this red powder all over the place (no exageration) and am startled when I see the water is red and think oh no - what happened to Tweety.

Now - give you all one guess as to who gets to clean this up?

dsimko (J's mom)

[Redstorm1721]

Thats cool,I will have to look into getting that for my birds. I never heard of it?

[birdygirl]

I will to. Pumpkin just has cuttle bone in her cage. Plus a bazilion toys.

[JSimko]

Here is a direct link to get the beak that I get Tweety all of the time. It is a Hagen product and Tweety loves it.
http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=5018

[Redstorm1721]

Thanks. I cannot buy from my put. But maybe they have it in a pet store near me?

[JSimko]

I am sure they do. I buy mine at Pet Pouri, a pet store in the mall near me.

[birdygirl]

Our mall petstore is no good so I would never buy from them. I bet our good store Pet Junction would have it or the Pet Supplies Plus. I'll pick some up tommorrow when I buy Soph's nutra nummies(okay generic nutra berries made by Kaytee)

[Mrs.Birdy]

How are they? Are they less expensive than Lafebers. Did your sophie take to them fast? My birds love the lafeber's nutriberries, but I would like to save a few bucks.....maybe I'll try the others.

[birdygirl]

They are larger than Lafebers and cheaper by at least 4 dollars. Sophie took to them very quickly. She actually likes them more than the nutra berries. They are actually callen Healthy Bits and are made by Kaytee. I don't think Petsmart carriess them. They only cost me $2.09. They make them for budgies, tiels, parrots and macaws.

[Redstorm1721]

I just went and bought the nutri-berry's for all my birds. They are not eating them yet,but hope they will for the price they are? Pearl is just looking at them,Sunni is trying to eat them,and Pretty Girl is so busy in her mirror I don't think she noticed yet? LOL I will let you all know.

[birdygirl]

Lafebers nutra berries are so expensive. I buy parrot sized and have to share them with both Sophie and Pumpkin. Pumpkin's are crumbled up. Sophie prefers the Kaytee kind and they are much cheaper.

[Redstorm1721]

Yeah I got them all the same bag and hopefully they will like them.

[birdygirl]

my flock prefers the Tropical what kind did you buy? and what type of birds do you have?

[Redstorm1721]

I bought the cockatiel kind, and I believe its honey and oats and some sorts of seeds and molessas mix. I have a cockatiel,named Pearl,a keet,named prettygirl,and a parrot named Sunni. I stuck with the cockatiel kind, because its on the smaller side, and my birds are little. Sunni threw hers out,Pearl ate some, and pretty girl keeps looking at it. Its really cute, how they all act different about their new food. I am really surprised about Sunni throwing hers out,because she likes everything. She is not fussy. No matter what I give her she eats it. Anyway I think I need to just give them some time with it.

[birdygirl]

New stuff surprises birds. Once one eats it all will.

[Redstorm1721]

really? I am learning something new everyday. They are so much like kids you know? Thanks for info I will watch and see if they like it. Sunni threw hers to the bottom of her cage,but this morning she had it in her foot and was tasting it. Sunni eats with her foot.

[Jenny]

Yeah, I buy the Kaytee Healthy Bits for my birds because they love them and they're alot cheaper. My Petsmart sells them, but I actually found them at WalMart the other day for only a little over $1! Before I got Mortie, the only thing he was fed besides sunflower seeds was one of the Kaytee balls every once in awhile. Gail, I'm sure they'll try them soon! One thing that my birds like is for me to wrap each ball in tissue paper and tie the end with string, and then they have fun getting them out!

[Redstorm1721]

How cute Jenny. What a great idea! when they start to really like them I will try that! Thanks.Ps sunni has been eating hers. She does throw them,but also has been eating them!

[birdygirl]

Horray!!!

[JSimko]

I will also have to try that.

[Jenny]

Yea! I'm glad that Sunni's been trying them. Another thing I do with the healthy bits to make them more of a toy is this: first I cut a thin slit lengthwise on a cardboard toilet paper roll. Then I cut two round circles to fit over the ends. Sometimes though I use the small straw craft hats to seal the ends, since the birds love chewing on those. Next hotglue one of the circles onto one of the ends of the roll. After that you fill the tube with the treats, and last but not least, you cover the other end with the 2nd circle. And I almost forgot to mention, poke two holes in one of the circles so you can thread string through there to tie it onto a cage, climbing tree, or wherever. Kirby especially loves it this way, and spends so much time chewing on the cardboard to get them out! Most of my other birds enjoy it too.

[birdygirl]

Sophie has one of those Pyramid puzzle toys and I stick her nutra nummies(healthy bits) into it and she works to get them out.