| Getting parakeets to eat pellets and veggies - CLICK HERE for the Pet Manual Forum Home Page |
| Lepidina |
Hi all,
I've got a pair of very stubborn parakeets that won't eat anything but
seed. The first two I had converted over to pellets pretty easily and
would eat a variety of veggies. These two snub their noses at
everything other than their junk seed and one is starting to show signs
of vitamin A deficiency. They're both about a year old and I got them
as a birthday present when they were about 4 months old so they were
already on seed.
Any help? Mixing the seed doesn't seem to work. If I take it all out
and put in the pellets, they won't eat. They ignore any other food like
cereal, cooked spaghetti (I used to have a 'keet that would beg for
spaghetti), veggies, etc. I've tried the Nutraberries but I have to
crumble them up for them to eat it. The Pretty Bird pellets weren't a
big hit and they currently are trying the Roundybush crumbles. *sigh*
And how long does it take to hand tame a parakeet? These guys are
rather resistant to that as well, little buggers.
Thanks in advance for the help!
Deb
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| Rayzorblades |
"Lepidina" <debfuller@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1105018194.378180.101590@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I've got a pair of very stubborn parakeets that won't eat anything but
> seed. The first two I had converted over to pellets pretty easily and
> would eat a variety of veggies. These two snub their noses at
> everything other than their junk seed and one is starting to show signs
> of vitamin A deficiency. They're both about a year old and I got them
> as a birthday present when they were about 4 months old so they were
> already on seed.
>
> Any help? Mixing the seed doesn't seem to work. If I take it all out
> and put in the pellets, they won't eat. They ignore any other food like
> cereal, cooked spaghetti (I used to have a 'keet that would beg for
> spaghetti), veggies, etc. I've tried the Nutraberries but I have to
> crumble them up for them to eat it. The Pretty Bird pellets weren't a
> big hit and they currently are trying the Roundybush crumbles. *sigh*
>
> And how long does it take to hand tame a parakeet? These guys are
> rather resistant to that as well, little buggers.
> Thanks in advance for the help!
>
> Deb
>
Leave them on seed.Parakeets should eat seed not pellets.
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| Lepidina |
>Leave them on seed.Parakeets should eat seed not pellets.
If I did that, they'd eventually die of vitamin A deficiency. I've
already had that happen to one before. Thus the need to eat a variety
of foods, which mine don't seem to want to do.
deb
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| Lepidina |
>Leave them on seed.Parakeets should eat seed not pellets.
If I did that, they'd eventually die of vitamin A deficiency. I've
already had that happen to one before. Thus the need to eat a variety
of foods, which mine don't seem to want to do.
deb
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| Lepidina |
>Leave them on seed.Parakeets should eat seed not pellets.
If I did that, they'd eventually die of vitamin A deficiency. I've
already had that happen to one before. Thus the need to eat a variety
of foods, which mine don't seem to want to do.
deb
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| David G Fisher |
"Lepidina" <debfuller@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1105057723.639275.273780@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> >Leave them on seed.Parakeets should eat seed not pellets.
>
> If I did that, they'd eventually die of vitamin A deficiency. I've
> already had that happen to one before. Thus the need to eat a variety
> of foods, which mine don't seem to want to do.
>
> deb
They will not die from vitamin A deficiency.
Budgies eat seed in the wild.
My budgie is 11, and has always refused to eat pellets. He's doing great
though. Find a high quality seed mix. Nutriberries are good too.
As for veggies, try a high calcium veggie like kale, and clip it to the side
of their cage next to a perch. They will often eat veggies in that position,
but not in a bowl or on the floor of their cage. Keep putting it in their
cage daily for a few weeks if you have to until they try it. Also, they will
try it if they see you pretending to eat it too.
Dave
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| Rayzorblades |
"Lepidina" <debfuller@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1105057723.639275.273780@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> >Leave them on seed.Parakeets should eat seed not pellets.
>
> If I did that, they'd eventually die of vitamin A deficiency. I've
> already had that happen to one before. Thus the need to eat a variety
> of foods, which mine don't seem to want to do.
>
> deb
>
Bull, how did birds survive for so long without pellets?
Some people will believe anything their vets tell them, idiots.
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| Lepidina |
This wasn't from a vet, this was from reading about parakeets from many
other sources and I really don't appreciate being called an idiot. In
the wild, an all seed diet is fine because the birds are much more
active plus they don't tend to live as long due to predators, disease,
etc. But in captivity, seeds are high in fat and the birds tend to get
picky and only eat the seeds they like so they don't get a balanced
diet. LIke humans, some birds can eat a high fat diet or one kind of
food all the time and be fine. The current two that I have don't seem
to be like that.
Already, one of my birds is showing signs of vitamin deficiency and
she's not even a year old yet. The only thing they will eat is the
generic Hartz seed thus the desire to get them to eat something else
besides that. The first two I had did great on ZuPreem and Pretty Bird
pellets as well as green leafy veggies. I've yet to have another
parakeet eat like that which is rather frustrating.
Thanks to all who have given me constructive advice. What are the "high
quality" brands of seed out there? My local pet store doesn't have much
of a selection for smaller birds.
Deb
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| BLL-bird lover lady |
Have you tried egg yolks, sweet potatoes/yams spinach, broccoli,
carrots, squash, red peppers, endive,parsley, papaya, cantalope, or
apricots. These are supposed to be excellent sources of Vitamin A.
Sometimes if a bird sees you eating something they will want to try it.
Sometimes it can take 3-4 days of putting it in their cage for them to
get used to seeing it before they eat it. But don't leave it in too
long, maybe 45 minutes, as it can spoil.
Hope this helps and they are willing to try it.
BLL
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| Rayzorblades |
"BLL-bird lover lady" <lhoyman2004@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1105224526.146537.219940@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Have you tried egg yolks, sweet potatoes/yams spinach, broccoli,
> carrots, squash, red peppers, endive,parsley, papaya, cantalope, or
> apricots. These are supposed to be excellent sources of Vitamin A.
> Sometimes if a bird sees you eating something they will want to try it.
> Sometimes it can take 3-4 days of putting it in their cage for them to
> get used to seeing it before they eat it. But don't leave it in too
> long, maybe 45 minutes, as it can spoil.
> Hope this helps and they are willing to try it.
>
> BLL
>
Instead of egg yolk try CE DE egg food or EMP much safer and can be fed dry.
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| finiteguy |
Time to throw in my $.02. I have a budgie whom is also a very fussy
eater. He takes after my 14 year old daughter. Anyway, we give him
seeds and pellets and he seems to like dark green lettuce leaves,
apple and bannana. He will eat no pasta. Very fussy. Our vet also gave
us the speel about throwing away the seeds and using only pellets. We
probably should have weened him off the seeds and used only pellets,
but we didn't. He does eat both seeds and pellets which is good.
By the way, out budgie has an amazing vocabulary. He talks all the
time. Makes for a fun pet. I highly recommend budgies for a great pet.
Easy to take care off; easyt to get attached to.
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| David G Fisher |
"finiteguy" <finitenospam.guy@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:v2slu0lcljcqu3va5soi6205tbvb0ukkmi@4ax.com...
> Time to throw in my $.02. I have a budgie whom is also a very fussy
> eater. He takes after my 14 year old daughter. Anyway, we give him
> seeds and pellets and he seems to like dark green lettuce leaves,
> apple and bannana. He will eat no pasta. Very fussy. Our vet also gave
> us the speel about throwing away the seeds and using only pellets. We
> probably should have weened him off the seeds and used only pellets,
> but we didn't. He does eat both seeds and pellets which is good.
>
> By the way, out budgie has an amazing vocabulary. He talks all the
> time. Makes for a fun pet. I highly recommend budgies for a great pet.
> Easy to take care off; easyt to get attached to.
Try substituting kale for the lettuce leaves. Lettuce has almost no
nutritional value for a bird. Kale though is an excellent source of calcium,
which is very important for a bird.
Yes, budgies are great birds, no different than any of the others. My
favorite bird was a budgie I had for 11 years, and he was as amazing as my
blue and gold macaw.
Make sure you have a good avian vet and always take him for treatment the
moment you see any signs of illness, and of course regular checkups.
Dave
Dave
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| Starlight |
On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 18:59:43 -0500, "David G Fisher" <davegf@home.com>
wrote:
>
>Try substituting kale for the lettuce leaves. Lettuce has almost no
>nutritional value for a bird. Kale though is an excellent source of calcium,
>which is very important for a bird.
>
It sounded as though the OP is referring to romaine lettuce, since he
did say dark green. Romaine is healthy for birds, contains calcium,
Vit A and C. Iceberg, on the other hand, has essentially no
nutritional value.
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| Rayzorbladers |
"finiteguy" <finitenospam.guy@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:v2slu0lcljcqu3va5soi6205tbvb0ukkmi@4ax.com...
> Time to throw in my $.02. I have a budgie whom is also a very fussy
> eater. He takes after my 14 year old daughter. Anyway, we give him
> seeds and pellets and he seems to like dark green lettuce leaves,
> apple and bannana. He will eat no pasta. Very fussy. Our vet also gave
> us the speel about throwing away the seeds and using only pellets. We
> probably should have weened him off the seeds and used only pellets,
> but we didn't. He does eat both seeds and pellets which is good.
>
> By the way, out budgie has an amazing vocabulary. He talks all the
> time. Makes for a fun pet. I highly recommend budgies for a great pet.
> Easy to take care off; easyt to get attached to.
>
Your vet is an ass, budgie's shouldn't be deprived of a seed diet.
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