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You want me to eat WHAT?
Changing your bird from
an all seed diet can be challenging and require a lot of patience but,
ultimately, it is worth the effort. Birds
are creatures of habit and can be suspicious of new foods.
Unfortunately, change doesn't occur overnight for most birds. Your
bird may totally ignore pellets and new fruits or veggies for several days because he doesn't
recognize them as food.
Before attempting to
convert your bird's diet, it is wise to consult with your avian vet to
make sure your bird is healthy as well as to establish a baseline weight.
There have been various
methods of conversion reported to be successful. A few of the
basic concepts are:
-
Take it slow. Start by
offering the pellets in a separate dish. Maybe your bird will
make the adjustment right away and dive right into the pellets.
If not, mix the
new formulated food with the seed mix and over a period of
weeks gradually increase the ratio of pellets to seeds.
-
Make a mixture of various
formulated diets and observe which ones your bird prefers. Try
different shapes, colors, sizes and textures of pellets.
-
If your bird usually enjoys eating
what you eat then pretend to eat the pellets to see if this
stimulates his interest.
-
Pretend to feed the new item to
another human as a treat in front of your bird.
-
Try feeding your bird the new
items in a location outside of their cage such as at meal time with
the family or on a playpen. Sometimes feeding in a new
location will open them up to exploring new food items.
-
Place pellets in
foraging devices
or offer them as treats during training sessions. Your
parrot may get so caught up in the fun they might just decide to
give them a try.
Things to watch out
for....
When changing your
bird's diet it is imperative to look for signs that your parrot is
eating and not starving. Sometimes birds can fool you by
just pulverizing the pellets rather than actually eating them.
-
Monitor your bird's
weight either with a
scale or by carefully feeling around his keel
bone on his chest to ensure he is maintaining a healthy weight.
-
Monitor his food
intake and make sure he is eating rather than just tossing and
crushing the pellets.
-
Physical cues that
your bird may not be eating can include: inactivity, puffed feathers
and loose or insufficient droppings.
If you suspect your bird has stopped
eating consult with your avian vet for advice.
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