Birds are so graceful

[liz]

1st why are you encouraging her to eat pellets when that would be a good time to give veggie and gloop. why not use a saucer. I use saucers and put paper towels under it as a place mat.
myrtle likes to eat when we eat. we also share our human food that is bird legal and she will try anything that comes from our plates.

I have seen myrtle fall while holding on to a toy instead of trying to catch herself.

[Wolf]

I know that I say it a lot and do not mean to offend, but I am not a fan of pellets for birds. that being said, due to how hard and dry they are, if you are going to offer your bird them and if you are thinking of a paper plate, perhaps it would work to put a shallow dish of water I'm the center of the paper plate. This could serve to help the bird soften the pellets as well as provide extra moisture and serve as a weight to hold the paper plate in place.

[JessiMuse]

I have a bit of a strict time schedule in the morning, and don't have time to actually make a gloop for her. Plus, she's a little weird with veggies. Sometimes she'll eat them, sometimes she won't. Sometimes she'll only eat certain ones. She actually does better with the pellets than she does veggies.

I give her veggies when I have more free time, like after my classes are done for the day. I just find it hard to try and fulfill her nutritional needs by hand, so the pellets make things at least a little easier. Indeed, I'm not a fan of how dry they are either, but she seems to like them nonetheless. I still try to give her variety. Seeds while in cage, pellets and veggies that she does like, while out of the cage.

I'm just trying to find ways to provide for my birds. Thankfully, while she's a little picky, she's not as picky as Dudley (but Dudley is better with veggies). Joey's also not too keen on trying new things, but he's getting better about that (I don't plan to give him pellets, though), and my mom insists on being in charge of feeding the finches (they are her birds, after all).

And I'll try the saucer, as well as the water dish. Maybe I could make the "gloop" Liz suggested when I get home too. From what I've observed, she seems to like harder foods than softer foods. She's such a weirdo. I've soaked a few pellets in water and offered them to her. Even if they were easy to eat, she likes them better dry. I guess birds have their preferences when it comes to these things, too.

[Pajarita]

Well, you don't need to make gloop every day. You make a big batch, split it into baggies that hold a daily portion and freeze them. Then, every pm, you take out one baggie and leave it out to thaw overnight so it's ready to be served in the morning -but, if it's still too cold, you can always put it in the microwave for a few seconds. Tiels don't seem to eat veggies by themselves - at least mine never did unless it was something like corn or peas but they do eat the ones in the gloop as long as they are finely chopped (with the exception of the sweet potato which they will eat even if it's in a chunk). I don't like pellets, either - especially for tiels that seem to have a propensity for kidney issues.

[JessiMuse]

Kidney issues? Please explain. Is there anything specific that's in the pellets that cause this?

And the problem with making something like gloop, is if in the case that the birds don't like it, it basically takes up space, and either I would have to waste perfectly good bird food, or have it take up space until it goes bad, and end up throwing it away, anyways. I don't really have any bird-loving friends near my area (other than the breeder I got Lucy from, I guess), so I would just be stuck with food that no one would eat. I guess it would be safe for me to eat, but I have a bit of a complicated issue when it comes to food in general.

[JessiMuse]

Ok, I am an idiot who gets words mixed up. When I said "elaborate", I meant "explain".

It took me until now to realize they have two different meanings.

Oops

[Wolf]

Elaborate; Explain ?! Pretty much the same in my book, although technically different. Although I have not done nearly as much research as Pajarita and don't know for certain if there is an actual study stating that pellets are directly responsible for any kidney issues in birds, there is evidence to suggest this as a possibility.
We do know that the wonder food, pellets, which were created to replace seeds in the birds diet, just didn't live up to its expectations. Pellet seem to have many of the same drawbacks that seed did in that when fed in the manner suggested by the manufacturers it still caused liver disease and heart disease and possibly kidney disease. Any time that something affects the liver it usually has an effect on the kidneys as both of these organs are part of the bodies filtration system. Now, I am being cautious with this reply, but I do think that I may have more information on a connection between kidney disease and pellets and will have to get back to you later in regards to this.
The manufacturers do claim that their pellets are intended as a complete food and that you do not have to feed any other foods than their pellets, which we have since learned is simply not true. I believe that most of the research now suggests that pellets comprise no more than about 30% of the birds diet, except for in a few birds which can not eat them at all due to their very specific dietary requirements.
I will try to get back to you later today, probably this evening with more accurate information concerning this.

[JessiMuse]

I'll admit, the pellets definitely seem a little odd. There's no magical food that provides us all our nutrients, how can it be that simple for birds?

Although the whole dietary thing is still confusing to me. The pellet bag says it should make up %80 percent of the diet, someone told me that because cockatiels are granivores, the diet should consist more of different kinds of seeds and grains. Yet apparently seeds cause liver problems, and now pellets give problems too? Oiii... It honestly makes my head hurt, sometimes.

[liz]

I do my gloop different. mine Is just soaked grain. I use at least 5 grains and put in enough to feed all my birds for the day in each packet. when I get up I put a packet into a thermal cup with boiling water for 15 to 30 minutes. I rinse it in cold water before serving. I chop veggies and fruit enough for 3 days and store them in lemon water.

[seagoatdeb]

We all have different ideas and the reason I dont feed pellets, is that they are processed and I am not into eating processed foods for myself or my birds. In the wild birds would eat their seeds, fresh from the plant or dropped to the ground and started to sprout, so I feed a mix of sprouted and raw seeds and nuts, and my grains are also sprouted most times and served fresh. They are the basis for my fresh gloop/mix and it keeps three days in the fridge. I add fresh vegetable and fruits to that base and spices. Anything else I feed is by hand during the day. That is easy for me since I eat a raw vegan diet most of the time. I do have a dry birdy bread I feed by hand because if my hubby is eating something crunchy they will carry on until they get something crunchy. We all find a healthy pattern that works for us.