One bird likes one pellet and one likes another...

[Eric&Rebecca]

So... Edmund loves TOPS and won't eat any other pellet except TOPS and George... won't touch TOPS but loves Harrison's super fine.

Now the expense doesn't bother me. I can deal with that. What does bother me is...

1. What will happen after the vet check, quarantine and introduction?- Is it OK for them to eat two different pellets?- silly question probably because it'll proably stop food bowl territory.

2. Should I try and persevere with George?- he eats nearly everything except TOPS we didn't even have to go through the conversion process with him. Just popped them in and off he went like he does with nearly every fruit and vegetable... except mango... we detested the mango. He shook his head and drank water and wouldn't go near it. Did exactly the same with the TOPS so I resorted to Harrisons super fine.

3. Now I know this is going to spark a massive debate but I'll ask anyway... Would George be better of on Harrison's? Between Harrison's and TOPS what is the better pellet (i'm in the UK so Roudybush is not available)

And just a note on the previous post, Edmund totally back to normal he's had an examination today and will have the tests done tomorrow. The tests take a lot more time and they do them on site so they can give the majority of the results straight away. They just going to do baseline bloods and various poop things. The avian vet thinks it is probably down to molting and having a distrubed routine. He gave us some tips on how to iron this out and help him have undistrubed sleep.

[marie83]

I think TOPS is the better food personally because its cold pressed and has a better ingredients list, there have been some comments that it has no vit D3 in it so it makes a supplement or acess to the outside pretty essential. I feed Harrisons though as my birds prefer it and I can monitor their food intake better, the TOPS just crumbles everywhere making it hard to see how much might have dropped on the floor.
Also theres the cost of feeding two foods to such small birds, there is the potential to waste loads but i have no problems bunging it in the freezer, just something for you to consider.
They may both start eating the same food once they can see each other eating it anyway, if you want them on the same food then yes you should perservere, if they are going to be in the same cage it will make it harder to know who has eaten what anyway, unless you seperate for meal times.

[Eric&Rebecca]

I might try the TOPS with George again, when Edmund eats them he crumbles them all first and then licks up all the dust. You find the odd three or four on the floor but because the bowls are deep I've managed to avoid that thin layer of crumbled dust he tends to just stick his head in the bowl and not come up till he's done.

I think George inhales Harrison's! I can't find the crumbs but they definitely gone! They would all have separate bowls in the same cage but without sitting there watching them eat it would be hard to tell :-/

I might start freezing, i've never done it because I haven't had the need for it before but I might have to do now. The expense doesn't bother me, what bothers me is not being able to tell how much each one is eating if they both start eating both...

Thank God we over the hill with the pellet conversion with both birds now.

[Pajarita]

I don't feed pellets, I think they are unhealthy in the long run, especially for small species that seem to develop kidney problems from them as they get older but if I had to choose a pellet, I would pick TOPs for the single reason that there is no soy in them and I don't feed any soy to any of my animals (dogs, cats, birds). But I wouldn't worry about the whole thing, I would just put a mix of both pellets for both of them.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Thanks Parajita

I have heard this too but this is only apparent if you feed in high concentrations of pellets without fresh foods, my avian vet has recommended no more than a 40-50% pelleted diet providing I am feeding adequate fruits and veggies. I've had about 6 avian vets (not my current one obviously) who said I should completely remove the seeds from birds diets because there's no need for seeds for captive birds. Needless to say we stopped going to them.

I've NEVER taken seeds completely away from the cockatiel's diet for a few reasons:

1. pellets contain seed elements anyway...

2. they eat seeds in the wild so surely its ok for them to have some providing the diet isn't based on seeds

3. Pellets (mostly) are made for larger parrots although there are some developed on smaller parakeets.

4. A little bit of naughty won't hurt them now and again and in very small quantities as part of a balanced diet. They don't get sunflower seeds at all apart from the odd treat during training or something.

George is really accepting of fresh foods so he will probably be more raw based than pellet based. I'll persevere, he's still a baby i'm sure he will come round eventually.

Oh and Edmund totally better now by the way. He going to have some baseline tests tomorrow just in case but on examination the vet said its more than likely the first molt and the disruption of late. He's been napping at his usual times today and yesterday so I'm feeling a lot better about it and I've been putting him to bed earlier so he's his 12-13 hours instead to 10-11. He's definitely perked up after his favourite today...organic pears that are just going ripe... he loves it! He's also quite taken with blueberries, once he's said hello to each one first.

I make homemade egg food, is this ok for them? I use birdie bread crumbs to thicken and free range and organic eggs for protein during molting and juvenile. I got the recipe of a avian nutrition website. Its like an occassional thing just a little booster.