switching is so hard :[

[notscaredtodance]

My bird has grown up on the colorful zupreem pellets, and its great because they're in bulk bins at the store i work at. only they're not great because they're full of sugar and make her poop bright orange. but she loves those pellets. I've been trying to switch her over onto a mix of harrisons and a pellet that my vet, who has been in the avian practice for 30 something years, created. I trust this vet, by the way. I don't think his pellets are a cheap way to try to make money. I could even give you guys the nutrition facts if you really wanted.

Anyways, I'm TRYING to switch her over. But she loves her zupreem so much.No wonder. I tasted each one and one tastes like dog food, and the other tastes like bland cheerios. The zupreem definitely taste better. So what I've been doing is putting the icky tasting pellets in her dish, and only letting her forage for the zupreems. I put them inside pea pods that I've pushed the peas out of, and inside toys, and I swear, she still won't eat the harrisons or vet pellets.

On one hand I'm glad that she at least really enjoys a pellet. She really likes them, even better than dried fruit bits and seeds. On the other hand, I wish she loved a healthier pellet.

Also, does anyone else's bird swallow the pellets whole? I hear so much complaint about wasting fod and making mess, but I have never had that problem. At least not with pellets. With fruits and veggies its pretty messy haha.

Mostly this post is just to complain that my bird is eating a low quality pellet, but if you have any ideas for making the switch easier, feel free to throw in your two cents, lol.

[MandyG]

Have you tried ZuPreem's Natural diet pellets? My Amazon was raised on the Zupreem color pellets and I've continued feeding it to him because it's the only food available in my area that isn't half sunflower seeds. I've been wanting to feed him a healthier pellet and I just learned that my vet has started to order in Harrison's so I'm hoping to eventually switch him over to those.

Instead of going straight to Harrison's I'm working on converting him to ZuPreem's Natural diet. It's healthier (and more plain but still fairly similar) than the colorful pellets so my theory is if I can convert him to those first it will be easier to get him onto the Harrison's than if I had tried switching him directly from the preferred colorful pellets. I've been mixing the two types for the last month, slowly putting in more of the Natural pellets and less of the colored pellets. The colored pellets are definitely the favorite but he's eating the natural ones without any problems now. This weekend I'll be completely removing the colored pellets, we'll see how it goes.

I know I didn't really answer your question and I haven't converted him over to Harrison's yet, but this is the way I'm trying to do it!

[Michael]

I'm working on this same transition right now with Truman but taking it slow because he's still getting used to my home. First thing I can tell you is to get a scale. Weigh your bird several times a day. Figure out the pre-switch weight. Figure out the empty weight, etc. Then see how low it gets during the transition.

Here is my plan with Truman (I'll let everyone know how it works out) to switch from Pretty Bird to Roudybush.

1) Feed Roudybush pellets by hand
2) Mix 1/4 Roudybush into Pretty Bird
3) Mix 1/2 Roudybush into Pretty Bird
4) Serve only Roudybush in the morning but add Pretty Bird to mix in afternoon if not eating
5) Go all the way and stop offering pretty bird, monitor to eat within 2 days