Feeding - Couple Questions

[Wayne361]

Hello, I have been doing a ton of research since aquiring Oscar (senegal parrot) and have seen that pellet feed is by far superior to what old owners were feeding (seed). Questions I have are; 1) Should I always have pellets available in cage or just feed a couple times/day a certain amount? 2) will he automatically take to the pellets or will he reject/hold out for seed? 3) if he is not interested in the pellets do I just hold out till he is hungry enough to eat the pellets?

I appologize if this topic has already been covered but did not see it on my search.

Thanks,

Wayne

[cml]

Hello, I have been doing a ton of research since aquiring Oscar (senegal parrot) and have seen that pellet feed is by far superior to what old owners were feeding (seed). Questions I have are; 1) Should I always have pellets available in cage or just feed a couple times/day a certain amount? 2) will he automatically take to the pellets or will he reject/hold out for seed? 3) if he is not interested in the pellets do I just hold out till he is hungry enough to eat the pellets?

I appologize if this topic has already been covered but did not see it on my search.

Thanks,

Wayne

1) There are two opinions on this, personally I would never withhold food from my parrot. I believe in giving them free access to pellets so they may eat what they feel like during the day. The other is taht you feed after training sessions, to make the bird motivated for the training by being a little more hungry. (never hold out on food for a young bird though!)

2) Its not certain that he will accept pellets readily, infact it takes some time for most birds to convert. Consider this, pellets are healthy food, seeds are like cake. He might not eat alot so monitoring his weight is crucial in the transistion period.

3) No. Use any and all tricks you got to get him to convert to the pellets but dont withhold food.
There are a number of techniques to be used, such as mixing pellets and seeds and gradually reducing the ammount of seeds (although that didnt work for us). Another method is to soak the pellets in juice, and gradually letting them soak for less and less time, until the bird eats the pellets (this worked for us). Just dont leave soaked pellets in the cage as they become bad quite quick. Use seeds only as treats and rewards!

Good luck, and I think its great that you are changing to a healthier diet for your new parrot !

[Naurthon]

I've recently changed my feeding strategy for all three of my birds.

My birds are fed Roudybush pellets. Previously, every morning I would put "enough" pellets in their bowls to last them through the day after dumping out what was left over from the prior day. All three of the birds tended to go for the larger, intact pellets and ignore the smaller bits, so I ended up with a lot of waste. Probably somewhere over 50% of the food was getting tossed. Pellets aren't terribly expensive (bird seed for the local wild birds actually costs more per month) but I got tired of wasting so much food, so I switched the routine.

First, I weighed each of the birds so I could monitor their weight to be sure I didn't accidentally cut back too much. Then, over several days, I weighed how much each bird was actually eating. Dante, who weighs about 435g, eats about 40g of pellets daily. Nikko, at 72g, and Maxwell, at 115g, both eat about 20g of pellets daily.

Once I established how much they eat each day, I've started giving them half that amount twice a day: first thing in the morning, and again about two hours before lights out. Because there are less pellets to pick through, they can't just eat the big pieces, but are forced to eat the smaller bits they've already crumbled. Waste has been cut by more than half. Dante in particular is much less inclined to throw his food around and actually eat it instead.

Because I'm feeding them almost exactly what they actually eat in a day, I have to be sure that I get up when the light first goes on in the morning and feed them, since there won't be any leftovers from the night before. I also check what is in their bowls during the day, and if there is nothing (or nothing but pellet powder) left in the bowl, I will give them their second portion early.

Treats, like seeds, or fruits and veggies will reduce the amount of pellets they are eating. I tend to give those foods later in the day to ensure the boys are getting proper nutrition and not just bingeing on safflower seeds or what have you.

[Michael]

A) Feed the bird what it is already accustomed to eating (ask breeder, rehomer, or seller) in unlimited quantity until it fully adjusts

B) Once adjusted, if it isn't already on a quality pellet diet, slowly work on switching it over

C) You can withhold food for 3-6 hours prior to training sessions on any healthy weened parrot. Aim for less and only increase if necessary.

D) Once the parrot has matured and is a good eater, move to 2-3 feedings per day. The amount can be unlimited quantity but for a limited time (say 1 hour per meal). This ensures the parrot doesn't overeat, gets complete nutrition, and is possible to train (and reward for going back into cage to eat).