Cockatiel stops eating pellets every few weeks

[Eric&Rebecca]

Hi guys,

Bit of a wierd one. We have been trying and trying to get Eddie onto a pellet predominant diet which I thought we had done successfully but apparently not.

We got him to start eating pellets, no problems. However, after a few weeks he appeared to just stop eating them. So we switched to Zupreem, again he ate them but then stopped after a few weeks. Then we tried Pretty Bird, and now the same thing has happened again.

The only way he will eat pellets is if they are mixed with seeds and each day we check how many pellets are left and I can see when he is eating them and when he isn't. Usually there's a little left over but now there's just as much as we put in! He does this every few weeks and it's getting really frustrating and worrying.

I tried rotating the pellets to different ones each day and differing his fruit and veg each day so he doesn't eat the same thing- I thought he was doing this out of boredom. This didn't work either a week later he stopped eating all of the pellets. I've tried putting them in separate bowls, then he won't touch them at all. He doesn't eat anything mushy or soaked so soaking them in fruit juice isn't an option. We have tried the 'no option except pellets' routine and he will starve himself rather than eat them on their own and then we have to give him seeds again to stop him starving to death!

I've taken him to the vet and he's not sick- the avian vet said to just keep trying and eventually he will eat them but it is in such a routine it seems like it's never going to work because now he won't even touch any pellets unless I feed them to him by hand which I've resorted to to get some nutrients in him.

He has carrots, apples, pears, brown rice, watercress and sometimes a bit of pasta or scrambled egg. There is also the occassional spray of millet or honey stick (we've cut this down now he's got to an ideal weight, he was a little tiel till he went through puberty!) He's not fat by eating this diet but I know it's not what's best for him in the long run. He's still energetic and such a healthy tiel' which is why the vet tells us just to persevere because she says he is so well and fit but I know that won't continue if he just eats seed predominant diet.

Does anyone have any ideas that don't involve trying to starve him? I love him to bits and I feel like I can't get him to be healthy!

[friend2parrots]

strange I just tried to edit my post and it got deleted.

anyway, this is what I had posted: try taking a look at the following thread:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9582&p=65166&hilit=budgies+pellets#p65166

i describe how i converted my stubborn budgies to pellets and marie describes how she converted her cockatiel.

meant to add that I think Michael also has a step by step pellet conversion guide somewhere on this forum - i remember seeing it once - you may want to type in "pellet convert" into the search box

good luck!

[Eric&Rebecca]

Maybe it is just a case of time then. Thing is he won't even touch them once you start increasing. He'll eat some once they are about a quarter full but the moment you start increasing them he won't he them at all. He just eats around them and then when you switch the pellets he'll start eating but the moment you increase he stops again. However, decreasing to a quarter with the same pellets doesn't work either we have to change them completely.

[Pricey_boy]

He's probably sick of the pellets imagine eating the same few things your whole life

[marie83]

Right tbh, I dont think you need to use conversion methods. He will eat them by the sounds of it, he just prefers other stuff so I think you need to show a bit of tough love for a while until he is eating them consitantly, then reintroduce the other stuff back into his diet.

Just weigh your bird every day (morning before food) and weigh the food when you put it in and when you take it out so you can see exactly how much he is eating. If he really isnt eating you might need to give him a bit of other food (seed?) in the evening so you know he has eaten a little that day, dont let him overfeed though or you'll things down. Try again the next day, if he still hasn't touched the pellets at all give a bit more food. On the 3rd day if he still wont touch the pellets give him a damn good meal. He wont go long without eating much, i just think he is playing you at the moment then start again on day 1 if need be.

[Eric&Rebecca]

We have finally cracked it... I hope.

We have got him a 3rd bowl. He has harrisons pellets in the morning, then some seed in the cage a good mix which has some mineral pellets in too) and then fruit and veggies with fruit blend pellets. This seems to have worked and there's more being eaten than ever before! The seeds are removed during the pellet eating times and when he cries for food he gets given pellets and he's learnt literally so quickly that this is what he's being given

@Pricey_Boy Our cockatiel doesn't eat the same things every day which was the frustrating element he has something different everyday (even the pellets are different ones everyday). If you read my previous post he has different veggies and fruit each day, the only thing that's the same is the seed mix.

[Eric&Rebecca]

He's probably sick of the pellets imagine eating the same few things your whole life

This is the choice Eddie gets and no two days are the same apart from he has pellets, fruit and veggies and seeds portions-

The seed mix- ok that's always the same- it has small mineral pellets in it too

Pellets (a choice which is rotated)

Harrisons super fine (he won't eat cockatiel sized)
Zupreem (budgie sized)
Pretty Bird (budgie sized)
Kaytee (hand fed as treats)

Veggies:
Brocolli
Lettuce
Watercress
Carrot
Asparagus
Celery
Spinach
Dark greens
Cucumber -These are served on rotation and in different ways to mashed, grated or cubed (different textures so not to get bored)

Fruits:
Apple
Pear
Clementine
Banana
Apricots
Mango
He's not so keen on fruit although we trying him with something different where we can and we try to keep it as varied as we can with few fruits he does like.

Other supplements/ treats-

Brown rice
Wholemeal pasta
A little scrambled egg (no seasoning)
Mashed potatoes (no butter or seasoning)
Plain wholemeal crackerbreads (as a treat)
Honey sticks (rare)
Spray millet (treat)

As you can see his diet is fairly varied. Probably more than most. We were just frustrated by him not taking the pellets because seed and fruit and veg wasn't the best thing for him. However, we seemed to have solved that situation now.

I am concerned that now my cockatiel's diet is not varied enough...

[marie83]

Wow, 4 different pellets. Your going to end up with alot of waste even if your freezing it tbh. i would pick the one you want to use for the longer term and start reducing the use of the others until your just using one brand.
Also I dont know the nutritional content of most of those brands but I would be concerned about making a more unbalanced diet as they will all vary to some degree.

[Eric&Rebecca]

We were experimenting to see which ones he likes best I freeze both the pellets Harrison's and Pretty Bird. Harrison's is the better out of the two but he likes his fruitblend pellets. They are both organic ones although Pretty Bird seem to have a longer shelf life than the Harrison's but that's solved by freezing. All his fruit and veg are fresh daily.

He just gets bored so easily with food, toys, activities... I try to make sure it's not too similar for him. But we are sticking to the two pellets from now on.

[friend2parrots]

[quote="Eric&Rebecca"] He just gets bored so easily with food, toys, activities... I try to make sure it's not too similar for him. /[quote]

hmmmmm...... I was wondering what makes you think he gets bored easily with food, toys, activities, as opposed to some other feeling. in other words, are you sure that boredom is the problem, or is it possibly another emotion? the fact that he's like this in all areas in his life might give you a clue as to how to move forward.

since he's not overtly demonstrating fear, that rules out fear, I think...

however, other possible emotions that might make a bird stop doing something could be:
-feeling overwhelmed
-tired
-relaxed (wants to just chill out instead)
-uncertainty
-novelty (they havent had a chance to get used to doing something)

just a guess