Parrotlet help

Question
Thursday we got our first parrotlet.  We have a cat, but have not exposed Quizno (the bird) to it.  The pet store did not know exactly how old he is, they think about a year.  He is a Pacific, bites and is very reserved.  He does not seem to be eating much at all, even though I change his food and water (bottled) every day.  He does not want to play or do anything much but eat millet.  His cage is about 18x18x24.  The original cage we got him with was less than 12x12.  He will take broccoli from my fingers as well as bread, but does not seem to swallow.  The pet sore was out of his type of food and I got him a small hookbill pellet mix he would not eat.  Then I got him cockatiel seed mix.  He does not make much noise.  The first day he chirped a lot, but now he chirps less.  His eyes seem bright and he does not appear to have loose bowels or a cold.

Please help.  This is our first bird since we had a cockatiel 15 years ago.  We like him very much.  I take his cage upstairs every day to spend time in the living area.  

Answer
Hi, Terry.  Thanks for posting.

Your new parrotlet may not have had sufficient time to settle down yet in his new environment and he's not used to you yet.  Moves can be very stressful for parrots.  Sometimes it takes weeks or longer for them to adjust, depending on the individual bird.  In addition, you've changed his diet, which can result in additional stress, as well as intestinal upset.  Birds won't eat something they don't recognize as food, so this is likely why he wouldn't eat the new pellet mix.  I don't recommend an all-seed diet either, however, I realize you wanted to get something he would eat.  The cage size seems OK, but this depends on what other items are in his cage and how much time he spends inside the cage.

Visit my website for information that might be helpful and come back if you have questions.

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Chrys