Pellet Diet

Question
I have a 7 year old peachface lovebird who is currently on a seed only diet.  My vet told me to try and get her on a pelleted diet, so i tried mixing it into her food and then gradually decresing the percentage of seed.  She never ate the pellets and instead stoped eating.  What should I do to make sure she is getting all of the nutrition she needs?

Answer
Hi, Blake.  Thanks for posting your question.

It isn't going to be easy to switch a bird of this age from seed to a healthy diet, but you need to do so.  Seed is high in fat and has little nutritional value.

As long as seed is available at the same time that pellets are offered, your lovebird will always choose the seed over the pellets.  Seed to birds is like candy to a kid.  The process your vet suggested is good (mixing both then reducing the amount of seed), but at 7-years of age, your lovebird will always eat the seed.  Also, a parrot will not eat anything it does not recognize as food.  As far as your lovebird is concerned, a pellet could be a toy.  Since your lovebird doesn't recognize that pellets are food, s/he will not eat them until s/he realizes what they are.  Another thing to realize is that you may have to offer different brands of pellets to your lovebird until you find a brand s/he likes.  Some pellets are tan, some colored.  The shape of a pellet can also affect whether your lovebird will eat the brand you offer, i.e., some are round, some fruit shaped, etc.  I suggest you buy a small quantity of different brands and see which your lovebird likes the best (Zupreem, Pretty Bird, Hagan, etc.).  May sound silly, but parrots are picky and some like red pellets, some like purple pellets, some like tan pellets, some like banana shaped, some like round ones, etc.  Some pet shops sell pellets in bulk which means you can buy them by the ounce or you may have to buy small bags of different brand names.  You could try mixing several brands together in the same dish EVERY DAY and see which brand and/or color, shape your lovebird picks out of the dish.  Don't get discouraged, as it may take weeks/months for your lovebird to try them...keep offering them each and every day.  S/he'll try them eventually.  Sometimes a parrot will eat whatever it sees it's human eating, so you might pretend you are eating them and make "yummy" noises during the process.  Sounds silly, but if your lovebird is the type of parrot that wants whatever you put in your mouth, it could work!

Also, you should offer fresh, clean, raw vegetables and fruits cut into bite sized pieces.  Again, if your lovebird isn't used to eating these, s/he will not recognize these as food, so it will take time for s/he to start eating them.  Keep offering them to your lovebird every day until s/he tries them.  Again, you may have to cut these into different sizes, shapes, etc.  Like I said, parrots can be picky about their food!  

Whenever you offer the pellets/fruit/vegetables, I recommend you remove any seed from the cage.  Keep the seed out of the cage for a couple/several hours while the other food is in the cage.  Eventually, your lovebird will "catch on" that if s/he just waits long enough, you'll remove the other food and replace it with the seed.  Therefore, you might want to vary the amount of time you keep the seed out of the cage, such as remove it for 1/2 day one day, a whole day another time, 4 hours another time, etc.  Just remember that your lovebird won't eat something it does not recognize as food, so you'll have to find ways to teach it that the pellets/fruit/veggies are food.  Another way to do this is to place a piece of fruit or a veggie directly into it's mouth or rub a piece of fruit along it's beak so that some of the juice goes into it's mouth (so s/he gets a taste).  Sometimes, attaching a piece of fruit/veggie to the side of the cage works (you can use a clothespin or twisttie or something similar to attach it).  Usually, a parrot will not starve itself if food is available, but until your lovebird recognizes pellets/fruit/veggies as food, you'll have to use your own judgment as to how long to keep seed away from s/he before you put it back in the cage.  Be sure not to leave fruit/veggies in the cage so long that they spoil.  

Be patient and consistent...offer the other foods EVERY SINGLE DAY no matter how long it takes and remember that as long as seed is offered at the same time as the other food, your lovebird will ALWAYS choose the seed.

Come back if I can help more or you have additional questions.  Thanks.

Chrys