BIRD FEEDING

Pellet Conversion Tips
Note: Small birds, such as budgies and cockatiels, have fast metabolisms and should not pass long periods of time without eating. Always monitor their food intake during conversion. Never convert your bird when under a lot of stress or ill. Plan on a 3-4 month conversion time and lots of pellets getting thrown away in the process. If you have any questions or concerns, contact Animal Health Clinic.

Things to try:

1. Birds like to eat what we eat. Act as if you are eating the pellets and enjoying them as your bird watches.
2. Offer pellets from your hand or fingertips.
3. In addition to providing pellets in the cage, exercise the conversion process when your bird is out of it’s cage. Incorporate it into their daily "fun" period, during their out-of-cage time. Be sure to interact with your bird during this time.
4. Instead of replacing your bird’s food with a new food, try sprinkling pellets on a table top or similar surface where your bird is allowed to play. Many birds will immediately start nibbling, they seem to think they have discovered something new, on their own while out of their cage.
5. Crush some pellets into a powder and sprinkle on a wet lettuce or other veggies that your bird particularly enjoys. (Note: Do not leave in the cage all day; once the pellets are wet they become susceptible to bacterial growth.)
6. Mix some pellets wit an all-natural vegetable baby food such as sweet potatoes, carrots, peas or green beans. (Do not leave in the cage very long due to the accelerated bacterial growth.) This method should be used with very stubborn birds only temporarily to get them use to the taste of pellets. If offered to often or for prolonged periods your bird may decide it really enjoys a moist meal and will not want to eat dry pellets.
7. Arrange your bird’s cage so it is in full view of your eating area. Eat your meals in front of your bird with only pellets available to them.
8. Once the bird is eating some pellets via one of the "fun" methods, take the seeds out of the cage entirely and leave pellets available all day. If, by the end of the day, the pellets have not been eaten, offer seeds.
9. Most successful tip of all: Put a very shallow cardboard box in the bottom of your bird’s cage. Fill the box with scrapes of paper and wood chips to chew on, also sprinkle some pellets in the box. Hopefully,your bird will forage around in the box and eat the pellets. This will make the transition fairly easy to eating the same pellets from their normal food bowl.
10. Work on the conversion several times daily if possible. Be consistent.
11. Let your bird watch you pour fresh pellets in their bowl. Feed fresh pellets daily, dispose of any uneaten pellets. Do not feed stale or "old" pellets.
12. Weigh your bird during the conversion process. Kitchen or postal gram scales can be purchased fairly inexpensively. It is important that they do not lose more than 10% of their total body weight at any time.

Good luck! Be patient.

You will be rewarded with a happy and much healthier bird.

The Animal Health Clinic recommends annual wellness visits. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at: 701-237-9310