We get a lot of questions about how to switch our birds' diets from seeds to pellets...and here is the "Andie Method" and it works. I have not had a bird fail to convert.

Now keep in mind this is done over a periodo of time. All BIG switches should be done over time.

Week 1: Pick a brand of pellets...I recomend Zupreem, Roudybush, Harrisons, Prettybird or Hagen's Tropican lifetime pellet or tropimix. You can also do a combination of to give them choices, and I'll address this later on.

Offer the chosen pellet in the primary food dish, free choice...that means 24/7. IN A SEPARATE DISH offer your seed mix for 20 minutes twice a day. Do this for a week...

Week Two, follow the steps to week one, only allowing 15 minutes twice a day

Continuing on...keep doing this until the bird is recieving seed 5 minutes twice a day then start only offering it once a day, do that for a week, then once every other day and if they are still clinging on to the seed, once every third day...by this time they will be eating pellet and seed will be seen as a treat. I feed seed a couple times a week, except for my breeders they are starting to get it every day.

NOW to talk about the mixing of pellets. I believe that variety is the spice of life. Always have a back up pellet in case you run out of the primary, or you go on vacation and can't find your normal pellet...the delivery is sloughed off a day or two and you have to fill in...we hate to think that this happens and we wouldn't be resposible enough to get more before we run out...but sometimes things are beyond our control. So every once in a while mix in some extra pellets and see if they'll eat them.

Cheers!

Thanks Andie!

Great Info. Bumping back up!

That is a great conversion method!!! I was lucky enough that all my birds switched over immediately, except for Max who was weaned onto pellets.

I've never thought of having two different pellet varieties though. I think next time I'm at the store I will pick up an extra bag of something and see how they feel about it

********Bumping up*********

Andie what do you mean "mixing pellets?" Do you mean mixing seed in with free-fed pellets, or mixing two different brands of pellets? I have Kiwi on whatever brand you gave me at the store, but he only picks out the red ones and I end up throwing away 3/4 of his pellets because he won't eat the yellow, green, and orange ones! Should I switch him to something else??

You know, I have my birds on coloured pellets as well and they all have their favorite colour.

Max always eats the yellow ones first. The Conures both eat the green ones and the Tiels...well who knows, half their pellets end up on the floor!!!

I'm thinking Andie meant for two different types of pellets to be mixed together, but hopefully she'll come along and clarify that.

Yep...this metnod works great! This is how I converted Alex.......thanks Andie!!

This is without a doubt, the easiest way to convert from seeds to pellets. All of my birds converted with no trouble at all. Ozzy, my Nanday, is 3, he'd eaten a cockatiel seed mix all his life. I offered him pellets when I brought him home and he stood at the bowl and ate like he'd been starved to death. He liked the pellets so much that he was converted in one day and never looked back.

I think I had Alex switched in about a week. Sometimes I noticed that when I give her seeds as treats, she will still go for the pellets. She must really like them

**Bump, bump, bump!** Someome in General Quaker Talk needs this. It's a great topic to keep on top.

Nother bump for newbie.

Thanks andie this definitely helped! Got Julie onto pellets in three days with this method!!!

I'm with Carrie Anne. I'm gonna try a different brand so we have a back up just in case there is ever a Tropican shortage. Our guys have such a stinking good diet they'll probably outlive me by a decade or two.

Yup Carrie, I meant two different pellets mixed together. I am not a fan of mixing seed with pellets. THOUGH we do it at the shop for the babies...I'm still just not a fan...but that's just me. We had a hagen shortage here recently (their mill went down) and my guys were not happy fids! My cockatoo actually wouldn't eat his zupreem so I had to go to roudybush. They are eating that, but I have to say their favorite (wings down) are the hagen lifetime pellets. I think it's that bubble gum scent they use...LOL...but they LOVE it!!! SO, it is a wise choice to offer a second pellet for the "just in case" because from experience it does happen. I'm glad the method is working so well for folks! Hooray!

Bump!

Ditto Bump! Someone else needs this at top!

Thanks, I will give this a go and keep you posted as to how Huey goes hi is very stubbin but I will be strong and stick to the plan. Thank you again.

Geraldine and Huey.

**Bump!**

Continuing the mission! Bumping up!********

I am new to the forum (see Buddy), but I have a question. After 2 days of Buddy being home from the breeder, I phoned her because I thought he had fallen in his cage and suffered brain damage. He was clinging to the bottom of the cage, flapping his wings continuously, and bobbing his head up and down. After talking to her I felt like an idiot and realized that he was STARVING. I put a bowl of seeds and pellets on the bottom of his cage because that's where he was used to looking for them. Since then I have kept both available to give him time to adjust. I have now had him for a week. He munches on the pellets occasionally, but definitely prefers the seeds. How long should I give him before I start weaning the seeds to twice a week and treats??

Thanks!

Denise

oh great it worked in two days for me i jsut added a few seeds that she loves and then each day added less cheers!!

I just wanted to add that this conversion method really works (& I am Not a paid actor ). I used andie's method to the tee except for I did not choose just one pellet. I used a mix consisting of all the samples (Hagen, Roudybush ect) that i had received & Zupreem wild & spicy. By week 4, Zeek was completly converted.
Amy

I have to agree to hoovershound. I am not a paid seed converter either but Andie's method works. Just a little at a time and it definitely works.

I got Mr. Pickles last week and I mixed the zupreem with seeds. Of course, he has not eaten any of the pellets. He throws them down on the ground.

SO, I need to have a bowel of pellets by itself and then do this with the other bowl of seeds like you said?

What if he will not eat the pellets at all? THen what do I do?

We inherited a 13 yr. old Quaker Parrot that has eaten seeds all his life. I tried the method mentioned above, but he didn't touch the pellets for a week and kept saying "Tweety wants food". I bought Pretty Bird Select medium sized pellets. Where do I find Zupreem? The pet store owner hadn't even heard of it, but I'm not too impressed with him anyway. He trimmed Tweety's wings for me and I think he went too short. Poor bird looks like he has a bad haircut. He just left him the 2 blue feathers on either side. And how do I know what flavor to get him? He's very picky. He doesn't like apples, strawberries or blueberries. He only likes grapes and wheat bread and I just read that grapes are bad because they have too much sodium. I'm running out of things to feed him!

You can find Zupreem at places like PetsMart and Petco and they come in several flavors now.There's a plain vegetable one or its called natural now. THere's Fruit blend and then several other mixes as well.

I haven't heard that grapes are bad...I feed my birds grapes periodically

You state he's very picky...in that case I guess I'd start out with a small bag of the natural...you can always sprinkle some orange juice or apple juice on it that way they can't get color specific and only pick out certain colors and leave the rest or throw them out on the floor. As Andie said have them in his cage 24-7 and his reg seed in his cage twice a day for 15 or 20 minutes to start with...do that for a week...then lessen the amount of time the seed is in there by 5 minutes per week... then go to once a day for 5 minutes and then do that a couple of times a week and it will become a real treat!

My Double Yellow Headed Amazon was on a Horrible diet when I got him. mostly all seed with a few cheap pellets thrown in...he'd sift through all the seed and leave the pellet...So when I started weaning him off of it he wasn't a happy camper...but they seem to have this survival thing going for them and they will eventually start playing with it and dunking it in water etc...Most of my birds love to make Pellet soup....UGGGGH...but hey at least they are eating it.

Good luck.

Feel free to Ask more questions if you need to...

Thanks for the advice! Especially for telling me specifically what kind of Zupreem to get for a picky bird. I think I read that grapes were high in sodium in "Guide to the Quaker Parrot" I think Not sure cause I can't seem to find it now. I'll look for it when I have more time tonight. Anyhow, thanks for the info. I'd hate to spend more money on pellets that he would hate.

Hi Andie,

I am trying your method and I am on my second week...
She is soo stubborn and soo smart... Too smart, my luck I
had to get a smart bird...She refuses to eat the pellets,
I got The Zupreem, the fruit shapes one.. I even tried to
switch the feeder so to fake her out maybe she would try
the pellets by mistake... Too smart, she doesn't even go
for it, she goes wherever the seed one is.. I am hoping
this gets better, but I am afraid I don't want her to get
sick.. Is there a better food for me to try giving her??
Should I just stick to this, not to confuse her anymore..
I feel even worse that I keep throwing out perfectly good
food, sometimes I save it and give it to her again...
It seems fresh, so I thought what the heck...
I know you are the expert on this soo please help me and
everyone else having problems...

Thank you, in advance..

Stephanie,
aka Ari's mom

Apparently I was seriously misinformed , I thought that seeds were supposed to be a normal diet. Oh goodness... if I switch my bird now how much dmage will I have done? He's only two! Will he be okay? I really hope he's fine... I want him to be alive for the time I buy my first house!

Here are some methods thathave been suggested that may or may not work:

1. Make birdy muffins with crushed pellets and other healthy food that they like. It may help them get used to the pellet taste.

2. Pretend to eat them (or eat them) in front of the bird, then offer it to them. That is how I got my QP to eat them and he was used to eating a diet of purely sunflower seeds.

3. Place the pellets on a mirror, then offer it to them. I dont know if this works or not, but Ive heard some people have success with it.

4. Try a product called avicakes which have pellets and seed mixed in them.

And Alyssa, I wouldnt worry too much about the diet so far. My QP's diet before I got him was horrible, but the sooner you change it, the better.

Yep, Alyssa, dont panic....just start converting now He is young and now you know.
In the beginning, I used a natural peanut butter (though not good in large quantities as it is high in fat) mixed with pulverized pellets. Did this in a food processor. That was so I knew he was getting SOME good stuff. It took a while for my qp to convert, but he did.

Andie-

That's a good idea! I am going to try it with my bird. He is 7 years old and has been on seeds since he was weened--do you think it would be traumatic for a bird to switch to pellets at that age? I tried to switch him to pellets when he was younger, but I was mixing them with the seeds and he would just toss all the pellets out of his dish. lol.

OMG....my little guy Pedro, is eating pellet now! I cant believe it! Tonight we just put that in there and off he went munching away. We usually add it to his regular seed, but tonight we just did the pellet, and Im soooooooo happy now! He goes back and forth from the cup, grabs a pellet in his little foot, then walks over to the his water cup, munches , then goes back to the food cup and grabs another and does it all over again....lol....its toooooo funny....

Bumping this up for the new babies....

Hi, new to this forum. I picked up a young quaker from someone who was tired of the "yell". Of course they were feeding seed and I felt sorry for the bird but because He/she is still young I was certain he/she would be easy to convert to pellets. All my birds eat harrisons fine with the high potency coarse as a treat. After 2 days of not eating anything, I decided to give in and give him/her some sunflower seeds. She ate so quickly I was afraid I was starving her but I didn't want her to only eat trash food. She has been very scared as well. Today though she finally took an egg from my hand and some cheese and a chicken bone! YEAH! I was taught to put the pellets in the same bowl as the seed so as they move the pellets out of the way to get to the seed they would get the feel and touch of the pellets and then get used to them and eat them. She actually took a coarse pellet and chewed on it for 3 seconds. Any helpful hints to get this baby secure? Knows to step up but runs away first. Thanks. Sally

I'm going through the same thing. He learned to hold out for sunflower seeds at a previous home, so I did the 20 minute thing, two times a day. didn't quite work, so I went down to a handful, once a day, in the same cup as the pellets, at the end of the day.

guess whos eating pellets? too bad its only the red ones

but, hes started eating eggs first, so I mixed pellets seeds and eggs all up, cooked it, and started with that. he ate the pellets outta that, kinda. He also will now eat peas, pasta, baby food-more or less, if he sees us eat it, hes willing to sniff it, and if it smells good he'll try it.

and then the one day he snuck a bite of chocolate icecream-NOT recommened, but he will do anything for that

Im going to try this pellet conversion and I
know it works. But Cheeky wont eat any pellet. Ok I am going to try other brands yes but as long as he has fresh fruits
and vegs table food etc He wont touch them. So what will I do?

I am going to try this..
Since I read that just a seed diet for QP's is unhealthy. This weekend I bought some Zupreen pellets and I'm started them on conversion. I started with seed with a little pellets. Thank you!!!
CindyL & mojo

Hi guys,

I got my quaker parrot for a month and a half (Baby Jaffa), and his mix came with seeds and pellets. He'd just select the sunflower seeds ONLY, and if i offered him the pellets, he might place it in the tip of his beak, just inside, I think he tries to crack it like a seed ? So as you may guess, it falls out of his beak, or he breaks it to pieces and it all crumbles to the floor.

Its not very efficient his eating, pellets or fruit/veg, alot of things he lets fall out if he picks it up.

Any tips on feeding veg/fruits? he loves corn and sunflower seeds, those things he wont let fall out of his beak. I think a small tiny bite size piece of veg or fruit works better, as he gets it in his beak, but just inside. Hes a 14/15 week old baby still, and really doesnt eat that much of fruit and veg that i offer and go to great lengths to make.

I will start Andies conversion from tomorrow onwards.

Another note, he eats egg sometimes, but most of the time he is breaking off pieces and tossing them off his beak :S His cuttlefish he doesnt eat, but sometimes i feed it to him and he licks at it a bit.

Thanks guys,
Bircan

After reading all the post here I almost forgot what my question was.
I have been offering Julian seed twice a day for 20 minutes at a time. Morning and evening. I have Roudybush pellets that are out 24/7, which he don't touch. But will sit there and shake and scare me that maybe he is sick (just had his first full check up yesterday and he is very healthy)when I give him his seed back and he starts eating but will sometimes shake his wings at the same time. Is he ok, just starving or just trying to make his Mommy scared


Stephanie and Julian

I took Julian to the Vet yesterday and that is how he told me to trim his wings, with leaving the two end blue ones. That way he said they look nicer but still can't fly.

Stephanie and Julian

That's called a beauty clip...and some birds can fly with just those feathers.

Don't want to take that chance so I will clip those two too. Thanks.

Stephanie and Julian

yes they certainly can... cause mine sure did... and I nearly lost him.

Please answer soon. I am getting a cockatiel today yes monday and it has just been weened, but it eats seeds.I am thinking it won't take that long to switch. Do you agree or not.[all opinions]

I am trying the methiod now. I will let you know how it goes. So if im correct the total process is about 5 weeks.

An ongoing debate online and in pet food stores is that a fortified seed diet with fruits and veggies was fine. I am going to change over to pellets, with fortified seeds as a treat. The fruits and veggies are easy, we have been using them forever. Is a fortified seed diet with fruit and veggies good or bad?

milo and nibbles both came from the pet stores. thay are both eating seeds. I have tryed pellets before. neither of my birds would eat them.



We don't do alot of fruit and veg's for the birds everyday. I have treats for them from the pet store . pumpkin seeds, ect..... thay eat what we eat for dinner. vegs wise . I cook more on the weekends so thay have better foods then. My question is should I use pellets for both birds? Milo is the qp ( about 2 1/2yrs old) and Nibbles is a amozon ( 4 years old). I only tell you that because both have been on seed there whole life.



I think I will try one of these other brands you have talked about, did'nt think of that. I thought if thay liked one thay would like them all. You know like thay are all pretty much the same? I also work long hours every day, so it will be hard to do the twice a day thing. But maybe if I start on a weekend thay will take right to it. I know it's better for them so I really want them to convert. Thanks for talking about this.

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