How to Convert a Bird to a Pelleted Diet

It is generally accepted that the best diet for most pet birds is a combination of pellets and fresh produce. However, many birds, especially those purchased at pet shops, have been weaned onto a seed-based diet. Seeds, while relished by pet birds, have serious nutritional deficiencies that can cause health problems and shortened life span if they make up the mainstay of a bird's diet. Unfortunately, birds that are accustomed to eating primarily seeds are often resistant to converting to pellets.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Offer the pellets to your bird in a separate food dish, while continuing to feed the original diet. The new dish should be mounted high in the cage, near your bird's favorite perch.

2. Wait until the bird has expressed interest in the pellets by picking up or playing with them. Most birds will not actually eat the pellets yet. If your bird does not touch the pellets during the first 24 hours, try putting a few foot toys into the bowl with the pellets to encourage exploration of the dish's contents. Once the bird has shown interest in the pellets, wait until the next regular feeding time to continue the conversion process.

3. Rearrange the food bowls by placing the pellets in the bird's old dish and the previous diet in a dish on the floor of the cage. Try to place the dish containing the old diet in a location where it is unlikely to be contaminated by droppings. By placing the pellets in a familiar dish, the bird should recognize them as food, and most birds would rather not go to the floor of the cage to eat seeds.

4. Continue to feed the bird both the pellets and seed-based diet in this manner, until the bird is consuming at least a few of the pellets. If the bird does not eat any pellets within a day or two, try putting a few treats such as raw almonds or sunflower seeds into the dish with pellets.

5. During the next regular feeding time, remove the seeds from the cage entirely. Watch to see how your bird reacts -- most will go ahead and eat the pellets instead. If your bird does not consume any pellets after an hour, put the seeds back into the cage, but remove them after 30 minutes has passed.

6. Provide pellets to your bird at all times, but only offer the seeds twice a day (in the morning and evening), and for only 30 minutes at a time. This will prevent your bird from becoming ill if she will not eat the pellets right away. Once you are certain that the bird has begun to eat the pellets, you can safely stop offering seeds entirely.

Tips & Warnings

• Birds sometimes strongly prefer one brand of pellets over another. Try different brands and flavors to see if there is one your bird is willing to accept.
• If your bird is stubborn, try playing with or pretending to eat the pellets yourself. This works better if you do it while the bird is out of the cage and can "steal" the pellet from you.
• Parrots that eat by holding food in their foot will usually prefer large pellets that they can pick up. Don't hesitate to feed your conure a macaw pellet, if he likes it better. The nutritional content of these larger pellets is identical to that of smaller ones -- the only difference is in the size and shape.
• If you are unsure if your bird is actually consuming the pellets or not, use a gram scale to see if he is losing weight. If he loses more than 10% of his original body weight, you should resume feeding seeds and try again once he is back to his normal weight.
• You must be absolutely certain that your bird is consuming the pellets before you stop feeding the seed-based diet, or your bird may starve to death.
• Eclectus parrots have special nutritional needs and should never be fed a diet consisting of entirely pellets.

Resources

• Pellets vs. Seeds
• Pelleted Food: An Appetizing Diet for Optimal Nutrition