[Giz & Godz]

I have 1 male & 1 female both 15 weeks old.
I had already bought a few mixes & also bought Zupreem pellets, as well as getting seed mix from the owner I bought them from.
Having tried mixing them in the food dish together, both birds spit everything out but the sunflower seeds.
I've been training them using millet which they absolutely love, but these 2 foods aren't healthy enough on their own & I've even bought tonics to add to the drinking water, but they refuse to drink the water with it in. I don't blame them for that as it smells awful & turns the water yellow, so god knows how bad it tastes.
I've tried different fruits & vegetables & all they do is look at them & walk over/past them or ignore them altogether.

Has anyone got any suggestions because I don't want to starve them to try & force them to eat the pellets, if that would even work, but I'm out of ideas now & having gone through a list of fruit & veg, I'm really not sure what else to do or try.

Thanks for any help

 

[Safia]

Try adding a drop or two of water in their pellets just put ten or twelve in a dish and making them just moist with water.... and see if they eat it .... but throw this after they eat it or after an hour ... I started zupreem coloured ones and the plain ones .... my pair likes coloured ones moreand alpha loves nutriberries as well as it’s a mix of seeds and berries. Best of luck it takes quite an effort they do have a mind of their own😊😊

 

[Giz & Godz]

Thanks for the reply, I will try that at some point. My baby boy's been getting worse so I went to the emergency vets & they said that he might not make it through the night. As they have no avian specialist available, I had to bring him home with no help at all after 3 hours of trips & waiting in a cold consultant room, for a sick bird anyway I sat up all night making sure he was still okay & I hope he listened to me, when I asked him to fight with every breathe he's got, because we'll get him help. Today I took him to see the specialist and she immediately hospitalized him, because he just refuses to eat anything other than sunflower seeds which isn't healthy anyway but it means he's become thin, lethargic & now he's not even strong enough to fly. When I left him which I hated doing, he was struggling with a loss of balance & grip & the specialist said that they can't perform any tests while he's too weak, because he might not survive it All I can hope is that he's in the right place for now & that in the next few days, he can build up his strength. Clearly there's an underlying issue too which the tests could find.

 

[adelpks]

Oh I feel for you, it's very hard when a beloved pet is unwell. If it's any help I managed to covert my cockatiel partially to pellets by starting each day with just giving him pellets. As he's hungry at that time he's been more open to trying what he's been given. If he hasn't touched it in half an hour, give him his normal food so he doesn't starve. Then try again the next day. Vary the time that you give him back the food he likes so he doesn't get used to the routine and just wait for what he wants. I hope your little one pulls through.

 

[Safia]

So hope ur bird makes it... it’s so sad. Maybe just maybe he wasn’t completely self fed ? I feel so sorry. Do keep us updated

 

[Giz & Godz]

Thanks adelpks & Safia He's a little fighter & still in care but they say he's slowly improving, although still too weak to have proper tests done.
My female has been missing him like I have & since he's been away, she's been making a 'wimpering' noise which I thought was a sign of her getting ill, but then when I watched her more closely it looks like she's so frightened that she bows her head & makes this really low pitched noise. As I was waiting for the vets to answer so that I could book a visit, she sat up made the same noise once more, before finally doing it properly. My girls learnt how to wolf whistle! She isn't ill or scared, it's her learning to whistle & I guess it's been made harder as she does it with her beak closed too. When she bows her head, it seems that's her way to get the lower pitch but she hasn't got it sorted yet. On the odd occasion she does get it right, it sounds great & she has the head bobbing to match. She'll definitely be showing that off to Gizmo when he comes home as he doesn't whistle yet.
I'll try the pellet advice once he 's fully recovered & someone else suggested to add a bit of water to them, but I just want him back so much.
I don't know about 'self fed' either. They were bought from a pet shop where 20 birds sat in 1 cage with one large food bowl left in all the time. Maybe he wasn't eating there properly either, but they wouldn't notice as you can't keep track of every bird & how much they eat a day, in such a large group, especially when you're very rarely able to simply stand & observe them.

 

[Giz & Godz]

Great news!
Gizmo has successfully gained enough weight to have x-rays etc... done & while he had metal poisoning, which isn't great in any way, he hung on and has made a full recovery. Thankfully it was caught quickly enough so that it didn't do any lasting damage to him or his body.
He's been back to the vets today for a check up & they've given him the thumbs up
Thanks again for the kind words & support.

In regards to the food, they are still very fussy but seem to be eating more than just sunflower seeds, so I will keep offering other things & hopefully in time they start to try more.

 

[dianne]

I am so happy for you and Gizmo!

 

[Giz & Godz]

Thank you

 

[Lindamary71]

I'm so happy your little bird is ok now. My vet wanted me to switch to all zupreem but my Timmy and Joseph like there seeds. So I keep two extra dishes with Zupreem alone and they like that also but won't eat seeds and pellets mixed. Just a thought they might like their food separate as my little guys. ied:ied:

 

[Giz & Godz]

Thanks. Funnily enough they just started eating the pellets today when I had them away from anything else, so that certainly works but adding water to them didn't. I've also been trying to get them to eat cheerios cereal but they wouldn't touch those however I served them. Yesterday, I saw a you tube video where someone had put a piece of wire through them & hung them in a circle. I tried it and sure enough, they both started eating them too. I guess with them only being just over 4 months old, they're still finding their way & getting round to checking things out in their own time.

 

[adelpks]

What wonderful news, I’m so happy for you and your little ones. I'm still trying to get my teil to eat more veggies, he loves green beans and will strip all the beans out of the centre. It's interesting that they try things when presented in different ways, I might try that with mine too

 

[Giz & Godz]

Thanks adelpks I hope you find a way that works too.