FINCHforum

Hi Guys,

Is there by chance anyway of keeping the empty seed hulls in the cage
when the birds fly around an stir them up

Get them on pellets, which are better for them anyway.

Use seed hoppers, which doesn't totally eliminate the problem but really cuts down on it.

Fishguy2727 wrote:Get them on pellets, which are better for them anyway.

How hard is it to get them on pellets

The biggest mess is from the empty millet hulls, They are not eating the seed i bought them

buy another food and find one they like I personally only feed 1 bird pellets cause shes huge,
You can buy clear shower curtains, vinyl etc to wrap on the side of the cage and keep the food in,

oh boy, here we go again with the old.........pellets v seed arguement or I guess it could be called a discussion lol

mickp wrote:oh boy, here we go again with the old.........pellets v seed arguement or I guess it could be called a discussion lol

Well,......... What about it

Okay...I will bite!

I think pellets are good but they shouldn't be the only source of food....they should have some seeds and veggies too.

There are reports that birds on an only pellet diet have kidney problems and other health issues. So a balanced mix of both would be the best if you can get them to eat some.

Now I will go back to my corner and let someone else have a go at it...lol.

What pellets possibly caused the kidney problems? Not all pellets are equal. Some are not worth feeding at all, some are actually good enough to be fed exclusively (this is debatable). I think a lot of the debate comes from people simply thinking 'pellets' in general and not specifying 'high quality pellets'.

Pellets provide a more balanced and complete diet. Many do feed pellets exclusively with great success, but if you would like to include seeds too that is fine, but it is recommended that seeds do not exceed 20% of the diet.

Yes, it is still important to include lots of fruits, vegetables, etc. even on a pellet diet.

There are a number of ways to convert your birds to pellets. The easiest for you and most basic way is to simply get some high quality pellets (the brand is debatable) such as Zupreem or Roudybush, then just put some of that on their normal food, just a little at first though. This way they see it in with their food and get used to it being there. Over time add more and more. Hopefully they will start to take to it. This can take a while though. I deal more with parrots at my work (a local pet shop), and many of these types of birds (quakers, conures, macaws, african greys, etc.) can take months to switch. When I had my quaker it took me two months to switch her to pellets. She was about ten years old and had been fed seed her whole life though. I saw an immediate improvement in her beak and plummage once she switched.