I have a 1 year old tiel who out of 3 will eat pellets but after a few moment start doing the regurgitation motion. This is only with pellets, and I’ve tried different brands to. Seeds no issue, fresh food/ chop no issue.
Any suggestions? He weighs in consistent around 86-88g and has no other symptoms, I’ve even felt the crop full/empty .
Any suggestions would be appreciated
Hi,
This may be a type of reverting behavior, where the shape of the pellet is triggering a feeding reaction. Or he may be feeling hormonal, and something about the pellets makes him go into an action that mimics feeding a mate or chick. Of course at 1, he is far too young for breeding, and as he is a pet, I doubt you have plans for breeding. He might not be drinking enough with the pellets or isn’t biting small enough pieces and is having trouble swallowing the pellets. Or it could just be something this bird does. I wouldn’t worry too much about it since he is fine otherwise.
We do offer what is sometimes called a foraging pellet. These are Nutri-Berries and Avi-cakes, which are nutritionally balanced the same as a pellet, but the ingredients are not ground up. The bird can enjoy the whole seeds that are a more natural diet than pellets, and can actually benefit the gut as they pass through. We only use fresh, human grade seeds with the hulls removed. We combine these with other human grade ingredients and then each ingredient is coated with a nutritionally balanced binder, so that your bird gets complete nutrition with every bite. This is how they are different from a loose seed mix, where the seeds are often not fresh and any added nutrients are lost when the bird removes the hull. Our Nutri-Berries and Avi-Cakes can be fed alone or combined with pellets and fresh foods, and come in a variety of flavors.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
