Ask Lafeber

Question:

November 24, 2020

Nutriberry and pellet diet


I plan on converting my two cockatiels from seeds to pellets by going from loose seed > nutriberries > pellets. Once they’re fully converted, what percentage of their food should be pellets and nutriberries, as well as any fresh foods?

And as an aside on the new lineup of the tropical pellets, is there any timeframe as to when that product will be available on sites like chewy or pet store retailers?


Answer:

Hi Julie,

It’s actually up to you if you want to feed them pellets. The Nutri-Berries are formulated the same as pellets, but they are not ground up. So they can be fed as the main diet, or along with pellets at any ratio. The important thing to remember about the Nutri-Berries, Avi-Cakes and Pellet-Berries is that the birds need to eat most of each berrie or cake without wasting too much. Once they are eating any of these foods, you will want to limit how many you offer at a time to make sure they eat all of them. Birds will waste more when they have more food. In the wild, they take a few bites of a food and discard the rest, which helps reseed the environment and feed ground dwelling creatures. So by giving too much at a time, instinct tells them they can be selective. Regardless of what combination you offer, the staple diets should be about 80% of their daily diet with fruits, veggies, greens and healthy treats making up the rest. Birds are very unlikely to eat as long as their nutritional needs are met, so by making sure they get their daily diet and keeping treats healthy, they will do well. I’ll also give you the link to our feeding guide. As far as the new pellets, they are making their way to online retailers. You can contact our customer service at 800-842-6445 for information on a specific retailer.

Bird Food Guide

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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