Hi all,

 

I was wondering how often i should be changing the birds seed. I know some people feed seed at certain times and dont leave it in there 24-7 but i have my seed there all the time. Is this okay?

 

I know i have to remove the empty casings which i do and of course i remove the droppings too. I put a food dispenser so only a bit at a time comes out but im a bit paranoid that the seed will go bad or moldy in there. How long can i keep it in there for until i should change it? :feedbirds:

:dbb1: Maybe other people do it more (or less) but I scrub water, seed. i.e. new seed and other containers @ least once a week or more and scrub cage bottoms. Then I do a cage "shower" and major toy, perch and everything once a month. Will be interesting to see the other replies.

Edited January 26, 200619 yr by Phoebe

If the birds can't contaminate it - do poops in it, play in it - then it shouldn't go 'bad'. Just blow the husks off daily, and you should be right.

thanks guys for that!

 

i'll have to get some creativity happening!

I leave seed available all the time. Husks get blown off several times a day. It gets changed every few weeks to remove any which may be stale.

i only feed the amount my budgies can eat in a day. and replace with new seed daily. this way it is easier to make sure the budgie is eating all of the seed grains in the mix and not just picking out the millet (which is what can easily happen if you leave a large supply os seeds constantly available). :hap:

I change my birds seed everyday too.

 

I also add a few Harrisons pellets to the seed. Oh and Pixie I dont know if they are actually eating them but they are eating from the pot Ive placed them in which is something they would never do whether it contained their seed aswell. So this is a start at least !

thats what i do to booms. i tend to cover the seed with a layer of harrisons so they have to dig through it to get to the seed.

 

i leave pellets in a mirror dish at all times and have also had some success with putting in a separate feed dish higher up than their seed pots with just pellets mixed with a drop of diluted apple juice. just enough to soften the pellets slightly. you could use any diluted fresh juice. i still dont think that my two will eat the pellets dry though - but it doesnt stop me trying! (Laughing out loud)!

Well Ive had more progress this time for sure and Tobi even eats the out of choice only because she is greedy.

 

My tiels on the other hand wont touch them or go within flying distance of them hehe!

I change seed daily. To be specific, it usually goes like this:

 

Every morning they get fresh veggies of some sort; I usually try to offer a couple of types of leafy greens and then carrots (because Pika loves shredded carrots). Sometimes they'll also get cooked mixes, wheatgrass, or some other "special" food if I have the time to prepare it.

 

Pellets are left in the cage 24/7 and I try to give only as much as I think they'll eat within a day or two.

 

I refill their seed dishes in the late afternoon or evening and only give what I think will be eaten by morning.

 

It really really helps to get them on a routine like this, especially when trying to convert them to a better diet. With mixing in pellets, it's hard to tell what is actually being ingested and they'll surely eat far more seeds than pellets.

 

If you could try and work out a time when you can offer only pellets, no seeds, that is going to help a lot. I know it's tough with work schedules but you can offer the seeds while you're at work and when you get home, remove the seeds and offer only pellets until bedtime. Yes, they'll probably ignore them for a long time but eventually it will work. If you can crumble the pellets to seed size, that definitely helps. You can put a little seed back in the cage a while before "bedtime" so that your budgie doesn't "starve" if he hasn't touched the pellets.

 

The point is, there should be a point in the day where pellets are the only food offered. Once it is established that birds are eating the pellets reliably, you can decrease the amount of time that seed is offered. The goal is to try and get them to eat a base diet that is equal in seeds and pellets with as much fresh healthy food as possible. That will pay off in the end.

Edited January 30, 200619 yr by eterri

i do leave pellets in 24/7 and they get no seeds in the afternoon for a couple of hours. still doesnt work yet though! they will only touch them when they are softened with fruit juice.

 

im using as many methods as i can think of all at the same time to try and make them more acceptable.

I see where your coming from Terri but Im out of the house for almost 11 hours a day. Everyday I offer a small tub of pellets, 2 small seed bowls mixed with pellets, egg mix and a small tub of jungle munchies, of course with 4 different fruit and veggies.

 

But when I come home from work thats there time out so they dont even bother with food for those 2 and a half hours and of course I cant possibly leave them with just pellets for the whole day.

Yeah that does make it difficult.

 

Do they ever pop back in their cages for a snack during their out time? Or do you have a place where you can sprinkle the pellets outside of the cage? I put pellets on my birds' playgym and before I had that, I used to put them (or other new foods) on a table where they liked to play and they loved it. They really like to "find" their food.

 

Also, I can't remember if you have any of them positively eating pellets, but if you do, take seed out after their out time. They're going to be hungry when they get back to the cage if they don't like eating during those two hours and if pellets are all that are available, that's what they'll eat. Even if this is their bedtime, they may munch on them for breakfast.

Yeah thats a good idea I will give it a go tonight.

 

They never pop back in when its their out time, not even at bed time grrrrrrrrr hehe. Both of the cages are domed shaped so the only place I could put some would be on the tiel cage in a dish, they often take baths in a bowl of water on their cage. Tobi has been eating the pellets a bit but she is the only one as far as I can tell.

 

Breakfast time does really happen until Ive gone to work. I uncover them at 6am but leave the main light off for half an hour whilst I get ready, then I change all their food, water and veggies and then I leave at 645am so that I can only really do on a weekend and plus the weekend will give me a better chance to see if they are eating them at all.

Good luck!

 

Speaking of breakfast, it is time for my birds' breakfast. :X

I'll update after the weekend and let you know how theyve got on.

 

Yummy breakfast nearly my birdies tea time hehe!