Need Diet help, please (long post)

[JoanneinNC]

Hi.

My name is Joanne and I live in NC. I have an almost three year old Parrotlet, named Nemo. I have been a member of the BirdBoard for almost as long as I have had Nemo, but I haven't been here in a long time. Hi to all. I am happy to be back.

I have spent the day reading and researching online. I posted pretty much this same post in a different Parrotlet forum today. I am trying to find a Parrotlet forum that is very active, with lots of experienced people to ask advise from.

Here is my post:

I have an almost three year old Blue mutation Parrotlet.

His diet consists of fresh, clean bottled Spring water, and Kaytee Supreme seed mix.

In the past I tried vegetables. I gave them to him each morning, first thing. I understand that in the wild birds eat mainly in the morning and then again mid afternoon. He never ate the veggies. Recently we tried to add Beak Appetite. We made a mixture in his bowl with Beak Appetite and his seed. We did this over a few weeks. After a few hours in his cage, we would clean his bowl, and give seed only. We noticed he did not eat the Beak Appetite.

I got my parrotlet from a breeder as a baby. He was born in July of 2006. He came to me with a major foot injury (one of his toes was missing). I had researched Parrotlets for quite some time and felt that I knew what to look for in a breeder and in a parrotlet. I was so wrong; I didn't know enough. I thought because he was hand fed, he would make for me a great companion. I realized too late that though he was hand fed, the breeder never spent time with him. There were many signs from my visit to pick him up. I just didn't know it at the time. The breeder said she did not know how his foot became injured. My vet said this isn't possible as there had to be a lot of blood. His first few weeks in his new home with me consisted of me having to give him medication and working to heal his injured foot. He doesn't come out of his cage, which makes me sad. He is beautiful and I can see that he is happy. He is a great companion, but I feel so badly for him. I see and hear that he is happy.

I need help converting his diet.

I would also like him to be out of his cage, playful and interacting with me and my husband. I have a friend who tells me, "Why can't I let him be a bird?" I know that he is healthy and happy. But this wasn't the relationship I had researched and planned for before bringing him home.

We try new things, both for his diet and for training him, but then life gets in the way and we go back to our old ways. Both my husband and I, and are parrotlet son.

Last week, my aunt's 9 year old beloved Parrotlet got very ill. He was mainly on a seed diet, though he does eat fresh fruits and veggies. This really scared me.

I don't see my little friend living a healthy life on his diet.

I have spent all day reading and researching online. I want to make major changes in his diet. And this time, I will stick to it, until he is eating healthy..and continue that for his life.

I found this information from a member on TalkParrotlets.com Homepage today. Her name is Jan, and I knew she and I emailed through Parrotlet forums in the past. Here is what she said about what she feeds her parrotlet:

I feed Bitsy a mix of Goldenfeast Small Hookbill seeds and Volkman Avian Super Parrotlet seeds. Each has about 40 seeds, fruits and veggies in it. Awesome stuff. Additionally, I give him fresh veggies and fruit - what I have on hand. I make it into tiny pieces in the food processor. He also gets homemade birdie bread and several varieties of Beak Appetit. I sometimes cook frozen veggies and put them in the food processor.

I would love for Nemo to eat this way. I want to make changes to give my bird a good, healthy life.

But how do I begin? How do I move him from his current diet of seed to a diet like this? I don't want to make his sick or have him refuse to eat.

Can you help me?

I am so glad to be back on BirdBoard.

Joanne