# Charlie doesn't want any of that fancy garnish



## sr331033 (May 7, 2011)

If looks could kill, man, the way Charlie the canary has been looking at me today since I started his morning feeding with only pellets (Ive been mixing pellets and seeds for two weeks now, so I wanted to see if he'd eat them on their own).

He excitedly goes to his dish and starts digging around. He looks up at me. Then he tries again. And then the LOOK. Like "MOM, what the heck?! Why is all you gave me this morning that horrible garnish? Where are my seeds?!"

I added some seed after a bit, but hopefully he will start enjoying pellets someday. He does like kale, which I try to have in the house frequently, but not a big fan of other veggies. I tried to get him to eat carrot and apple and sweet snap peas and I think he thought they were monsters.

I will keep trying! I am determined lol


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*When I introduced pellets to my budgie, my Avian Vet recommended using Harrison's High Potency Mash and sprinkling it on the budgie's seed mix every day. This way, when the budgie hulls the seed it tastes the pellet mash and ingests bits of it as well. This helps the budgie identify the taste as a food source.

Many members seem to find the easiest pellets to use for introducing pellets are the CANARY sized Zupreem fruity pellets. Most birds like the taste and the "Canary" sized pellets are tiny enough for them to easily eat them. Once they've become accustomed to the Fruity Pellets, introducing the smallest "natural" pellets is then an easy step.

Other than when I was using the Harrison's mash, I've never mixed my birds' pellets and seed together. My birds have three separate dishes each with a different brand/flavor of pellets available to them 24/7. Their seed is rationed to approximately 2 teaspoons of seed per budgie each day. I give them seed first thing in the morning right after putting clean newspapers on the bottom grate of the cages. I sprinkle their morning ration on the paper so they can forage for the seeds. I then do the same thing in the evenings (after replacing the soiled newspaper with clean) and again allow them to forage for their seed.

All of my birds have the option to eat the available pellets whenever they like throughout the day and they all enjoy them!

Best wishes with Charlie's diet! *


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## HappiBudgie (Jan 17, 2017)

Don't the fruity Zupreem pellets have artificial color in them? I thought that was bad for birds:confused1:


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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

sr331033 said:


> He excitedly goes to his dish and starts digging around. He looks up at me. Then he tries again. And then the LOOK. Like "MOM, what the heck?! Why is all you gave me this morning that horrible garnish? Where are my seeds?!"


:laughing: It's really pretty funny the way birds will look at (whatever it is) then up at you and back and forth. I have no doubt your canary can give facial expressions too :laughing2:.


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

HappiBudgie said:


> Don't the fruity Zupreem pellets have artificial color in them? I thought that was bad for birds:confused1:


Although naturally coloured foods are better, food colouring is not bad or toxic to budgies in any way :thumbsup: ZuPreem is a great choice because some birds find themselves more attracted to the colourful, fruity pellets than the plain brown ones, which can make their transition to eating pellets much easier!


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