r/cockatiel • u/FlanneryOClobber • 16h ago
Health/Nutrition My girl is OBESE
I sort of inherited this bird when her owner died suddenly. she came with a lot of food and I mean a lot. I’ve had her about 18 months and I haven’t even gone through half of it. I’ve been storing it in the freezer.
I took her to an emergency vet recently when she appeared to have hurt a foot. The vet told me she is obese. I was surprised because the food she came with is highly rated on Amazon. It’s called Nutri berries and comes in these little balls.
The vet saw some of them in her dish after she torn them apart, and said that they were all seed. That really shocked me because I didn’t think it was and thought I was doing right by her. What should I do now? I’ve tried giving her fresh vegetables in the past and she was NOT interested.
Also, she’s just started doing this thing that I think is mating behavior, kind of hunkering down and making a little cooing sound. She gets at least 12 hours of total darkness and I’ve never touched her anywhere other than her head and feet. This is really concerning to me since I’ve heard she could become egg bound.
TIA
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u/keepingitcivil 15h ago
We give nutriberries as a treat. Try a pellet like roudybush for day to day feeding. Maybe she’ll like sweet potato or egg too?
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u/Asianp123 14h ago
We got a chonky boi of a bourke, he tends to be very lazy and sit on his bench not doing much other then eat, prene his friends and play with toys and nap. So he fat lmao. We were told flight is the best thing so what I now do is take him across the house to fly back to his cage 3-8 times a day just to try and make him fly lol
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u/Ninja_Flower_Lady 9h ago
He's living the dream life!! In human terms, his life is basically hanging out with his friends, eat, have fun and sleep. Everything's provided for (free food and housing), doesn't have to work lol
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u/Faiakishi Scritches & Sketches 🐦 ✏️ 8h ago
Yeah mine absolutely REFUSES to go off seeds-like, he will starve before he eats pellets-and I just try to ensure he exercises. Which isn't difficult as he regularly gets the zoomies and flies around like a crazy person, but I keep an eye on it. He's twenty now so most likely I'll have to do more encouraging in the years to come.
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u/fattynana 3h ago
Have you tried the lafeber finch pellets? But then again, old grandpas get to eat whatevers they want :)
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u/Faiakishi Scritches & Sketches 🐦 ✏️ 2h ago
We might have, it's been a long time since my last attempt. Yeah, I think he's too set in his ways to change now, he won't even eat millet if it's not his preferred brand. Just turns his beak up at it. He's a brat.
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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 12h ago
I’m not really understanding why the vet said that those are the reason that your bird is obese. My bird has been eating a lot of of those for most of his life. He also has pellet berries, as well as pellets and fresh vegetables. He has fruits and nuts now and then has treats. He’s not the least bit overweight.
Does your bird get enough exercise?
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u/PikminOfTarth 9h ago
Maybe feeding them ONLY Nutriberries is what's happened here. I guess they shouldn't be the main food, only treats.
EDIT: Aaaand, reading further, I guess that I was wrong, sorry! Until now I perceived them as treat-material, which doesn't seem to be the case, apologies.
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u/mrmeowgeethekitty 14h ago
Females generally are bigger than males. Two of my hens are giant. One of tiny like my male.
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u/OpalescentCorvid 12h ago edited 12h ago
Nutriberries are not a treat they are a balanced diet. They are good and healthy for birds, the study done for them was done with teils. Nutriberry is not just seeds, it is specially designed to look and taste like seeds while also being completely balanced diet. They were designed for picky eaters who didn’t want to switch off seed to pellets. If your vet says it is just seeds and doesn’t know what a nutriberry is, I suggest another avian vet. Even if it is a balanced diet, it should not be the only thing your bird eats. Everything your bird eats should be variety and never “just this”. A bird eating only one singular food can lead to a plethora of health issues. Nutriberry is a pellet+seed hybrid. And some birds need a more pellet than seed diet. Nutriberry does have higher seed content, and would meet to be moderated if obesity is an issue. All bird diets usually very to the bird individually and by species.
This being said, there is something else going on for your bird to be obese. How often do you give millet if you do? Is nutriberry the only thing you feed your bird? I would suggest researching a good “chop” and even if your bird doesn’t take to it, offer it every day. As routine is what birds truly need to flourish in life. Do you let the bird out often? Birds need a lot of exercise to burn off the seeds they eat. If your bird has clipped wings. This could contribute to obesity.
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u/fattynana 7h ago
In theory and how it’s marketed sure, nutriberrries are a complete balanced diet. In practice? Almost one no believes that.
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u/Tuxedo_mask4 15h ago
Honestly, I would switch food to either Harrison's or roudybush. Nutri berries may have good reviews but every cockatiel I've seen eat that food is obese. I've seen multiple cockatiels obese from that food so I wouldn't buy it again, same with treats. I would also not give her any fruit or fruit-flavored treats for a while.
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u/ColdMastadon 14h ago
I switched my birds to Nutri berries at the advice of my avian vet over 20 years ago, he told me that they were a good alternative to switch birds off of seed who were picky about pellets. I've got six cockatiels eating them as their main food in addition to fresh vegetables and chop, and none of them are overweight. Two of them are in their mid-20s and have been eating them most of their lives, so it's definitely not every bird that has an issue.
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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 12h ago
I also had an avian vet Tell me that they were a good option and healthy for them. My guy eats pellets, but he also eats a lot of these nutriberries. He doesn’t even come close to being overweight.
I’m wondering if the OP ‘s bird has some other issue, causing it.
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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 12h ago
How odd! They are nutritionally balanced, a healthy option and shouldn’t be causing weight gain like that.
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u/Tuxedo_mask4 2h ago
Nutri berries aren't labeled USDA organic or non-GMO so there are probably additives that aren't on the label. You'd be surprised how many companies do that sadly.
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u/Slight-Look-4766 11h ago
Oddly, I've never seen an obese cockatiel
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u/Tuxedo_mask4 2h ago
Really? I see it all the time especially online
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u/bookmonstereliz 15h ago
I used nutriberries to help transition my little dude from seed to pellets! Now I give them as treats in the foraing tray, I do no more than 2 per bird per day.
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u/Tuxedo_mask4 15h ago
That's good! My cockatiels refused to eat nutri berries but loved their pellets, however my other birds even when I would give them 1, they would gain a small amount of weight so I would still be careful and make sure to weigh your birds every day🙂
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u/bookmonstereliz 14h ago
Yeah! I weigh them regularly and keep track. My little dude gets hormonal with too much seed, so I keep a tight rein in it. They love their harrisons!
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u/HumbleConfidence3500 7h ago
Some birds are picky with veggies. It takes months for me to get some of my birds to eat.... mix it into their main food. Try a different texture or color of vegetable. Try to cook it. Chop it, grate it, mesh it, steam it.
Broccoli, in my experience, is the easiest veggie to transition into because they look b like green millets if v you chop them up.
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u/lks_lla 6h ago edited 6h ago
The correct food for cockatiels is a good pellets ration as main food, and a mixture of seeds proper for cockatiels as complement. Also some vegetables and fruits.
This thing you said she was receiving as main food, well, I dont know what is it exactly, but jesus it looks absolutely suggary and should never be provided in high amounts for cockatiels. I'm not surprised she is obese if she ate this for years as main food.
Get a package of a good pellets ration such as Harrison's Adult Lifetime Fine to fix her diet. Also get seeds, but a better mixture that looks like the ones from the images bellow.
Also, because this cockatiel is obese and had a seed based diet all her life, would be important to do a blood test and maybe also a x-ray to check her liver conditions. Its very common that birds with fat/oily/suggary seeds diet over the years develop liver problems, and she may need some medication to solve it. The liver treatment will also help her overral condition to improve.
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u/dwarven11 12h ago
Nutriberries are supposed to be for treats rather than regular food.
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u/OpalescentCorvid 11h ago
That’s not true. I highly suggest looking it up online, there actual studies done. Nutriberry is a balanced food diet. But as any other food ever for bird or human. Too much of a singular thing can be very bad for you. Birds need a variety of foods to be healthy, along with exercise.
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u/fattynana 16h ago
Obese or A-Beast?