So I changed the feeding arrangement of Lucy and Alex. I put the food bowls on the bottom, one pellet and one seed, big enough for them to eat out of at the same time. I put twice as many pellets as seeds in the cage, and while Alex enjoys the pellets (like the weirdo he is), Lucy seems to have turned to a seed junky.

Eventually, it got to the point where she would barely eat any pellets, if at all. I was worried she wasn't getting the nutrients she needs. So I dumped the seed bowl and put pellets in it. I had one extra bowl that was empty, so I decided that after their daily veggie-table ( ) time, I would dump the ones they didn't eat into the bowl. I thought that having veggies in the cage would make up for a lack of seeds.

Apparently not, because a few hours later, she started screaming. I looked in the cage, and the majority of the veggies were on the bottom of the cage. Lucy wanted to have her birdseed again, and wouldn't shut up.

I'm not trying to take seeds out of the diet altogether. I just want her to eat some more pellets.

So I'm trying to limit seeds to out of cage time. Hoping she will at least get used to not having it in the cage, and will stop with the 3-bird riots.

It might be the time of year. My birds eat less vegetables during the winter and their pellet consumption has slipped too. You want to make sure that she gets enough calories every day, but it's OK to not provide seeds in the morning and put them in the cage later on to encourage her to at least eat other stuff in the morning. Vegetables have a lot less calories than seeds so they're not a substitute for more substantial food.

Hm, ok. I makes sense.

I finally gave in and just put the seeds in her cage. She wouldn't stop screaming, and my mom told me to cover her up with the sheet. I didn't want to do that, so I just gave her what she wanted.

I'm probably the reason why she has some bad habits.

A good few years back my Avian vet advised me on changing to pellets....easier said than done.... all my birds hated them...
I tried for 6 months.... then I gave up... none of my birds are pellet fed, they hate them, even the wild bird left them on the lawn!
Mine are fed veggies.... mixed nuts and different seeds....
they are healthy and fit... do what suits your birds and you best...

Tell me about it! Dudley has some mixed in with his seeds, and he always either drops them, or dunks them in the water and lets them dissolve At least he could get some of the nutrients by having it dissolve in the water.

Well, either today is opposite day, or Lucy and Alex switched personalities. At one point today, I looked in the bottom of their cage, and saw Lucy eating pellets, and Alex eating seeds (Alex doesn't eat the seeds that much, and Lucy prefers them over pellets). So I guess Lucy really is eating the pellets.

And Alex apparently DOES like the seeds.

I give them fresh veggies as well too, though there are days where I don't have time or energy to have them out of the cage for table time. Sometimes they'll last only a day, and sometimes more, but nothing more than a few days. During those days, I can tell whether or not she eats the pellets at all, because her poop will be a different color from Alex's. She's been pretty good about it for the past few days though. Guess it depends on her mood.

Hopefully she is coming to like pellets....
finger crossed

what pellets do you feed?
my birds all love "Pretty bird" brand (for small birds)
Can't say that they eat a lot of pellets. but they all love to put their beaks in that bowl with "Pretty bird"

I feed Zupreem natural cockatiel blend. Lucy accepted it fairly quickly when I first got it, though like Carolyn said, it must be the time of year. Alex on the other hand loves it. No idea why, but he does. maybe he just eats it because while I was weaning him, I would put him in front of the pellet bowl. He would have the option to walk away from it, but instead he would just literally bury his face in it. Got to the point where he cried, if I put him anywhere else in the cage after hand feeding.

Maybe he just likes eating.

I feed beaphar a natural blend.

that's how much my birds were missing their pellets when we ran out - they immediately came to check if Pretty Bird arrived (it did, and they knew it!)