Pellets or seeds

[Ringneck98]

Should I be giving my India ring neck pellets or seeds??

[cml]

Should I be giving my India ring neck pellets or seeds??

Pellets as a staple diet, with supplemental veggies a few times a week up to everyday, is a great way to start. Use seeds only as treats.

I give them pellets for breakfast, veggies and/or fruit for their evening meal, and seeds as treats.
This works great.

Pellets are good way of making sure they get all their essentials, which can be hard to do if giving them an all fresh diet. But, its very important that they get fresh food, so make sure to give it to them often. Seeds are generally bad for them, and are much too fatty, and are to be considered parrot candy .

[Ringneck98]

Thank you, this is very helpful. Also I sort of rescued him from a bad home and he doesn't seem to be very good at eating veggies (his favourites are apple and grapes) how should I go around this??

[paper_lantern]

Just keep offering the fruits and veggies, it may take time but most parrots end up trying them. Make sure to remove them from his cage after an hour or so if they are uneaten, to prevent sickness. Some good things to start with are carrots, apples, corn, broccoli, sweet bell peppers, and boiled/steamed/baked sweet potatoes (most birds LOVE sweet potatoes). Strawberries and blueberries are also good. Chubby had no problem trying these first, and then we gradually moved up to leafy greens like kale and Swiss chard as well as chilies, and more exotic fruits and veggies.

Make sure to never feed onions, uncooked white potato, garlic, mushrooms, olives, uncooked beans, avocado, chocolate, salty and junk foods, alcohol, or caffeine.

As for switching from seed to pellet, you want to do it gradually. Start by mixing some pellets into his seeds, and every once in awhile decrease the amount of seed. Keep doing that slowly until he is just eating the pellets. Seeds, nuts, and millet are great as a snack/treat.

[cml]

Aye, you can mix fruit and veggies, and he'll get used to it (and enjoy it as well) over time .
Variation is the key, both from a nutritional and fun factor standpoint.

Today's evening meal for the parrots is:
Blueberries, broccoli, peas, corn, rasperries and a little cucumber.

We feed them (below is not related to the frequency they get said fruit/veggie):

FRUITS AND BERRIES:
Apples
Mango
Pear
Banana
Blueberries
Rasperries
Figs
Coconut

VEGETABLES:
Peas
Corn
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Carrots
Cucumber

Pasta
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Eggs (just want to stress that you shouldnt give this very often, and take away the yolk)

Ive probably forgot a lot of the things they try, we often buy stuff for them to try from the grocery store, standing like idiots in the fruit section of the store, googling on whether its parrot safe or not .

Also, always make sure its organic veggies and fruit. I buy only organic stuff, but with some kinds of veggies/fruit, its superimportant. Grapes are such an example (I refrain from feeding them grapes at all), but there are many!

Paper_latern gives good advice about the seed to pellets transition, but should it not work, there are other tricks to try, such as softening the pellets with fruit juice etc, but try her advice first !

[cml]

Here's a link with a great list of parrot safe veggies and fruit, written by another forum member: Greenwing.

http://theparrotforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9201

[GreenWing]

Here's a link with a great list of parrot safe veggies and fruit, written by another forum member: Greenwing.

http://theparrotforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9201

Lol, I almost forgot about that list, thanks cml

[GlassOnion]

No parrot should ever be only fed seeds. I feed my guys some pellets, some seeds, lots of cooked and sprouted grains/legumes, veggies, etc. I do a lot of cooking and sprouting for my guys.

[cml]

No parrot should ever be only fed seeds. I feed my guys some pellets, some seeds, lots of cooked and sprouted grains/legumes, veggies, etc. I do a lot of cooking and sprouting for my guys.

You back on the forum now GlassOnion? Welcome back !

[GlassOnion]

I lurk every so often even without posting.