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Pellets and seed mixes - some questions

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Pellets and seed mixes - some questions

Postby Animallover_84 » Mon Sep 03, 2018 3:57 pm

Hello fellow bird-nerds ;)

I´m trying to navigate trough the world of parrot pellets and seed mixes and I could definitely use your advice. I´m probably getting caiques and I’m trying to find the perfect or at least the best pellets and possibly seed mix, that I can find. They obviously deserve the best possible diet. Given their diverse diet in the wild I strongly believe in giving them a variety of different foods. My plan is to have their main diet consist of pellets and then complement their diet with some seeds, nuts, chop and of course fresh fruits and vegetables. Is this a good or bad idea? ...Ok…so this question got complicated, when it didn´t have to be :confused::laugh: What I´m asking is simply Yes or No to seed mix? Is it better to just stick to pellets and skip the seed mix altogether?

I´ve been searching the internet for places that sell parrot food and I´ve found a few different pellets…but which one is the best? For me it would be perfect if I could by food online and get it sent to me, because I can´t easily get to any “physical” pet store.

The pellets that I´ve found (that is sold in my country) are the following:

Nutribird – I´ve been looking at P15 original and P15 tropical https://www.versele-laga.com/en/nutribi ... 5-original https://www.versele-laga.com/en/nutribi ... 5-tropical

Tropican – lifetime formula https://hari.ca/our-products/bird-nutri ... e-formula/

Zupreem https://www.zupreem.com/products/birds/ ... --conures/ https://www.zupreem.com/products/birds/ ... --conures/ https://www.zupreem.com/products/birds/nutblend/ https://www.zupreem.com/products/birds/veggieblend/

Roudybush – daily maintenance https://www.roudybush.com/index.cfm?623 ... 0829E5urle

Harrisons – Mostly been looking at the one called Adult lifetime http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/ http://store.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/ORG ... oducts/79/

Some of these pellets are sold in tiny bags for crazy amounts of money (at least in my country), while others seem to have more “normal” prizes…but does this mean that the more expensive ones are the best, or can you find great food for a more appealing prize?

How much pellets will one caique eat in a day? I´m wondering about this because I would like to know how long a bag of pellets will last and how big bag I need to get/should get (in order for the pellets to stay fresh and preferably not become more expensive than it has to be – since you usually get a bigger bag for a better prize).

What size pellets is the best size for a caique? Some pellets are sold in a variety of different “kibble-sizes” and I´m a bit confused as to which size suits caiques the best, do I go for a smaller pellet to reduce the “mess and waste amount” or do they prefer a bigger sized pellet to hold etc.?

Regarding seed mixes: I´ve found the following mixes, that at least at a first glance seem like the least terrible ones…but is any of these actually good for parrots? I´m very skeptical to premade seed mixes because of the fact that I own rats and mice = there is no premade mix suitable for them (at least not that´s sold in my country) which means that I make my own mix, from things I buy in the supermarket and some dried veggies and dried herbs etc. that I get from an online pet store. So simply put; are any of these mixes good (or are they all bad) as a complementary food for parrots (for example to put in foraging toys or to sprinkle over their daily pellets)? It feels like it would be more enriching for the parrot to get to eat seeds as well as pellets. Pellets mostly look the same and probably tastes the same…not exactly how it is in the wild.

Versele-Laga Prestige Premium Amazon Parrot Mix (Loro Parque) https://www.versele-laga.com/en/product ... parrot-mix

Tropimix https://hari.ca/our-products/bird-nutri ... l-parrots/

If a parrot is eating one type of pellets/food (in the previous home-if adopted or at the breeders) and I would like to change to a different brand of food/other types of food…how do I go about doing that? With other species of animals, I just start putting a small amount of the “new” food in their regular food and increase the amount of “new” food; while decreasing the amount of “old” food during a period of time (at least a week or so). Because of the tendencies for parrots to be more careful/scared when put in new situations or when they get a new toy etc. than most other animals. How do you best introduce new types of foods (for example veggies) or a different brand of pellets to a parrot?

I will probably give the birds nutri-berries as well. They seem easy to use as treats in foraging toys…and healthy to. Unless of course I missed something…and
they’re bad for parrots? I can get a hold of different nutria-berries like for example classic, veggies, chili and berries/fruits.
Which flavor of nutri-berries does your parrots prefer? I have also found “Avi-cakes”? Classic Avi-Cakes for Parrot – Lafeber Company good or bad?

This became a much longer text than I expected when I first started writing. Hehe.
/Animallover_84

Ps. Excuse all the spelling and grammar mistakes – English is not my native language. Ds.
Animallover_84
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Re: Pellets and seed mixes - some questions

Postby Pajarita » Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:16 am

Well, I don't feed pellets because I don't think they are really good for parrots but, if I had to recommend one brand, it would be only Tops and no other because they are the only pellets made with organic, human-grade ingredients and no soy or man-made vitamins.

As to seeds, you have to be very careful with caiques and protein [and this is another concern when it comes to feeding them pellets because they usually have a minimum of 17% and that's too high for them]. They cannot eat a lot of it or their metabolism and endocrine system gets all screwed up. Javi Caique came to me in October last year at 7 or 8 years of age and it has taken all this time [almost a year] to stop his soft molt [this is when they lose and replace feathers constantly, something that never happens in nature] caused by his eating too much protein for years [he was fed a parrot seed mix]. He has never had a full molt [at least, not that his previous owner remembers] and his remiges [the long feathers in the wings that allow them to fly] have holes in them because of that. I am hoping that, next year, his endocrine system is 100% under control and he has a nice normal molt so he can get some good feathers in his wings.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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