Pelleted Food Birds Actually Like?

[Cockatude]

My citron crest was fat, so I put him on pelleted food, according to the vet's instructions. I said he was not a fan of pellets, and the vet suggested giving him no choice.

I decided to start including a little seed-based mix as well, because I wanted him to have at least a little pleasure.

He went from 550 grams to under 400, but he seems to be ignoring the pellets almost completely now. He also gets an apple with a small amount of peanut butter most days, and he gets other things I eat, like carrots, meat, cheese, and the occasional serving of pizza and popcorn.

I am using Kaytee Exact right now. Is there something out there birds like better? Hoping to avoid the super high-end stuff that costs more than what I eat.

[Pajarita]

I hope you don't take this the wrong way but OUCH! on the diet he is getting! Meat, cheese, peanut butter and pizza? Parrots, contrary to what most people believe are not omnivorous and, although cockatoos do eat grubs, this is insect protein which is completely different from what is considered animal protein because it has no fat or bad cholesterol so, please, no animal products whatsoever, they cause fatty liver, high uric acid, obesity and cardiovascular problems. Pop corn is OK and it's actually good for losing weight but only if it's the one that has nothing on it - no salt, no 'butter', no nothing. And no peanut butter, please - they are all full of added salt and sugar (two things parrots should never eat as added ingredients).

He needs much more produce than just a slice of apple and whatever veggies you eat (people normally do not consume enough or a wide range of veggies and fruits) and free-feeding him protein food is not healthy for him. Try a nice gloop with lots of raw produce in the morning and nuts for dinner and, if he hasn't been getting any vitamin/mineral supplement and he has not been eating the pellets, he must have deficiencies so get him a multivitamin/mineral supplement (I recommend the kind that is a powder soluble in water). And give him fresh corn on the cob, oranges, cantaloupe, banana, grapes, cherry tomatoes, peppers (yellow, orange, green and red), pears, kiwis, red radishes, sugar snaps, green beans, Brussels sprouts (toos love them!), broccoli, dandelion greens, romaine lettuce, chicory, bok choy, Swiss chard, blueberries, blackberries, etc. etc. etc. Cockatoos are fabulous eaters of produce and the gloop is not fattening at all so, if you stick with the good diet, he will not only lose weight, he will live a much longer and healthier life.

[mviswills]

Okay, that makes sense. Thanks for the answers.

[Cockatude]

Can anyone recommend a good pelleted food parrots actually like?

[Pajarita]

Sorry, I can't help you because I do not feed any kind of pellets but I would assume that it goes by what the individual parrot likes and dislikes although I seriously doubt they really prefer any pellet to real food (have you tried them? I have tasted Harrison's and Tops and they both taste dry and bland -imagine compressed sawdust with a very, very faint grainy taste).

[Cockatude]

Thanks for the replies. I am going to give Zupreem Fruitblend a shot and see if they have any use for it.

My vet suggested teaching them to eat better food by depriving them of alternatives, but I have been reluctant to do it because they have a legitimate need for food that isn't boring. They used to eat things like snap peas, carrots, tomatoes, and grapes, but for some reason their tastes changed and they start throwing out things they used to eat. They will still eat mandarin slices, corn, and potatoes. They don't seem to like eggs much any more.

For a time, I ate homemade vegetable soup for breakfast and gave it to them as well. They had no problems with it. Maybe I should go back to that. It was full of things like kale, tomatoes, green beans, pasta, carrots, peas, leeks, corn, and so on. Since that time, I have read that onions are not a good choice, so I suppose the leeks would have to be removed.

[Pajarita]

Well, unless you make soup without any salt, you cannot share it with parrots. And, in all honesty, if you are going to feed pellets, at least don't feed the very worst pellets there are! Parrots have ended up with diabetes from eating the fruity kind (they add sugar which a parrot should never consume - ever).

As to their getting tired of things they liked before - well, parrots in the wild eat a large range of foods so you need to vary the stuff you give them. My birds eat a different green, a different veggie and a different fruit each day of the week and, depending on what it is, even more seldom than that. For example, they only get kale once every two weeks but, this time of the year, they get corn on the cob once a week and, as the season progresses, they might even get it twice a week every now and then. For example, today, they got carrots, grapes and red Swiss Chard while, yesterday, they got raw broccoli, sugar snaps and apples and tomorrow they will, most likely, get romaine lettuce, mini peppers (yellow, orange and red) and blackberries - see what I mean? Same thing with the gloop - today was 'italian' (a sprinkle of garlic, oregano and pepper), yesterday was 'apple pie' (dry organic apple chips -which I reconstitute overnight-, currants, cinnamon and a bit of organic lemon peel), tomorrow might be 'pina colada' (dry reconstituted diced pineapple, unsweetened grated coconut and a touch of ginger). They get bored eating always the same thing...