vitamins

[roy]

I just brought some vitamin power to put on Biggles's fruit. Now there are already vitamins in fruit so what I'm asking is can you overdose a parrot on vitamins??? Advice need please

[Michael]

Overdose on vitamins can be dangerous. Probably not a good idea. The best solution is a 50-100% pellet diet and then other foods just for fun.

[roy]

Thanks for that Micheal I've been looking at harrison's pellets but you use a different make which I cannot find where would I be able to purchase them form and if you don't mind me asking everyone says harrison's are the best so what do you think of them???

[Michael]

http://TrainedParrot.com/Roudybush
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7445&start=10

[Eurycerus]

Human beings can also over dose on vitamins. Definitely something to be cautious about especially with such small creatures such as parrots.

[roy]

I'm not going to use the vitamins I am trying to find out were Micheal gets his pellets from

[Eurycerus]

I use Harrison's organic pellets. I strongly recommend them. There are no artificial colors or flavors. I buy it at a local bird store but i know they can be bought online. I buy in bulk and then freeze most of it so it doesn't go bad. Excellent product. For a large parrot buy the coarsest pellet.

[spiral71]

I also use harrisons and my bird likes then i find her condition is notably better on these than other pellets. I am unsure weather i will try to freeze them or not. but buying in bulk is definitely a good idea, at least for me.

i also like the fact that you feed these peilets moistened with wather that way my bird doesnt throw them on the cage grate as much.

[marie83]

Yes and no to the overdosing question. There are two different types of vitamin- water soluable which the body cannot store so any excess just gets passed out as waste and fat soluable vitamins which get stored by the body for future use.


If the vitamin in question is water soluable then you cannot get too much of it as what the body doesn't need is just passed out in urine/faeces, obviously in birds it will just get passed out in the poop in 1 go. (B1, B2, B3, Pantothenic acid, Biotin, B6, Folic acid, B12, vit C)



The fat soluable vitamins can cause problems if too much is stored, just the same as having to much iron in your body can cause problems- irons needed but in small amounts. Having too much can be as dangerous as having too little. (Vit A, D, E and K)

Something else to bare in mind is that the body makes certain vitamins in certain circumstances -Vit D for example and exact requirements for our parrots are not known so I feel it is too easy to get it wrong.

My personal opinion is that I would only choose to supplement the diet with vitamins if the bird had already proven to be low on something via vet tests and if the vet told me to give one.

Also please note: that birds are not mammals and the information I have just given was researched as part of my course for mammals. Birds may differ (I doubt it but havent looked into it) in how the vitamin are processed so its best to research on an individual basis and don't just take my word for it.