We have an eleven month old peach fronted conure who was on an all seed diet from a specialized bird store. We gradually switched him to Harrison's high potency pellets (of course we supplement with fresh fruit and vegetable as directed in the packet) and he was doing well on it. However, we needed to find a pellet that we can use on weekends, due to Harrison's is prone to spoilage and other reasons, although we know the importance of regularly feeding fresh food daily.
After hearing a lot of good about Roudybush maintenance, we decided to try that. However, after increasing the amount using it for one of his main meals, he started to act very frantic after eating it. He looked very uncomfortable and was making quick involuntary movements upwards with his wings - is this called wing flipping? Moreover, he was trying to fly on us, calling us and desperately trying to get on our shoulder ( he never usually tries so hard as we do not allow him there.) He rejected all his toys, which was very unusual with him. He also did not allow us to put him back in his cage for hours which is otherwise very easy to do with him. We realized that something was very wrong. After some researching and observing his symptoms, we concluded that it was an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients in Roudybush. The next morning we switched completely back to his regular diet and he looked more or less back to his usual self.
One of our questions is that we are still confused about what the allergen really was. After comparing the (main) ingredients of both the foods, we guessed that it could have been the wheat in Roudybush, as that was a big difference we could spot. It lists wheat second in Roudybush and Harrison's does not seem to have that. Is that conclusion accurate and if not, what else could it have been? The ingredients are below.
Harrison's High Potency Super Fine
*Hulled Gray Millet, *Hull-less Barley, *Corn, *Toasted Soybeans, *Peanut Kernels, *Sunflower Kernels, *Peas, *Lentils, *Toasted Oat Groats, *Brown Rice, *Chia, *Alfalfa, Calcium Carbonate, Bentonite, Mixed Tocopherals (a source of Vitamin E), *Sea Kelp, Salt, *Algae Meal, Vitamin/Mineral Supplement (Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, dl-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Carbonate and *Sunflower Oil).
*CERTIFIED ORGANIC INGREDIENT
Roudybush Maintenance
Ingredients: Ground Corn, Ground Wheat, Soy Meal, Soy Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, DL-Methionine, L-Arginine, Niacin, Mixed Tocopherols (Preservative), Silicon Dioxide (anti-caking aid), Rapeseed Oil, Citric Acid (Preservative), Lecithin, Rosemary Extract, Alpha Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Ascorbic Acid, Manganese Sulfate, Yucca schidigera Extract, Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate, Dried Yeast, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Zinc Oxide, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Acetate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K), Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide (Source of Iodine), Vitamin D3 Supplement (Source of Vitamin D3), Folic Acid, Cyanocobalamin (Source of Vitamin B12), Sodium Selenite, Propionic Acid (Preservative), Ammonium Hydroxide, Acetic Acid, Sorbic Acid, Tartaric Acid, and Natural Apple Flavouring.
Going back to finding an alternative for Harrison's sometimes, we tried to find a safe pellet without wheat and any possible allergen. We decided to try TOPs. We have given him some a few days in a row with Harrison's as the main meal, but today was the first day we used it as one of his two meals. He did not eat a lot of it, but his poop was more watery and he was going more often. He got Harrison's as his next meal, but did not eat much of that either. His stomach seems slightly upset.
1) Is it normal that when he is eating a new food that he is not used to, that his stomach gets upset? b) How can we help his upset tummy? 2) Do you think that he will adjust to TOPs or does it not suit him for some reason? He will get his regular food tomorrow. We would gradually like to introduce an alternative that works for him. TOPs looked very safe that way. 3) What do you all suggest? b) Any other safe pellet you could recommend would be nice.
Thank you all for your help.