Disinterest in pellets

[CaketheParrot]

Part 6: We realized last night that Cake is barely eating the pellets. She is able to, sometimes she quites enjoy a good snack, but she isn’t eating enough to stay healthy. We started handfeeding it to her, not giving her anymore treats, pretending to eat and enjoy it myself, but she is mostly uninterested. I’ve even tried breaking up her beloved nutriberries and mixing it in, but then she just picks the nutriberries out. It’s not that she isn’t eating her pellets at all or is too phobic to try, she’s just.. bored of them.. We’ve checked that it’s a quality brand by researching and stuff too so it’s not that it’s bad stuff.. How else can we make her more interested in it?

[Pajarita]

I don't feed pellets to my birds. I have done over 25 years of research into their natural diets and can tell you without the shadow of a doubt that pellets are not and never will be the best dietary option for a parrot (I can elaborate, if you want). I also do not use Nutriberries - they are nothing but inferior seeds stuck together. My grey eats gloop and raw produce for breakfast and all day picking and a mix of nuts and seeds for dinner (but it's mostly nuts). This diet is rounded up with a multivitamin/mineral supplement given twice a week.

[CaketheParrot]

Wow I never heard of that before! What’s gloop? Is it sort of like chop? Would you mind sharing a recipe? Honestly though idk how I would get Cake to try it

[banuvatt]

I heard to feed vegetables more than fruits because feeding an excess amount of fruits can cause their acidic levels in their stomachs to increase.

[CaketheParrot]

I have heard of the dangers of over feeding fruit in relation to behavior issues, but I don’t know much about the biological science side of things. Just another reason to avoid that mistake I guess

[banuvatt]

I think it can cause stomach ulcers due to the increased levels of acid, and probably make them more hormonal, and hyper due to the sugar.

[Pajarita]

I truly do not know where people get these things from... Behavioral issues from eating fruit? No. All my birds eat fruit every single day and as much as they want and they are all very healthy and have no behavioral issues from it. As a matter of fact, some of them (like the caiques and the GCCs) eat HUGE portions of fruit every day compared to what they used to eat before and this has improved their plumage, digestion and behavior.

I am adding this after your response, it's from an avian vet reference article:

Quote
Ulcers. Ulcers of the stomach do occur in birds. The glandular stomach or proventriculus is relatively thin-walled. This area and the transition area between the proventiculus and the ventriculus are subject to ulceration. Ulcers are areas where the lining is eroded away and perforation can result. The thick-walled stomach or venticulus has a tough lining called a coilin. Ulceration can occur here but the thick tough lining offers better protection. Ulcers can occur due to systemic disease or infection, but are most likely to occur because of continued contact with an irritant substance. Pieces of nonfood items, particularly plastics containing metal, have caused this kind of ulceration. The anatomy of the bird's GI tract predisposes it to these problems because the outlet to the intestines from the stomach is very tiny. Typically this ensures that particles that leave the stomach are ready for the small intestine. It also means that pieces resistant to digestion will stay in the ventriculus for a long time. This contact over time can result in irritation and ulcers even when there is no absorption of toxins.
Unquote

As you can see, sucrose does not cause stomach ulcers in birds. And sugar does not cause hyperactivity (that theory was debunked after using it for children for years) and although sugar is carbs and too many carbs are not good for them because they become fat, it's the too much protein that causes them to become hormonal.

I think that the 'don't fee too much fruit' came originally from the manufacturers of pellets who were trying to maximize their sales. Parrots are natural fruit eaters - it's as simple as that and all you have to do is read the list of their natural diets to confirm it. They might not get fruit all year round because all plants have seasons but they eat A LOT of fruit during the summer - and anybody who has observed parrots eating in the wild can tell you the same thing. Sheesh, we read accounts of flocks of parrots eating up the fruit from orchards all the time and I personally can attest to the quakers and nandays eating all the fruit on a tree in a matter of a couple of days - we used to fight them for the figs, peaches and quinces (but mostly the figs, they LOVED them!) we had growing in the backyard of the summer house when I was a kid - they always kind of won because they could reach the figs on the top of the tree -which were always the sweetest from the constant exposure to the sun- and we couldn't (fig tree branches are very treacherous, they look big and thick but they break very easily so we couldn't climb to the top).

Gloop is not chop. Chop is chopped fresh produce that can be served freshly made or thawed after freezing it. Gloop is a dish made out of cooked whole grains mixed with small or chopped frozen veggies that is thawed before serving it. Fresh produce is not as nutritious as frozen and birds love whole grains so gloop is not only more nutritious, it's also much more attractive to parrots (I have literally transitioned hundreds of birds to it and they all love it) and a more complete meal than chop. There are several recipes of gloop in the diet section - you will find from very simple ones to the more complicated one I use but, basically, what you do is get a nice selection of whole grains (I use kamut, oat groats, hulled barley, spelt, wheat kernels, quinoa -for the warm months- or millet -for the cold months, lentils (I use the black ones) and red and/or black rice - sometimes I also add wild rice), cook the grains al dente (hard on the inside and a bit soft on the outside) but the lentils thoroughly without making them all mushy, allow them to cool and then mix the veggies. Some veggies are frozen (corn, peas, carrots, chopped broccoli, cubed butternut squash), some come from a can (white hominy) and some I cook (sweet potatoes which I bake in the shell in the winter and nuke in a potato express bag in the summer). Finally, a bit of flax seed all year round and, during the warm weather months all the way up to halfway their molt, some sesame seed.

[CaketheParrot]

Wow thank you so much!! Would you mind judging this ingredient list for some biscuits? They claim to be really good for feathers which Cake really needs because she’s a mostlyvreformed plucker still breaking those Habits

Oat Flour, White Millet Flour, Oatmeal, Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Meal, Sunflower Chips, Soybean Meal, Glycerine, Dried Egg Product, Mixed Feed Nuts, Freeze Dried Papaya, Banana Chips, Cranberries, Wheat Germ Meal, Lentils,Barley Flour, Peanut Meal, Natural Flavors, Dicalcium Phosphate, Cayenne Pepper, Alfalfa Meal, Marigold Meal, Calcium Carbonate, Oyster Shell, Peas, Carrots, Blueberries, Apples, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, L-Threonine, DL-Methionine, Methylsulfonylmethane, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Essential Oils, Herbs and Spices, Saponins, Wheat Meal, Yucca Extract, Silicon Dioxide, Potassium Iodide, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K Activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate.

[Pajarita]

I already answered this question on your other thread.

[CaketheParrot]

Yes I forgot to add a note saying I moved it sorry