Pellets

[kendalldeans]

I just got a YNA, and this is my first venture into the larger bird world. That being said, my little amazon has had WAYYYYYY too many homes than any animal (bird or otherwise) should deserve. He is 10 years old now, and the lady I got him from had him for a year, she said before her, he was on an only pellet diet but she started mixing it up.

I got a 'starter' bag of food from her that he was eating. Perfect I think, she tells me where to go and how to mix it. I go there, get the foods that she says and come home and freeze it (to get rid of moths that are in it). Anyway, I go to feed him, and his food dish is mostly full from several days earlier.

I mix the parrot mix and the pellets from the store she was getting them from together, and I poured his food dish into the mix, as there was tons of food in there, well, lacking the pellets.

My question is, she said before she had him that he was on just a pellet diet. It seems to me that he is picking the pellets out of his food and eating just a few pieces of the other things from the store. Is a pellet only diet bad for him? Does it give him everything he needs?

He will pick and choose what he wants to eat from it, but is it worth it to have a bowl full of the 'parrot mix' when he is just eating the pellets? He gets peanuts, crackers and other foods daily as treats. I just hate to think I am wasting time and money with this little mix.

So whats the deal on pellets, are they enough for a food mixture, if other nuts are brought in as treats and hunting things?

[Marley21]

ok so pellets should be the main diet of any parrot, owever soem arnt up to par in complete nutrition, if you want your bird to be healthy, happy and gorgeous you must try Harrisons pellets, although expensive they work wonders. They are 100% balanced, organic and excellent for yoru bird. They must be kept in the fridge though. They spoil and have to replaced daily. I mix my parrots food everymorning, for example my orange winged amazon gets 1/2 cup harrisons high potency coarse, plus a tropic mix of dried fruits and veggies and nuts. Amazons and African greys should not get sunflower seeds because they can be prone to fatty liver disease. Mine only gets them once in awhile. Amazons are also prone to becoming fat, which is bad. To prevent this encourage more fruits and veggies over nuts, its hard I know, mne loooves peanuts, but only gets to have a couple a day. He has to eat his harrisons or he doesnt get his goodies. Also be slow in weanign him back to pellets as they are blnd and take tiem to adjust to. The easiest way I found was to actually eat one myself an doffer him some of it, then they were gungho on the idea. hope that helps...

[angelicarboreals]

I feed my guys pellets every day (it is the staple in their diet) as well as cooked healthy foods and fresh fruits and vegetables. A day of feeding at my house may consist of:

8 a.m.- Cooked food such as Kitchen Creations or Beak Appetit (maybe half a teaspoon for the little guys, full teaspoon for the bigger parrots) and a few slices of fresh fruits and vegetables, ( maybe a taste of my oatmeal :) )

4 p.m.- Pellets (I like Roudybush and Zupreem Totally Organic)

6 p.m.- a couple of almonds depending on the size of the bird

I hate peanuts and try not to feed them except occasionally. If I actually cook dinner for myself (rare as I am home by myself alot) then they will get some of that when we sit down to eat.

[Marley21]

I feed fresh fruits and veggie sin the am too....if i forgot to say that, all sorts of stuff, different daily....

[loyallyroyal]

Breakfast: Fruits and Veggies along with beans and rice

Dry Food (when Im gone during the day): Kashi 7 grain cereal, roudybush pellets, wheatberries, a little bit of seed, go-raw sprouted granola, and hopefully will be adding the unpellet food to his diet

Dinner: Fruits and Veggies along with beans and rice

I put nuts in his various foraging toys too. And he also gets some of whatever healthy we are having for dinner/breakfast.

Most of the stuff I get at my local health food store:
http://www.kashi.com/products/kashi_puffs_original
http://www.goraw.com/catalog/index.p...8daebc9c5c5c4e
http://www.fairycottage.com/Phoenix/cart1.html#UNPELLET
http://www.roudybush.com/

[Monica]

Pellets were designed to be a "complete" diet, however they often contain a lot of artificial and synthetic ingredients, and are rather dry. Pellets have shown to cause kidney problems in parrotlets, cockatiels, and budgies. They can be a good addition to a healthy diet but should not make up the entire diet.

Seeds, in their own right, can be healthy, however amazons are prone to obesity, so seeds should be kept to a minimum or as treats. Try feeding sprouted seeds instead! I do not recommend feeding peanuts (due to aflotoxins) or large amounts of sunflower seeds.

A healthy diet should include fresh foods. Amazons in particular are prone to hypovitaminosis A (vitamin A deficiency) so they need foods high in vitamin A. Red Palm Oil is a good supplement to the diet. Amazons also need diets lower in protein. A good base diet of fresh foods should consist of 15% pulses, 30% grains, 45% veggies, and 10% fruits. For amazons, you may want to increase the veggies and decrease the pulses and grains just a tad.
Bird Safe Fresh Foods & Toxic Food Lists + Sprouts

[Eliza]

Originally Posted by Monica

Pellets were designed to be a "complete" diet, however they often contain a lot of artificial and synthetic ingredients, and are rather dry. Pellets have shown to cause kidney problems in parrotlets, cockatiels, and budgies. They can be a good addition to a healthy diet but should not make up the entire diet.

Agreed. Example: brotogeris parakeets can end up with liver and kidney problems if they consume an all pellet diet. Most broto breeders/keepers feed only a small portion of pellets, if at all.

Veggies, fruits, whole grains and legumes are as important, if not moreso, than pellets.

A quality pellet (Harrison's, TOPs, Roudybush) can be a good addition to a parrot's diet. I'd venture to guess that an all quality pellet diet is better than an all-seed diet but it's best to give your parrots a variety of foods.

Here is an article (one parrot owner's perspective) on diet that might be of interest:

http://rationalparrot.com/diet.html

[Willow]

My Amazons LOVE the Foundation Formula Spicers Blend, it is organic.
100% Certified Organic Bird Food - Nature's Choice Essentials 100% Certified Organic Bird Food I (and they) highly recommend these.

They also adore their breakfast of Tails Up! Power Mash from Avian Naturals. Another we all Highly recommend! Avian Naturals and All Bird Toys nutritious healthy organic natural parrot food parrot supply treats gifts parts

Fresh fruits and veggies too - one they particularly enjoy is cranberries. Also, you might want to swap the oeanuts out for walnuts - MUCH healthier, especially for Amazons who are prone to get fat.
Enjoy your birdie!