Multi Vitamins

[damir]

Hello,

Would you guys recommend multi vitamins?

After doing some Internet re-search, a lot of people say its not smart to add Multi Vitamins to water, etc, and because of that, i am unsure if this should be wise to do, or not.

Abby eats a lot of Carrot / Peach / Apple / (some seeds and some Zupreem (Fruit kind) daily.

Her poop (i think) looks fine.

What do you say? Would somebody please provide more information / recommendations, etc.

I also bought Hot Peppers, which were recommended by the Breeder we got Abby from. Is this safe? (I haven't give her any yet, as i wanted to confirm with you guys as well).

Thank you for your time / reading / information / help.

Very much appreciated.

 

[SailBoat]

So, your Vet 'recommended' a multi-vitamin? Clearly, this came about as a result of a full spectrum blood test that presented a low level of a large number of different vitamins. Correct? If not, I recommend that you visit your Avian Vet and have the full spectrum blood test to determine what if any vitamins are needed!

Adding a vitamin possible two may from time to time be needed. Providing a multi-vitamin would be very rare and only if a Vet is targeting a very specific medical issue.

See your Avian Vet regarding the needs of your specific Parrot!

 

[damir]

Thank you for responding! Appreciate it.

Makes sense, completely.

Big thanks again!

 

[Piasa]

Synthetic vitamins can be dangerous if overdosed, also things put in a bird's water will make it grow bacteria very quickly which leads to other problems.

Focus on healthy foods for a vitamin boost if there isn't a vet-diagnosed deficiency. You can't go wrong here. Hot peppers are good for parrots, and they tend to love them.

Not all vets who work on birds are avian vets, and not all know what they are doing. aav.org is a good place to start to look for a vet, or the thread here: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/9841-vets-your-area.html

Other Canadians on this forum can probably give you some good recommendations too.

 

[damir]

Thank you very much for useful information.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

The best source of nutrients/vitamins is from natural food sources. ie getting vitamin A from fruits and especially vegetables (carrots,broccoli, sweet potatoes, orange peppers, spinach etc).

But the 'ideal' diet is a blend of pellets, table foods and treats. I feed Skittles the Harrisons HP Fine and he gets table foods (fruits, veggies, juice, pasta (in 'moderation') and he gets powertreats for a treat.

The thing to remember is though, if you have your bird on a vitamin enriched diet, you do NOT want to add more vitamins to it. By that I mean adding more synthetic vitamins on top of the ones added to commercial pellets.

And truthfully, I don't even think those synthetic vitamins you sprinkle on their food or in their water even work. I used to do it with my budgies and every single time it made no difference.

 

[damir]

Thank you for providing helpful information.

Right now, as i mentioned, Abby so far is eating:

Zupreem pellets (fruit), carrot, green pepper, and hot peppers, peaches, apples, and sometimes we give her some seeds, but not a lot (as it was recommended by the breeder as well).

I will definitely stop considering any "multi vitamins", and keep feeding her with recommended food.

We will slowly start offering other veggies and fruits as well.

Thanks for your time Skittys_Daddy.

 

[Notdumasilook]

Skittys dad is 100% correct.... hence no need to give more vitamins. A good diet does the trick. The 2 main things most birds lack in captivity is vitamin A and D3... and the D3 will be in a good pelleted diet like Harrisons or Zupreem natural etc. Having a mineral block with calcium is fine.... Vitamin A they can get all they need if u feed veggies/fruits with betakeraten (sp).. best source there is sweet potato..cooked or raw.. D3... well if u can break em in to eating pellets its no issue.. Ive found BOTH of my birds like both Harrisons and Zupreme.. so I give them both... especially the Harrisons power treats. I have to break em in pieces for the lil conure. The way I taught my birds to take pellets (and some may laugh)... they always wanted what they saw me eating. So id get a paper plate and put some pellets on it and munch on em in front of them.. Bingo... they wanted some too!.. Heck. . if its not safe for me too eat im damn sure not giving it to my birds.
Carrots are great as well as the other stuff u mentioned.. fresh hot peppers as well... (vitamin A too)... My BFA likes fresh peppers..hot or not... Just stay away from avocado, caffeine, chocolate, and salty junk food. Feel free to feed lean well cooked meat/fish.. and eggs too.. just maybe once a week.
And no vitamins in water... as said... it breeds bacteria in the water bowl.

 

[damir]

Thank you Notdumasilook.

I did look into Harrison, and so far i wasn't able to find it in local PetsMart (Canada).

I will look more, to see if i can get power treats.

As for Zupreem, i tried natural, but Abby did not eat them, until i gave her Zuuper Fruit (and the pallets are in different colors) (This is what Breeder used for feeding, that is why she is familiar with this).

I do have more Zupreem Natural (Medium/Large sizes) and i will try from next week adding this one to the cage as well, just to see if she is going to take it or not.

So far, i dont see her eating much Zupreem, its mostly vegetables and fruits.

Not sure if that is good, or i should be removing fruit/vegetables from the cage, as i keep changing for fresh stuff, every hour or so, and my wife is telling me that i am completely crazy ! (its like, i take better care of Abby then her LoL)

Thanks!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Abby, Harrisons is not sold in stores. You can actually order Harrisons from their website harrisonsbirdfoods.com. You can also get it from Amazon & you can also order it from the mysafebirdstore.com

IF you decide to go that route, I'd recommend calling Harrisons directly and requesting a free sample to see if your bird will even eat it. Some avian vets even sell Harrisons through their office. Mine does, but I don't buy it there cause they charge too much.

Skittles breaks his power treats easily, he has a power beak. lol.

 

[damir]

Ah ! That makes sense.

I was doing re-search all over the internet, and couldn't find any CA stores selling it.
Big thanks for this information, very useful!

I will also follow your recommendation about asking for the sample.
Thanks again for this! Appreciate it.