Best food for GCC

Hello all!

About a week ago I adopted the cutest little GCC. They're about 10 weeks old, gender unknown.

Unfortunately, the previous owner had the little one on an all seed diet. I'm currently trying to figure out what healthy food to transition him to.

I'm feeding him fruits and greens in addition to his current seeds. But, I was wondering if anyone had any specific product recommendations to start transitioning him to.

Right now I'm debating between Nutri-Berries, Avi-Cakes, and Zupreem's Natural Medium Bird Food, but I'm open to other possibilities.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!!

Zupreem natural or roudybush small for pellets. Try to get it to eat chop (veggis, fruits, etc, lots of different recipes available. 100% customize able)

"previous owner" are you sure the baby is 10 weeks old..? Or why this previous owner gave up the baby? Because that is REALLY young and it was likely just weened recently and to already be onto its second home?

Owlet said:

Zupreem natural or roudybush small for pellets. Try to get it to eat chop (veggis, fruits, etc, lots of different recipes available. 100% customize able)

"previous owner" are you sure the baby is 10 weeks old..? Or why this previous owner gave up the baby? Because that is REALLY young and it was likely just weened recently and to already be onto its second home?

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Thank you! I'm definitely trying to get the little guy to eat more chop.

Yea, the previous owner's birds were miss-sexed and breed. They weren't really breeders and were initially planning on trying to keep the clutch but couldn't. So that's why I say the previous owner instead of a breeder.

My personal preference is not to feed Nutriberries or Avicakes as their main diet - the ingredients are not as good as a pellet/chop combination. I do feed them as treats though and my conures definitely enjoy them . You might need to try a few different pellets before you find one that your little guy will eat. I feed Zupreem natural medium size, Roudybush mini, Lefaber and Zupreem fruit (to my one bird who will not eat anything else). Harrison’s, TOPs and Tropican also make good pellets (just not my birds’ preferred pellets). Most brands sell small sized bags, which gives you enough to try for a period of time to see if they like it - but not a large portion so you’re stuck with a pile of it if they won’t eat it.

I use roudybush. It did take her about a week or two to accept them, but now she eats them like crazy.

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Remi didn't like ZuPreem fruit pellets at all. He was looking at them like it was something that would eat him, lol. So I ordered a sample of Harrison's online, and he likes those.

Pico likes Zupreem pellets, the brown ones, but even after months of trying wouldn't touch Harrison - which ain't cheap.

If anyone has difficulty switching their bird over to pellets I recommend making them warm and wet (the pellets, not their bird :04: ).
Warm and wet pellets seem irresistible to parrots.

I microwave a bit of water, toss in pellets, soak a minute or two, lower temp with a bit of room-temp water, touch to verify safe temp, and serve.

I have the opposite problem. My GCC baby is also 10 weeks. When I got her I asked if she ate veggies and the man said he "tried" a few times but that she primarily ate seeds. I already have 4 budgies that eat veggies, so I just put out what they eat and she started eating the veggies from the minute I got her home, in fact she prefers the fresh stuff over the seed and pellets (which leads me to believe he didn't try very hard lol) Do they actually need pellets?

Almost any diet is better than all seed. Chop with a supplement of quality pellets is often best.

Not always easy to transition to healthy diet. This thread and other "stickies" in the Parrot Food and Diet forum may assist: http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

A helpful technique is to prepare two bowls of chop, one for you, the other for your bird. Begin to eat yours, verbally and physically expressing delight with "mmmm" sounds, head bobbing. Birds tend to be flock eaters, and you are one of the flock!

debratoo said:

I have the opposite problem. My GCC baby is also 10 weeks. When I got her I asked if she ate veggies and the man said he "tried" a few times but that she primarily ate seeds. I already have 4 budgies that eat veggies, so I just put out what they eat and she started eating the veggies from the minute I got her home, in fact she prefers the fresh stuff over the seed and pellets (which leads me to believe he didn't try very hard lol) Do they actually need pellets?

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They don't need pellets, but not all species enjoys or requires a 100% chop diet. Quality pellets are generally viewed as superior to seeds, though not all birds are compliant.

Not pushing Harrison's, but I can personally attest to their conversion protocol for 8 parrots; technique ought to work regardless of brand: https://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/using-our-foods/large-bird-conversion/
https://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/using-our-foods/small-bird-conversion/

Neither "Nutri-Berries" nor "Avi-Cakes" are meant to be their actual "staple-diet" food like pellets or seed-mix are; they are actually both nothing more than TREATS!!! Avi-Cakes and Nutri-Berries are nothing more than a seed-mix like you're currently feeding him now with different veggies, fruit, greens, nuts, etc. mixed into them...So don't feed either of those as a regular, daily food, only as occasional treats.

LaFaber, the maker of both Nutri-Berries and Avi-Cakes, does make a regular daily "staple-diet" called "Pellet-Berries", as well as something they call their "Premium Diet" that comes in the plastic tubs. Those are their regular daily diets...

****Whatever you choose as far as a pellet staple-diet goes, you want them to be "Natural" flavored pellets and not Fruit-flavored pellets (or Nut-flavored pellets). Even though they usually all like the Fruit-flavored pellets better than the Natural-flavored pellets, the Fruit-flavored pellets contain a TON of sugar, which is turned into fat and stored in their livers just like the seed-mix fat is. So feeding them a Fruit-flavored pellet isn't much better than feeding them a really high-fat seed-mix. So you want to stick to a pellet that is Natural-flavored, and that is high in protein, low in fat, low in sodium, and that doesn't contain and "preservatives" such as Nitrates or Nitrites...

***The most popular pellets (as well as the healthiest) are Harrison's, TOPS, Zupreem Natural, Tropican, as well as a few other Natural-flavored pellets (there are some small companies that make them, depending on where you live, but the above ones are the most popular)...

****Something you might want to think about doing, since it usually takes a bit of time to gradually-transition them from a seed-mix to a Natural-Pellet (Harrison's has the best Pellet-Transition plan to follow by-far, if you go to their website it's written out there, I suggest downloading it and following it), you might want to switch them over right now to a seed-mix that is low in fat, high in protein, high in vitamins, minerals, etc., and that is extremely varied in it's ingredients, and that contains NO SUNFLOWER SEEDS OF ANY KIND, NO NUTS OF ANY KIND, AND NO DRIED CORN PIECES OF ANY KIND. They will typically have no problem switching right over from a junky, fatty seed-mix to a much healthier, low-fat, high-protein seed-mix right on the spot, so you can do that immediately to eliminate all that fat in the junky seed-mixes, and then transition them gradually from the healthy, low-fat seed-mix over to the Natural Pellets and not have to worry about it happening very quickly, because sometimes you do have to try a few different Natural pellets before you find one they will transition to, it just depends on the bird...

I am one who feeds my guys both a Pellet daily staple-diet along with a small portion of a healthy seed-mix every day, simply because my CAV highly recommends not totally eliminating seeds, grains, legumes, etc. from their regular, daily diet because their Gastrointestinal Tracts are literally designed to process, digest, and absorb nutrition from seeds, grains, and legumes, from their beaks all the way down to their Cloaca/Vents. Eating seeds, grains, legumes, etc. keeps their GI Tracts healthy, but it also presents their brains with daily foraging activities, which is extremely important to keeping them busy, happy, and from becoming bored....Pellets do not exist in nature, and though they are essential to keeping their Livers, Kidneys, and Hearts healthy because the Natural pellets are very low in fat, when it comes right down to it their bodies are designed to eat seeds, grains, legumes, etc. every single day.

There are a few really healthy, low-fat, high-protein, and extremely varied seed-mixes that are sold at places like Petco and Petsmart, so easily found, are affordable, and that are much, much healthier than feeding them a junky, cheap, high-fat seed-mix...These contain NO Sunflower Seeds, No Nuts/Peanuts (Peanuts are extremely high in fat, but also carry a mold that is toxic/lethal to birds), and NO Dried Corn pieces/kernels (Dried Corn serves absolutely no purpose to a captive/pet parrot if they are eating other hard foods that keep their GI Tracts healthy, such as seeds, grains, legumes, etc.; Corn in-general is nothing but a Starch and contains few vitamins/minerals and lots of fat in the form of Carbohydrates (sugars), so except for the occasional fresh corn-on-the-cob once in a while, Corn should not be a regular part of a pet/captive parrot's diet, especially Dried Corn)...There are quite a few of these healthy seed-mixes, but the most popular are Tropimix, Higgin's California Blend, Higgin's Safflower Gold, and any of the Volkman seed-mixes (remove the Peanuts in their shells if they have them). I used to feed my guys Zupreem Natural pellets along with Higgin's California Blend seed-mix every day, along with fresh Veggies and dark, leafy Greens...My CAV is not a fan of Zupreem Natural because of the different "meals" it contains, such as Soy Meal, Corn Meal, etc., but more because of it's higher-than-average sugar content...So I ended-up switching to Tropican Pellets/Granules...The same company that makes Tropican Pellets makes Tropimix seed-mix, and the Tropimix seed-mix is basically the same as the Higgin's California Blend seed-mix, they are extremely similar, the only differences are that the Higgin's California Blend contains Almonds in the shell, which I would just pick-out and give to my Senegal Parrot as treats because he can shell them, and Tropimix seed-mix also contains Tropican Pellets in it...So I ended-up switching to both Tropican Pellets and Tropimix seed-mix...

Any of these low-fat, high-protein, varied seed-mixes contain a very diverse mix of healthier, lower-fat seeds (No Sunflower Seeds), grains, legumes, herbs, veggies, and a little dehydrated fruit. So they are much healthier than any of the seed-mixes that contain Sunflower Seeds, Nuts, Dried Corn, and basically the rest being types of millet. I give my guys 1/4 cup of Tropimix every day along with their Pellets, and then of course they get fresh Veggies and dark, leafy Greens every day at dinnertime, usually mixed into some kind of Chop recipe...