Pellet Debate

I've read pellets are good to serve each day (small amount) with everything else fruits/vegetables. Seeds have always been a no unless a treat now and then.


I'm looking at a breeder in Canada and on their website they write:


All of our babies have been established on nutritious vegetables, fruit, sprouts, cooked grains, cooked lentil mix and a seed mix to ensure a foundation of nutrition, variety and stimulation. We do not recommend Pellets to be their main diet. Eclectus do best on a no pellet diet.


This obviously counteracts what I've been reading. Does anyone really know??

There's a lot of debate on eclectus diet. It really depends on the health of your bird. For a healthy eclectus, it is recommended that 90% of their diet consists of fresh fruits/veggies while 10% consist of seeds and organic/natural pellets. I give Nalani pellets and a high quality seed mix in the evening to hold her overnight. I purchase a 1lb bag of Totally Organic Pellets (TOP) which lasts about 4-6 months. I give her about 10 pellets mixed with seeds. Some members on this forum give majority pellets, etc... The diet varies. Consult with your veterinarian first and make sure a full blood panel is performed to get a thorough examination of your birds health. Then the diet can be matched to your bird's results. However, as far as I know and what I've been doing with my ekkie is give fresh fruits/veggies and cooked mix throughout the day. When I put her to sleep I give her a tablespoon of seeds and a small amount of pellets. Her health is great and her blood work was came out normal.

Everything that I have read about eclectus says little to no pellets. I am not sure where you have read to serve pellets everyday...however, if you do give pellets at all, they must be all natural, no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. These things cause problems with eclectus parrots such as toe tapping. I feed my eclectus 99% fresh fruit and vegetables. I have never had a problem with feather plucking or feather streaking like some other owners have. Recently I did have a problem with toe tapping, but that was due to a lack of calcium in her diet, which I have corrected. The information that the breeder gives is correct. Many breeders do give their parrots a small amount of seed each day because the seeds contain omega 3's that are good for feathers and such. Just make sure that the seeds are natural and not fortified with extra vitamins and minerals. This also causes toe-tapping. In fact, one of the biggest causes of toe tapping is Nutriberries! Basically, if you feed your bird the proper diet, there is no need for pellets, and they will not develop any issues. Do not let anyone tell you that eclectus NEED pellets. No bird REQUIRES pellets. You just have to do your research and feed them right! I 100% believe that severe problems such as plucking and chronic toe tapping are due to improper diet, including an all pelleted diet.

I highly recommend this book:

BARNES & NOBLE | Eclectus Parrots: Everything about Purchase, Care, Feeding, and Housing by Katy Mcelroy | Paperback

Everything that I have read about eclectus says little to no pellets

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I agree with you there. I've always read "little to no pellets" on multiple informational sites. I too follow that guide line and have had no issues with Nalani's health.

I am not sure where you have read to serve pellets everyday...

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I mentioned that some of the members here do give majority pellets in their eclectus diets due to numerous reasons. I hate to bring this thread up... but I will PM you the link. There are members on this forum that give their ekkies majority pellets. But they were all consulted with a veterinarian based on their bird's current health and condition. I have never, nor do I recommend giving majority pellets to an eclectus. However, if there is an underlying health issue where the diet (majority pellet) has been recommended by a professional avian veterinarian, then I don't see a problem with giving the diet. There is a generalized health/diet information out there, but consulting with an avian veterinarian can better fit the diet to that particular bird's health.

I don't mean to create confusion, all I wanted to mention is that diets may vary depending on each bird and their current physical/health conditions. However, consulting with your avian veterinarian is required to give such diet recommendations. I don't think anyone should give their birds majority pellets without consulting with a medical personnel first.

Most I have read says eclectus do badly on mostly pellets, one of the few places I see that says to feed mostly pellets is when it's coming from the pellet company.

The breeder is right. The reason for it is that eclectus parrots do not do well with concentrated forms of nutrition. They are able to extract the necessary nutrients from fruits and vegetables and discard the rest, but with pellets, they receive nutrition in too concentrated a form. Even more fundamental than that is the fact that it is simply not necessary. If you give your bird(s) fresh fruits and veggies, they have no need for pellets.

And don't let the reputation of seeds get you down. These birds do benefit from having oil in their diet, just a little bit. I give 1tbsp of seeds a day. Best served soaked or sprouted and in the evening. I don't let them fill up on it in the AM, that's when I give them the most important stuff.

-waits for sodakat to respond-

Thanks everyone, really appreciate that. Bookmarking this thread, and will definitely pick up that book, c3honey84!

I'm sure when I get one I'll be back double checking with all of you and my vet

Sounds to me like you found a great breeder. I agree with the breeder, but like said there are times when pellets may be an asset, for a length of time.

I want to caution you to not overload yourself researching. You may become overwhelmed. If you find a breeder you trust, go with that breeder's advice, especially if the breeder is an Eclectus breeder, rather than someone who breeds many species and knows just a little bit about Eclectus.

It's not all that complicated keeping Eclectus. I think people make it sound much harder than it is. Everything I feed my birds, other than seeds, can be purchased at a grocery store.

Take a look in the bird supply cabinets of people who own other species. Then look in the cabinet of an Eclectus owner. Whose cabinet is full of myriad pellets, mixes, treats, seed mixes and whose contains a small seed mix and possibly an organic pellet? Keep it simple.

We feed our 2 eclectus rowdy bush pellets because they love them you cAn feed colored pellets according to my Avian vet as they do not effect them in the ways some say. He personally has eclectus and feeds them some colored pellets. I do not agree on feeding them lots of see at all or any parrot lots of seed. Eclectus as I've always researched need a higher fiber based diet. So lots of fresh fruits and vegetables are best. I've been told that star fruits and passion fruits are very close to some of the wild fruits they eat. Not 100% sure on this though. So I'd say some pellets, I like to do some nuts as treats over seed and a lot of fruit and veggies. Veggies over fruit, dark leafy greens.

If you like, I could try and find out more about this breeder for you, since I am a breeder.
I have access to a preferred recommended list of canadian breeders.
If this will help you just let me know , and I'll see if I can find anything out for you.

That would be great, thank you! I'll send you a PM