Feeding tips and switching to pellets, ACG

Paco was on mainly a seed diet, Hartz Parrot food she bought at the grocery store. I only gave him 1/4 cup of that and introduced red, yellow, orange and green peppers, hard boiled egg, baked potato, radishes, bananas, yellow squash and brocali. Loves the pepper and banana, shreds the brocali and tosses the radishes. He nibbles and then drops the food, does this mean he does not like it or that is the way a parrot eats? He will eat the banana and the hard boiled egg. I was in a pinch to find bird food so I opted for a small bag of Wild Harvest Daily Blend for parrots. I chose this as it does not have a lot of meal in it. Dried split peas, oat groats, whole corn, wheat, soybeans, safflower seeds, carry grass, ground corn, there is a list of vitamins, de hulled sunflower seeds, no peanuts, oops take that back must be shelled, I haven't seen any.

I am only giving him about a 1/4 cup and encouraging the veggies and fruit. Will pick up more today. He is now enjoying Lafeber Nutri Berries that are 23% pellet. He tossed them at first but is now eating them.

Am I on the right track? I want to make sure he is getting the nutrition he needs and will try to see if I can get some samples of pellets.

He has plucked his chest feathers before I got him. I have had him for a week now and have only seen 2 feathers at the bottom of the cage. He is clean now, smells better, preens, sits on one foot and stretches, getting more vocal.

Thanking everyone in advance for educating me.

Thank you, he doesn't even touch the corn and there is not much in the mix, I will remove it.


Thank you for the link. I have now read that pellets are NOT healthy, so confusing!

Volumes have been written assessing the best diet for a parrot! Most will agree the worst possible is all-seed. Fresh vegetables and fruits are ranked at the top, with a lengthy time period to acclimate. Keep in mind Paco is still new to you, so you'll want to make gradual changes for the first month or so.

Many of us believe pellets to be the second most important dietary component following fresh food, aka "chop." As comparison, most any pellet is better than an all-seed diet. That said, the healthiness of pellets varies and is apparent when reading the ingredients. Some contain high proportions of corn and sugar, others quite versatile. I transitioned my entire flock to Harrison's Pellets as adjunct to their "chop." Chances are Paco will need a discovery process to determine which pellets are acceptable. Regardless of quality, a refused pellet is useless! Some brands offer free samples!

The Parrot Food, Recipes, and Diet forum has much advice. I'd suggest reading the "sticky" threads at top first, than select further reading of interest: Parrot Food, Recipes and Diet - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community

I second what others have said.

What does ACG mean? In your picture you have a CAG, is it a spelling mistake?

SammyAndy said:

I second what others have said.

What does ACG mean? In your picture you have a CAG, is it a spelling mistake?

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ChocolateChipCookiez said:

SammyAndy said:

I second what others have said.

What does ACG mean? In your picture you have a CAG, is it a spelling mistake?

Click to expand...

I believe ACG stands for African Congo Gray..​

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I think his point is that, in the US and some other parts of the world, the species is known as a Congo African Grey, hence the popular acronym CAG. This then allows for the Timneh African Grey as TAG. I'm not sure if somewhere else in the world separates African Grey to insert the 'Congo' in between (especially since the term 'African Grey' typically refers to the Congo African Grey). According to wiki, there's no precedence for it.

I think in a roundabout way, he's trying to help OP in common aviculture terminology with the hope that it'll enable easier communication and less confusion in the future.

Hi, and welcome.

Here are my usual two-three cents.

http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/
I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff, like fruits and vegetables! My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day. I also like Harrison's via mail because I never have to worry about out-of-date products.