Pellets or seed?

What diet is better a seed mix I'm planning on feeding a planning to get ringneck higgins saffflower gold natural for conures cockateils ect. And it is free of sunflower seeds and has no artificial flavors or colors or pellets if I were to do pellets zupreem will be my choice along with fruits and vegetables which I would feed with both diets. If you have seen my first post it wanted a caique but decided a ringneck would be my type of bird.

First, it would be helpful if you tell us about your Parrot; what kind, how old, how much out of cage time /interaction time, etc...

As a base statement its more a mix than one or the other. The percentage is based around the Parrot. Also, commonly sunflower seed is not recommended for near all Parrots.

SailBoat said:

First, it would be helpful if you tell us about your Parrot; what kind, how old, how much out of cage time /interaction time, etc...

As a base statement its more a mix than one or the other. The percentage is based around the Parrot. Also, commonly sunflower seed is not recommended for near all Parrots.

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it has no sunflower seeds i said. thanks, will my bird pick the seed out of the pellet ect? how could i prevent that?

You can't prevent a parrot from picking and choosing what they want from a mixed food. The only way I have successfully gotten around it is to offer the unfavorite first, and then give the favorite a couple hours later.

I personally don't think the Higgins or Zupreem are good diets, but you also have to feed your bird something if that's all he'll eat. Zupreem Natural (the ones that aren't colored) might be the best of what you mentioned.

If you are talking about a baby bird, or an adult bird who has been exposed to many different foods, you can get them to eat something much healthier without much effort at all.

I personally think soaked/sprouted seeds are great. You can choose your own to mix, or buy pre-mixed from places like Sprout People (they have bird mixes, my birds love the Dr. Bird mix), and Leslie Moran's Best Bird Food Ever.

Pellets/pellet mixes generally considered to be the best are TOPs, GoldenFeast, Harrison's and Roudybush.

Piasa said:

You can't prevent a parrot from picking and choosing what they want from a mixed food. The only way I have successfully gotten around it is to offer the unfavorite first, and then give the favorite a couple hours later.

I personally don't think the Higgins or Zupreem are good diets, but you also have to feed your bird something if that's all he'll eat. Zupreem Natural (the ones that aren't colored) might be the best of what you mentioned.

If you are talking about a baby bird, or an adult bird who has been exposed to many different foods, you can get them to eat something much healthier without much effort at all.

I personally think soaked/sprouted seeds are great. You can choose your own to mix, or buy pre-mixed from places like Sprout People (they have bird mixes, my birds love the Dr. Bird mix), and Leslie Moran's Best Bird Food Ever.

Pellets/pellet mixes generally considered to be the best are TOPs, GoldenFeast, Harrison's and Roudybush.

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what is the best you reccomend? im planning on hand-rearing my own from egg since their is a supplyer on weiku with a bunch of different types of eggs and planning on getting a ringneck egg and it comes with a guide,cd and comes inside a incubator so it stays warm for a total of 45 bucks and its not the professional incubator its an automatic small one you would see for 20 to 30 bucks

Thecaiquegirl said:

what is the best you reccomend? im planning on hand-rearing my own from egg since their is a supplyer on weiku with a bunch of different types of eggs and planning on getting a ringneck egg and it comes with a guide,cd and comes inside a incubator so it stays warm for a total of 45 bucks and its not the professional incubator its an automatic small one you would see for 20 to 30 bucks

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You were already advised in this thread of the scam. http://www.parrotforums.com/caiques/63412-wi-ll-my-cat-bond-my-bird-not-kill-if-i-hatch-rear.html NO one legitimate will sell you an egg, where it will ship successfully, where it will grow into your loving baby parrot.

The responsible decision would be to find a responsible and reputable breeder, as well as a ton of research in what you need to do to keep the species happy and healthy. THEN... discuss and ask about diet.

Your bird must be weaned before eating adult foods of any kind.

What I think is best for adult food would be a good sprout mix and TOPs pellets. Also look into making a chop or mash to give the bird good foods - Swiss chard, kale, bell peppers, blueberries, pumpkin and chia seeds, quinoa - all great stuff.

A baby bird requires formula. A knowledgeable breeder will work with you to introduce healthy foods to baby's diet while it is still on formula. Then your bird will be super easy to feed right, because he will already know and like healthy foods.

You may want to ask in the Ringneck Forum here to find a reputable breeder of ringnecks and talk to them. You will learn a lot of really valuable things this way.

Piasa said:

Your bird must be weaned before eating adult foods of any kind.

What I think is best for adult food would be a good sprout mix and TOPs pellets. Also look into making a chop or mash to give the bird good foods - Swiss chard, kale, bell peppers, blueberries, pumpkin and chia seeds, quinoa - all great stuff.

A baby bird requires formula. A knowledgeable breeder will work with you to introduce healthy foods to baby's diet while it is still on formula. Then your bird will be super easy to feed right, because he will already know and like healthy foods.

You may want to ask in the Ringneck Forum here to find a reputable breeder of ringnecks and talk to them. You will learn a lot of really valuable things this way.

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I've been researching and what you do on the right side of the bird put the food syringe and push slowly towards the other side. I'm also considering using Kaytee exact for the formula.

Thecaiquegirl said:

I've been researching and what you do on the right side of the bird put the food syringe and push slowly towards the other side. I'm also considering using Kaytee exact for the formula.

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You really have a lot us us concerned with your direction!
A. You WILL loose your money!

B. Reason for starting with an egg for a closer bond? Absolutely not so!

C. Cost? Wrong area to try to save!

Please step back for a bit, regroup, and read many of the nightmares folks put themselves and their baby into! At the cost of the bird's life, all too often!

First off, never adopt an unweaned baby, let alone an egg. All you'll end up with is an unhealthy, emotionally unbalanced bird.

Secondly, I would never feed Kaytee to any of my own birds, let alone a chick. Their formula has made countless chicks sick.

Thirdly, most experienced parrot guardians struggle to hand rear chicks. Countless chicks suffer from crop burns, slow crops, and aspirate on formula while being fed by experienced caretakers.

Please do not buy eggs or unweaned chicks. It's no different than purchasing a shark egg from a aquarium store.

RavensGryf said:

The responsible decision would be to find a responsible and reputable breeder, as well as a ton of research in what you need to do to keep the species happy and healthy. THEN... discuss and ask about diet.

Click to expand...

Flboy said:

Please step back for a bit, regroup, and read many of the nightmares folks put themselves and their baby into! At the cost of the bird's life, all too often!

Click to expand...

Teddscau said:

First off, never adopt an unweaned baby, let alone an egg. All you'll end up with is an unhealthy, emotionally unbalanced bird.

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Piasa said:

A knowledgeable breeder will work with you to introduce healthy foods to baby's diet while it is still on formula. Then your bird will be super easy to feed right, because he will already know and like healthy foods.

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Truth! How many different, experience folks have to say the same things for you to believe these simple truths?

My brownheaded parrot Rookie will be 4 months old on Thursday. She just came home today she was parent raised, then handraised & abundant weaned onto a healthy diet.. fresh veggies, fruits, grains, sprouts, pellets etc. etc.

Talk about well adjusted, well weaned.
1 hour after getting here she settled in for a nice lunch, she ate broccoli, carrots, peas, green beans, kale, corn, rice, quinoa, almond, millet, melon & apple along with some pellets in between.
You can find the photo evidence here:
Chronicles of Rookie

She didn't even take but a minute to acclimate to her new environment, recognize familiar foods & relax.

That doesn't happen just by sheer luck, it happens when you make the responsible decision to let a reputable breeder use their knowledge & experience to raise a well adjusted healthy baby & let them make the determination based on that experience for when your baby is ready to go home.