What pellets to chose.

jousze

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Aug 7, 2018
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Blue fronted amazon, lutin cockatiel, agapornis fischer...
My parrot started eating pellets just 3 or 4 days ago.
I tried 2 brands: Harrisonā€™s, he hates it. And Nutribird he likes it..
My problem is that I think that nutribird are not really good pellets (they have colours and all this stuff).
So I would like to ask you what brands could you recommend me?
Iā€™ve just heard of zupreem and Harrisonā€™s and Harrisonā€™s is already discarded!
Thankss
 

ChristaNL

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Mine get nutribirds and a nameless one (and yes the coloured one because I cannot stand the fake-vanilla-stench from the beige ones - it makes me want to puke), and I find them a lot better than the Zupreem-ones Sunny had before (no idea what the greys had before they came here).

You can (deep)freeze the Harrisons and try some later, when he is more used to pellets.
Maybe it's the texture your bird likes now, and when the beak is stronger of more used to crunching pellets it will eat Harrisons again.

(Birds are insane anyway when it comes to likes and dislikes. ;) )
 

FlyBirdiesFly

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Roudybush, Tropican, TOPs, and Lafeberā€™s are some other good pellet brands. You can also try the ā€œNaturalā€ version of ZuPreem, which doesnā€™t have the artificial colors or flavors.
 
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jousze

jousze

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Mine get nutribirds and a nameless one (and yes the coloured one because I cannot stand the fake-vanilla-stench from the beige ones - it makes me want to puke), and I find them a lot better than the Zupreem-ones Sunny had before (no idea what the greys had before they came here).

You can (deep)freeze the Harrisons and try some later, when he is more used to pellets.
Maybe it's the texture your bird likes now, and when the beak is stronger of more used to crunching pellets it will eat Harrisons again.

(Birds are insane anyway when it comes to likes and dislikes. ;) )



They like nutribirds too?? I think youā€™re the first one apart of me who uses that[emoji23][emoji23]
While itā€™s healthy like the other pellets I donā€™t care, the problem would be if they are not so good..
 

texsize

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Ever since the (still) unexplained bird deaths I have avoided Zupreem colored pellets.

My birds get the nut flavored Zupreem and Tropical colored pellets.

They hated Harrison's and throw them on the floor.


all my big birds get mixed veggies and birdy bread + apple, grapes, mango, and bananas.


texsize
 
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jousze

jousze

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Ever since the (still) unexplained bird deaths I have avoided Zupreem colored pellets.

My birds get the nut flavored Zupreem and Tropical colored pellets.

They hated Harrison's and throw them on the floor.


all my big birds get mixed veggies and birdy bread + apple, grapes, mango, and bananas.


texsize



There were bird deaths due to zupreem??


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TiredOldMan

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I haven't heard if it was 100% proven but many birds died around the same time in multiple locations. The only thing they all had in common was Zupreem pellets.

I won't feed them
 

Mitchan

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Nutribird is a European brand so it makes sense that you won't have heard of it too much amongst bird owners online, seeing as how a large majority seems to be from the US! :)
My birds like Nutribird too, I use that one and Hagen/Hari Tropican mixed. Nutribird is usually considered a relatively good pellet brand honestly. The colours are natural colorants, no artificial dyes at all, so the color shouldn't be a problem.
The protein is the same as Harrison's. Calcium, vit A, and vit D3 are higher in Nutribird than Harrison's and Tropican both. Zupreem doesn't even mention calcium or vit A in the analysis on their website, which can't be a good sign. :p
The only thing that might be a problem with Nutribird is the 16% crude fat, whereas Harrison's and Tropican only have 5.5% and 7%, respectively. Fat isn't inherently bad, but Amazons in particular are relatively prone to obesity and unhealthy weight gain. With an active lifestyle and good fresh foods every day, it shouldn't necessarily be a problem - but I'd recommend at least mixing the Nutribird with another, lower fat, pellet.

All in all, I don't think Nutribird is bad pellets. I think they're pretty good, and my birds like them too!


(I swear I'm not being paid by Nutribird to promote them ahaha :p)
 
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jousze

jousze

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Nutribird is a European brand so it makes sense that you won't have heard of it too much amongst bird owners online, seeing as how a large majority seems to be from the US! :)
My birds like Nutribird too, I use that one and Hagen/Hari Tropican mixed. Nutribird is usually considered a relatively good pellet brand honestly. The colours are natural colorants, no artificial dyes at all, so the color shouldn't be a problem.
The protein is the same as Harrison's. Calcium, vit A, and vit D3 are higher in Nutribird than Harrison's and Tropican both. Zupreem doesn't even mention calcium or vit A in the analysis on their website, which can't be a good sign. :p
The only thing that might be a problem with Nutribird is the 16% crude fat, whereas Harrison's and Tropican only have 5.5% and 7%, respectively. Fat isn't inherently bad, but Amazons in particular are relatively prone to obesity and unhealthy weight gain. With an active lifestyle and good fresh foods every day, it shouldn't necessarily be a problem - but I'd recommend at least mixing the Nutribird with another, lower fat, pellet.

All in all, I don't think Nutribird is bad pellets. I think they're pretty good, and my birds like them too!


(I swear I'm not being paid by Nutribird to promote them ahaha :p)



Perfect! I live in Belgium and I have seen only nutribirds or Harrisonā€™s in the vets!


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SailBoat

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Specific to the unsupported claims regarding Zupreem colored pellets; the Thread that involved that discussion had been shut-down. Since that time, there has been no supportive information regarding that claim(s) released by the Federal government, nor the involved State government(s), nor any of the contracted Labs.

There is a number of pellets that I choice not to provide my Amazon. I make that choice on longstanding recommendation from our Certified Avian Vet and my long history being owned by Amazons. I target pellets with very little to no salt and no sugar. Medium to (preferably) low protein levels. I also do not provide colored pellets as an unforeseen preference, of the Amazon, one day, could result in a stool, which has a color change that demands a rapid madcap trip to our CAV or Avian Vet. And lastly, I purchase only those pellets produced in a 'Human Grade' classified facility.

FYI: I find that as part of transitioning Amazons to non-colored and more specific 'No Sugar' pellets works best when one provides the pellet in smaller sizes or broken into smaller pieces as they are taken in by accident.
 
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jousze

jousze

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Blue fronted amazon, lutin cockatiel, agapornis fischer...
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Specific to the unsupported claims regarding Zupreem colored pellets; the Thread that involved that discussion had been shut-down. Since that time, there has been no supportive information regarding that claim(s) released by the Federal government, nor the involved State government(s), nor any of the contracted Labs.

There is a number of pellets that I choice not to provide my Amazon. I make that choice on longstanding recommendation from our Certified Avian Vet and my long history being owned by Amazons. I target pellets with very little to no salt and no sugar. Medium to (preferably) low protein levels. I also do not provide colored pellets as an unforeseen preference, of the Amazon, one day, could result in a stool, which has a color change that demands a rapid madcap trip to our CAV or Avian Vet. An lastly, I purchase only those pellets produced in a 'Human Grade' classified facility.

FYI: I find that as part of transitioning Amazons to non-colored and more specific 'No Sugar' pellets works best when one provides the pellet in smaller sizes or broken into smaller pieces as they are taken in by accident.



Si which brands would you recommend for amazons??


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SailBoat

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Specific to the unsupported claims regarding Zupreem colored pellets; the Thread that involved that discussion had been shut-down. Since that time, there has been no supportive information regarding that claim(s) released by the Federal government, nor the involved State government(s), nor any of the contracted Labs.

There is a number of pellets that I choice not to provide my Amazon. I make that choice on longstanding recommendation from our Certified Avian Vet and my long history being owned by Amazons. I target pellets with very little to no salt and no sugar. Medium to (preferably) low protein levels. I also do not provide colored pellets as an unforeseen preference, of the Amazon, one day, could result in a stool, which has a color change that demands a rapid madcap trip to our CAV or Avian Vet. An lastly, I purchase only those pellets produced in a 'Human Grade' classified facility.

FYI: I find that as part of transitioning Amazons to non-colored and more specific 'No Sugar' pellets works best when one provides the pellet in smaller sizes or broken into smaller pieces as they are taken in by accident.

Si which brands would you recommend for amazons??

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I have long ago taken the position of not recommending a specific product. This based on the reality that I am not aware of a single product that is available in all the different areas of the World.

What do we use: We use the diet base provided in the Thread: I Love Amazons -... The pellet that we provide as a mid-to-smaller percentage of the offering is Harrisons' Adult. We would not provide Harrisons' as only the dry food section of his diet as I believe that the protein level is higher than my Amazon needs.
 
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