Seed help (the saga continues and I need opinions)

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
So I bought some new seed mix for my seed addict (who also gets pellets). Anyway, my goal was to avoid sunflower seeds and peanuts, so I ordered what appeared to be a better mix online (as the seed mix I have been getting has apparently added peanuts).


Anyway, this darn mix does too and Amazon wants to charge me $6 to return it when it cost $12 total...


Is it worth keeping? What are your thoughts on the statements about added vitamins and minerals?


https://www.amazon.com/Higgins-Safflower-Gold-Parrots-25-Pound/dp/B00780WE9U
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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I think it frustrating that it doesn't mention the vitamin content , like what, and how much, nor mineral content, just the fat, protein stuff....sometimes they consider it fortified because they use the dried peppers that maintain their vit A content when dried...? Penny too is a seed addict, so keep posting if you find the good stuff, so I can get some too!
 

Allee

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Oct 27, 2013
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U2-Poppy(Poppy lives with her new mommy, Misty now) CAG-Jack, YNA, Bingo, Budgie-Piper, Cockatiel-Sweet Pea Quakers-Harry, Sammy, Wilson ***Zeke (quaker) Twinkle (budgie) forever in our hearts
When I adopted my female quaker, Harry, she had serious health issues and she was a plucker. The first thing my CAV wanted to do for her was change her diet, she was a seed addict. I couldn't take the seeds out of her diet completely and getting anything other than seeds past her beak was an epic battle. Birdie bread, mashed sweet potatoes, pellets soaked in diluted 100% pure apple juice was a few of the first foods she added to her menu. My U2 joined us about a year later, she wasn't a seed addict but getting her to eat fresh vegetables took months. A few years later, my seven parrots get very little seed, no peanuts or sunflower seed, I started buying Higgins Mayan Harvest during Harry's rehab because I liked the ingredient list, after five years I still have a very healthy flock.
 

cnyguy

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Apr 23, 2010
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Quaker parrot, Ralph
I've used the Higgins Safflower Gold for my two parrots. It's a simple matter to remove the peanuts (or anything else that you may not want to offer your parrot), which I've done when using this mixture. I throw the peanuts out for the wild birds and squirrels, so they're not wasted. :) Higgins also offers California Blend, a similar seed mix without peanuts. I use that most of the time for my parrots' daily ration of seed.
 
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noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
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If I remove the peanuts though, am I still risking the exposure to undesirable spores ? I know aspergillus is in the environment already, but I know peanuts are a source....
 

EllenD

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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Honestly, I hate to say this but I'd rather be honest...I'd not give it to him, for a lot of reasons...Besides the obvious, he's already a seed-addict, and if you keep giving him the "junk seed stuff" like nuts, sunflower seeds, dried corn, etc., then he's just going to keep wanting it like crack...

What type did you buy? There are a ton of seed mixes that are great, from Higgins California Blend and No Sunflower to Tropimix to Zupreem Sensible Seed to the Volkman mixes, none of these have any of the "junk" in them...
 
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noodles123

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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
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Honestly, I hate to say this but I'd rather be honest...I'd not give it to him, for a lot of reasons...Besides the obvious, he's already a seed-addict, and if you keep giving him the "junk seed stuff" like nuts, sunflower seeds, dried corn, etc., then he's just going to keep wanting it like crack...

What type did you buy? There are a ton of seed mixes that are great, from Higgins California Blend and No Sunflower to Tropimix to Zupreem Sensible Seed to the Volkman mixes, none of these have any of the "junk" in them...


Honestly, she doesn't WANT to eat peanuts, nuts of any kind, or dried corn (not even dried bananas or pumpkin seeds)--she throws them out of her dish. She will chomp on dried peppers. She likes the actual sees, like Safflower (I have never given her sunflowers but she may have had them years ago, because her previous owners were much more liberal with what they allowed her to eat- hence the ever-lasting pickiness--although she is better than she was). With me, she has always eaten a mix of Zupreem fruit blend and Super Hookbill (Volkman)..as well as supplementary fruits/veggies and small quantities of grains like oatmeal---Volkman may have always had peanuts in it, but I only just recently noticed them...I always pick them out just to be safe.

Zupreem Sensible Seed has sunflower seeds in it.


I am struggling to find a mix that is free of both items.


I was giving her Volkman and I want something with no peanuts AND no sunflower seeds (Volkman has peanuts).
 
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cnyguy

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If you're concerned that it might be risky to feed something that's been in contact with peanuts, then it would be better to avoid the Safflower Gold mix. The Higgins California Blend contains no peanuts or sunflower seeds, so that may be closest to what you're looking for.
 

EllenD

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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
I had no idea that Volkman added peanuts, they didn't used to have anything like that...

I highly suggest either Tropimix or Higgins California Blend...They both have a small mix of the healthier seeds, but have a huge mix of dried veggies, a little dried fruit, and other healthy grains, legumes, etc. Neither of them even look like a regular seed-mix, especially the Higgins California Blend...The only thing with the Tropimix is that it also contains Tropican pellets in it, which your bird might love if he eats the Zupreem Fruit pellets, because the Tropican pellets (they call them "Granules", lol) are actually made from real fruit, whole wheat, and different ground grains and legumes...And they smell EXACTLY like JuicyFruit gum...exactly. And yes, they taste pretty good! Better than the Zupreem or Kaytee fruit pellets, lol...

I used to feed Zupreem Natural pellets and then Higgins California Blend seed-mix to all of my guys, and then I switched over to Tropican pellets on the advice of my CAV, so I switched over to the Tropimix seed-mix too, only because it contains the pellets in it as well, so they're getting pellets with the little bit of daily seed-mix they get too...However, I absolutely love the Higgins California Blend...There are also a couple other that have NO sunflower seeds, NO nuts, and NO corn, such as the Vita Prima and Sunseed Vita Seen No Sunflower mixes...Sunseed Vita Seed is similar to the others above, lots of dried veggies, a tiny amount of dried fruit, some dried herbs, and then lots of healthier seeds, grains, legumes, etc.
 

EllenD

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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Oh, and I made a mistake, it's not the Zupreem "Sensible Seed", but another one of their seed-mixes that has none of the sunflower seeds, nuts, or corn, but I don't remember what it's called, it's a similar name to "Sensible Seed", but not quite...But it does exist because it's what the Avian Rescue feeds...I'll find out here in a minute
 

EllenD

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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Zupreem "Smart Selects" is what it's called...It contains no sunflower seeds, peanuts, or corn...It's a mix of Zupreem fruit pellets, healthier seeds, grains, dried veggies, and dried fruits...So if your bird already eats the Zupreem pellets, then this might be your answer!
 
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noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
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I had no idea that Volkman added peanuts, they didn't used to have anything like that...


Thank you! I know, right?!
I saw them a few months ago when I opened a new bag, and I thought, surely these haven't always been in here...They are not in the shell, and she doesn't eat them, but why ruin a good thing with added junk?


I started to wonder if maybe I had just overlooked them before, but your response seems to indicate that this may, indeed, be a newer addition to the classic mix.
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
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State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
I had no idea that Volkman added peanuts, they didn't used to have anything like that...


Thank you! I know, right?!
I saw them a few months ago when I opened a new bag, and I thought, surely these haven't always been in here...They are not in the shell, and she doesn't eat them, but why ruin a good thing with added junk?


I started to wonder if maybe I had just overlooked them before, but your response seems to indicate that this may, indeed, be a newer addition to the classic mix.


I've never seen ANY Volkman seed-mix with peanuts in it, none of their varieties have ever had junky stuff in them...They were always the seed-mixes that were sold in Avian Vet offices here, along with Harrison's pellets. I guess they decided they needed to find a very cheap "filler" to save money, and peanuts are definitely the cheapest "filler" you could use...

That is a shame, they were one of the brands that you could always assume would be fine to recommend...Not anymore!
 

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