choosing a pellet

[AmazingAmazon]

Hello, everyone.

I posted several weeks ago about my aunt's amazon who is in a less than ideal situation. I live in a different country, so the best that I can do is send things for the bird. I would like to ship some pellets to them. The pet store close to my home carries a brand called Tropican lifetime granules. They also sell small clusters of various seeds and dried fruits called Lafeber's Nutriberries.

Is anyone familiar with these foods? If these are not good pelleted foods to feed the parrot, what is? I do not mind purchasing feed off the internet as long as it is vouched for by someone with Amazon experience.

As for an update, he is eating a slightly better diet, still centred around sunflower seeds, but he is now eating small quantities of the following foods on an irregular basis: sweet potato, tomato, cucumber, carrot, eggs, beet, broccoli and cauliflower stem, orange slices, papaya, okra, green beans, red pepper, watermelon and apple slices. He will eat the occasional cooked bean or pea, but apparently he generally ignores them. I have managed to get a relative to help with transitioning his diet over to something healthier. I'm worried that she will not keep it up, hence the decision to get her to start him on pellets, so that if the helper decides she wants to stop, at the very least he will have a pelleted diet to fall back on.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

What do you mean by vouched by someone with amazon experience? I've shopped on amazon a ton so I have experience shopping there LOL

Nutriberries are a excellent treat, but not a diet. Parrots are easily able to pick out their favorite bits and leave the rest. I've never used tropican before, maybe other members have

I buy the majority of my bird food, as well as human grade food mixes from mysafebirdstore.com. They offer worldwide shipping as well and a few members here have purchased to other countries without any problems.

 

[yann]

hi! i have a yellow crowned amazon and i find it good to feed them a mix different kinds of pellets so that they don't get too picky with food. and also, in case any of the brands have a recall i'll have a few backups.

now mine gets a mix of harrisson's(majority), totally organic pellets, pretty bird natural gold, roudybush and zupreem natural. everyday is a different ratio of pellets.

a few times a week i like to add some goldenfeast mixes to their pellets for variety

every morning they get fresh chop and pellets are their evening meal.

 

[SoCalWendy]

Rio still eats her Harrison's, but now I have also introduced TOPS. She seems to like it so far. She also get Volkman feather glow 15 min soak and serve along with other fruits and veggies, and of course whatever I am eating she has to have that too.

 

[MikeyTN]

Where does your aunt live? I see your from Trinidad so I don't think it would be wise to ship from the stores that was mentioned nor is Harrisons available over in that area. I always say some pellets is better then no pellets. It still more well balanced then just seeds alone.

 

[t0mmick]

Ok so I have used tropican and zupreem form my birds , I can say without a doubt they are doing really well on tropican I noticed a change in feathers colors and shine almost right away! Both brands are good quality pellets!!

 

[henpecked]

I've tried most of the pellets on the market, I have many amazons, some are rehomes that have never had pellets before. IMO the most widely accepted pellets are Kaytee Exact Natural and the Zupreem Natural. After they convert to a pellet diet you can try other pellets , the important part is to get them started on most any pellet. MSBS or Drs Foster and Smith are good choices for ordering pellets on line. Thank you for going to the trouble to improve your aunt's bird's diet. OWAs are great eaters and not "picky", I think he'll convert pretty easy.

 

[Motogordo]

Hello, everyone.

I posted several weeks ago about my aunt's amazon who is in a less than ideal situation. I live in a different country, so the best that I can do is send things for the bird. I would like to ship some pellets to them. The pet store close to my home carries a brand called Tropican lifetime granules. They also sell small clusters of various seeds and dried fruits called Lafeber's Nutriberries.

Is anyone familiar with these foods? If these are not good pelleted foods to feed the parrot, what is? I do not mind purchasing feed off the internet as long as it is vouched for by someone with Amazon experience.

As for an update, he is eating a slightly better diet, still centred around sunflower seeds, but he is now eating small quantities of the following foods on an irregular basis: sweet potato, tomato, cucumber, carrot, eggs, beet, broccoli and cauliflower stem, orange slices, papaya, okra, green beans, red pepper, watermelon and apple slices. He will eat the occasional cooked bean or pea, but apparently he generally ignores them. I have managed to get a relative to help with transitioning his diet over to something healthier. I'm worried that she will not keep it up, hence the decision to get her to start him on pellets, so that if the helper decides she wants to stop, at the very least he will have a pelleted diet to fall back on.

Thank you in advance for your help.

It is NOT good to feed your birds lots of sunflower seeds. The veterinarians say these seeds will shorten the birds life due to the fat contact. The pelleted food is the best for the birds and you can also give them Nutriberries which are healthy also. People food adds variety to their diet. Everything in moderation.

 

[AmazingAmazon]

Where does your aunt live? I see your from Trinidad so I don't think it would be wise to ship from the stores that was mentioned nor is Harrisons available over in that area. I always say some pellets is better then no pellets. It still more well balanced then just seeds alone.

Actually, the parrot lives in Trinidad and I live in Canada. It is an unusual situation; I visited over the holidays and felt like I could help the bird out. He is very much loved, but in the care of someone who is not exactly well-equipped to care for him. Your reasoning is exactly why I want to ship pellets to him, he just didn't look like a healthy creature, and a little googling quickly indicated that his symptoms were most likely caused by his limited diet.

What I'd like to do is buy the pellets here, online or otherwise, then courier them to Trinidad. It generally takes a really long time for companies to ship to Trinidad, and I'm worried that improper storage while in transit (extreme heat, etc) might change the nutritional value.

Thank you for your response, I'm happy to hear that any pellet may be better than none at all.

 

[AmazingAmazon]

I've tried most of the pellets on the market, I have many amazons, some are rehomes that have never had pellets before. IMO the most widely accepted pellets are Kaytee Exact Natural and the Zupreem Natural. After they convert to a pellet diet you can try other pellets , the important part is to get them started on most any pellet. MSBS or Drs Foster and Smith are good choices for ordering pellets on line. Thank you for going to the trouble to improve your aunt's bird's diet. OWAs are great eaters and not "picky", I think he'll convert pretty easy.

I was honestly really surprised that in such a little bit of time, he has begun eating a much wider range of food. I was just speaking with the relative who has been helping with the prep of vegetables, etc. She said that he has been eating more and more of the fresh food, where as he'd take a bite here and there, then dump each piece from the bowl. He ate most of a baby carrot this morning, which is really amazing. They are still giving him the seeds as I am worried that he starves, I'm not convinced that he will eat sufficient fresh foods to keep him alive. I think I will start with the Tropican. I read some pros and cons of the feed, and it sounds like it is a good start. It is readily available and I can have it there by Monday, so I will do that. Someone else here also has vouched for it, so I will get that one and the nutriberries. Once the bird is onto the pellets, I will then start purchasing other brands to ship there.

Thank you for your guidance, it has made figuring out what to do much easier. I do like animals in general, and I hate to think of any creature suffering.

 

[AmazingAmazon]

Ok so I have used tropican and zupreem form my birds , I can say without a doubt they are doing really well on tropican I noticed a change in feathers colors and shine almost right away! Both brands are good quality pellets!!

Thanks, I'm glad to hear that. I will definitely go with the Tropican.

 

[MikeyTN]

K I remember your prior post on it now....here's the issue, will she feed it? Does she know how to do the transition? Cause if she don't do either of those then you'd be wasting your time plus if she only feeds the pellets only without transition there can be a problem. I don't believe in the view that they will eat if they're hungry cause I've actually witness birds starve themselves to death before. So that's also something to consider.

 

[autum_howard]

I feed my DYH Roudybush pellets as her main diet, she also gets a variety of fruits and veggies. I do give her a nutriberries brand treat and almonds and walnut slivers as treats as well

 

[Motogordo]

Hello, everyone.

I posted several weeks ago about my aunt's amazon who is in a less than ideal situation. I live in a different country, so the best that I can do is send things for the bird. I would like to ship some pellets to them. The pet store close to my home carries a brand called Tropican lifetime granules. They also sell small clusters of various seeds and dried fruits called Lafeber's Nutriberries.

Is anyone familiar with these foods? If these are not good pelleted foods to feed the parrot, what is? I do not mind purchasing feed off the internet as long as it is vouched for by someone with Amazon experience.

As for an update, he is eating a slightly better diet, still centred around sunflower seeds, but he is now eating small quantities of the following foods on an irregular basis: sweet potato, tomato, cucumber, carrot, eggs, beet, broccoli and cauliflower stem, orange slices, papaya, okra, green beans, red pepper, watermelon and apple slices. He will eat the occasional cooked bean or pea, but apparently he generally ignores them. I have managed to get a relative to help with transitioning his diet over to something healthier. I'm worried that she will not keep it up, hence the decision to get her to start him on pellets, so that if the helper decides she wants to stop, at the very least he will have a pelleted diet to fall back on.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Jan. 27, 2014
The Harrison pellets, Lefeber, Sunseed and others are all good. I only purchase them from bird stores since they seem to know from experience what the different birds like and what is good for them. They all seem to love Nutriberries and AviCakes. Nutriberries are better, but I give them Avicakes as a treat. All three LOVE Walnuts. However I do have to crack them before they can eat them. I noticed that all the big bird stores have their own custom blended seeds. It is just a matter of trying different blends to see what your bird will eat. Lot's of birds pick out what they want and leave the rest, which becomes wasted money. Some birds will only eat the seeds and leave the pellets behind. Trial and Error is the best.

Gordon
Gordon