Feeding

[Peeko]

I have been feeding Peeko Kaytee Exact Rainbow Fruity since I got him at seven weeks of age. He is now about ten months old. I've been feeding this food because its what my sister feeds her African Gray and my father decided we would follow her example.

Kaytee » Exact Rainbow Fruity Parrot/Conure

I've found that he just picks the pieces of dried fruit out to munch on, and discards most of the pellets. He will eat some of the pellets, but not much - and only the red ones (he isn't interested in non-colored pellets at all). A lot of the pellets are too big for him to be interested in, so I'm planning on getting the cockatiel size instead when I get the chance (our friend-owned pet store doesn't order new shipments very often and we have to put in special orders)

I was concerned about this, so I ordered some Zupreem Harvest Feast from him a week to two weeks ago and he just got it in today.

Zupreem Harvest Feast Small Bird 2lb

So far, I've seen him sample each color of the Zupreem pellets and he has also tried the (very few and far between) bits of dried fruit as well. He seems to really like it, he's given it a lot more attention than the Kaytee already! He's ignoring the Kaytee altogether now that the Zupreem is in there.

I've heard that, overall, Zupreem is a much better food. My concern is that it cant even compare to the amount of dried fruit in the Kaytee.

Should I continue with feeding both Zupreem and Kaytee, or should I drop the Kaytee altogether and change fully over to Zupreem? Is the Kaytee not worth the fruit? Peeko is still resisting sampling fresh fruits and veggies, so the dried fruit is all he gets in that department, despite my best efforts. He does eat crushed up Nutriberries as treats, but as far as I can see, they're mostly seeds.

(Please, no suggestions for other kinds of foods, such as Harrisons or Roudybush. I'm working with what I have available to me. Zupreem is the best option I have)

 

[Crazyformybaby]

I would have one bowl zupreem and a small bowl dried fruit (not kaytee). It is important that they get fruit and veg in their diet. Continue trying to get him to eat fresh fruit and veg though. Hope I helped

an eye for an eye would leave the whole world blind~ Gandhi

 

[Peeko]

He refused to touch the Kaytee ever since I offered the Zupreem. He weaned himself off of it within days! Which is good, because I found out a few days later how bad artificial coloring is for birds, which the Kaytee was full of. The Zupreem Harvest Feast is also colored pellets, but only orange, yellow, and green, and the ingredients list doesn't list any artificial coloring. Maybe they're dyed with vegetable based dye?
I've gotten him to nibble on peas and a strawberry once or twice, but other than that, he still literally wont touch fresh fruit or vegetables. I eat them in front of him, etc but he's still absolutely convinced that fresh foods eat little bird toes. :/ All he'll eat for that, still, is dried fruit (and occasionally part of a dried pea or carrot, but he does love dried corn). I don't know what to do; I've tried everything that has been suggested to me and everything that I've read to do online, and he just wont touch it. This has been going on, now, for almost exactly one year with very little progress.

 

[GaryBV]

Hi Peeko - You're asking for advice and here is my 2 cents. I would not feed my birds any food, pellets or otherwise, that are artifically colored. You ask that we not suggest other foods because of what is available to you, but you obviously have the internet and can get any kind of food you want. I live fairly rurally and I get all my food delivered to the house for my birds. But if you are going to insist on Zupreems, they do have an all natural diet that isn't dyed - I myself just don't trust dyes.

Here is the Zupreem Naturals from the same site you have listed in your first post:

ZuPreem Natural Premium Daily Bird Food for Small Birds (Parakeet)

I have actually bought products from that site myself and I like it.

As for the dried fruit, I don't feed my birds any dried fruit except what comes in with their treats. What I do instead is I give them fresh vegetables and fresh fruit every day - For instance one orange can last a whole week if you just give one segment a day, and you can cut a slice from an apple, put the rest in a zip bag, and just give that for the whole week, fresh carrots are cheap and provide important nutrients, and I cut up kale and other green leafy vegetables - it's really quite easy and not expensive. I have had birds that have been extremelly stubborn about eating fresh foods, and I have noticed that sometimes it's all about presentation. For instance my birds could easily eat a whole grape, but nope, they ignore it or throw it over, so I cut it in half, but nope, they ignore it and throw it over, but if I cut it into little tiny pieces they eat it right up, also try putting the fresh food dish in different locations, I know it sounds silly, but it can make a difference. Also, and most importantly, don't give up, keep making the fresh foods avaiable because if you stop, he will NEVER have them and it's likely your bird's life will be cut shorter. You can also buy dried fruits that I know some members use, and one thing my birds love that is very much like fresh vegetables, is that I soak seeds overnight and they 'plump up' and the chemistry changes, and is in fact much healthier than dried seeds. I'm not criticizing you, nor am I lecturing you, but the best way to have a healthy, and long lived pet, is to provide appropriate, varied and healthy diet. Good luck with your bird

 

[GaryBV]

One other thing that I have done to try to get ml birds to eat fresh foods, was I would cut a piece of brocolli and hold it by the stem and offer it to the bird. Sometimes he would try to 'bite' it, but would end up with a mouthful of greens lol so that at least he got some into him. I've done the same thing with apple, green leafy vegetables and such. Another thing that works for me with my parrotlets and lovebirds, is when I have cooked a sweet potato, after it's cooked (no butter or anything on it), I slice the ends off and put them in clips inside my bird cages. I've never seen them eat them, but almost every time when I went to take the pieces out in a couple hours, they have obviously been eaten at.

 

[Peeko]

I do not order food online. My father will not pay a penny more than our friend who owns a local pet store will sell food to him for. He sells us the food for what he personally pays the supplier, so we get it much cheaper than you can at any store or website. He's the one making the financial decisions here, not me. My father has made it very clear that I can only select food that our friend's supplier carries, and Roudybush and Harrisons is not on that list. According to research, Zupreem is the best his supplier carries. There's nothing I can do about that and it gets disheartening when people scold me for something that is out of my control. So, no, I cant order any food I want, please don't make such assumptions if you don't know someone's situation.

My other concern regarding dyed pellets is that my bird simply will not touch non colored pellets. I tried the natural/undyed Zupreem and he literally did not eat any at all; he ignored them completely in favor of Harvest Feast, which again, has no artificial dyes listed in the ingredients that I can recognize as artificial dyes. He's always eaten by color and tan/yellow are the colors he has never been willing to eat. Are there other names for artificial dyes, other than Yellow #5, etc? There is none of that listed in Zupreem Harvest Feast, unless its disguised under a different name (however, their Fruit Blend food does list them under that name, which leads me to believe they would do the same in all of their foods that have it?). Kaytee, however, did have it listed and what remained of that food was promptly tossed out after he weaned himself off of it.

I've tried just about everything for fresh food. Bigger/smaller pieces/slices, different locations, different bowls, eating it in front of him, stuffing a toy that he gets treats from with it, etc but the moment he realizes what it is, he will no longer have anything to do with it. I'm not sure if its that he dislikes wet or slimy food, or what, but on the off chance he does poke fresh food with his tongue, he's immediately put off and leaves. Again, the exception to that is strawberry (once or twice) and peas (once or twice). I'm definitely going to keep trying, I just don't know what else to try that might be more effective?

 

[Kalidasa]

Does the store you shop at carry Higgins intune natural? Those are fruity and colored, but they use beet juice and stuff like that for colors instead. It's also a probiotic formula, and not very expensive. I used those to transition my conure on to something else, but they're still in my freezer and I use them for his travel carrier. He loves them and they're the perfect size for conures. Red hearts, orange disks, greenish footballs, and yellow.

 

[crimson]

I use Higgins as well, all my birds love that food.

 

[Peeko]

I called him up and asked him to check for me, and no, his supplier doesn't carry Higgins. :/

 

[crimson]

then go with Zupreem, there is nothing wrong with it....we were just trying to save you some money.

 

[Peeko]

Well I read over the ingredients of Harvest Feast again and it does say "Artificial colors" as an ingredient. :/ I guess I have to try the non colored ones and hope he doesn't starve himself. What do I do if I cant get him to eat non colored pellets?

 

[Peeko]

I guess it doesn't matter. I told my father that this Zupreem has artificial colors and I wanted to go with the Zupreem Natural, which the supplier does have, and he basically said to me "too bad". So, how long will the artificial colors take to kill him, then?

 

[Terry57]

I am pretty sure that the dyes are a long term issue, and that finishing your bag you already have isn't going to kill him
Have you tried frozen veggies (peas,carrots,corn,peas mixture)? I run it under hot water to thaw and my guys love it.

 

[Peeko]

My father does intend for it to be his permanent food, therefore he would be prone to long term issues. I wrote down a list of which cancers the dyes cause and he hasn't budged; he says "it hasn't killed the bird yet, you're just being ridiculous, too bad".

I've tried the frozen veggies, yes. He wont touch it, other than the peas, and only once in a blue moon.

 

[Caesar]

I only give my Caesar about a tablespoon of pellets, spread out into each of his feeding dishes throughout his cage.
My Avian vet put me onto the brand that he stocks. Which is Vetafarm paradise pellets, for all fruit eating parrots and Roudybush as treats.
Main meals I offer 3 times a day usually fruit in the morning, raw vegies and fruit at around 1 or 2 o'clock than cooked vegies at about 6-730 o'clock.
I sprinkle some foraging fruit and nuts into his tray as well.

 

[Peeko]

I would love to do that with Peeko... If he would eat fresh fruit/veggies. Its been a year and he still wont touch them, and I've tried everything I've been told to try.

 

[Peeko]

Whew. After reviewing the list of cancers that the dyes cause, my father decided that he would support switching to Zupreem Natural.

 

[GaryBV]

Well I'm really glad to hear that Peeko, I do believe that the natural product is better than the artifically colored ones - unless colored by natural ingredients. Switching diets can be tricky, so you might want to start out mixing them together, but slowly decreasing the colored pellets until there they are not noticeable. I'm very happy for you and I'm happy for your Conure as well.

As for vegetables, on my cages I have these clips that I can attach cuttlebone too, or any kind of treat as long as they fit inside it. You can get them in metal or plastic - I have both. Maybe you can try putting a piece of apple in a clip, or a green leaf of say Romaine lettuce (don't use iceberg lettuce - it won't hurt the bird, but it doesn't contain any nutrients either), and if it is sticking out like that in the cage, he just might start to nibble on it. I put pieces of oranges in mine, slice of mango, whatever is firm enough to be held in the pincher of the clip, even brocolli (VERY good for your bird. It may be a slow process but it sounds like you have already started it and I just want to wish you all the luck

 

[Peeko]

I was eating veggies in front of him again tonight, and he seemed interested. But as always, he came over, poked one with his tongue, said "Owwwww!", and ran away. I have no idea why the dweeb associates vegetables with the word "ow", but he does...
He's much more willing to try dried veggies and dried fruit. Is there any nutrient left in dried foods like that at all? My grandmother said drying foods takes all the healthy out of them and it isn't worth feeding to him at all. Obviously fresh is better, but is dried better than nothing, until I can get him to try fresh food, eventually?

 

[MikeyTN]

IF he would only eat the dry stuff, let him but still do offer the fresh stuff. He may switch over eventually.