Food for Sunny

[BostonBirdLovers]

Hi Everyone!
We have had our re-homed 5 year old Caique for about 6 months. When we got him he came with several varieties of food which is now running out. We are not convinced his previous owner was giving him the best nutrition and we want to make the right choice when replenishing. We also realize it has to be a gradual change over.

We have done some research here (previous posts/threads) and on general internet but have only become confused about brands and even coarseness. Can anyone simplify the process for us? We are looking for recommendations and we value advice from this site above all others.

Just to note: we supplement all pellets and seeds with plenty of offering of fruits and vegetables. We let him join us for breakfast and he likes cereals and oatmeals (no cow's milk in this house). He is very healthy as per his recent check-up and his is a good weight.


We just love him more and more and want to make sure he gets the right care; any help is much appreciated.

Mike & Susan

 

[gracebowen]

Zupreem pellets seen to be popular.

 

[Kae]

Get him on a pelleted diet, Zupreem maybe, and lots of veggies and fruit.

 

[BostonBirdLovers]

thank you both! We have the Zupreme fruit pellets but he doesn't eat them. We didn't know there were other varieties of Zupreme. Do you have a recommendation of which one might be best to try?

What do people on this board feel about Harrisons?

Mike & Sue

 

[Irishj9]

Caique Diet and Brotogeris Diet - Shady Pines Aviary

Shady Pines are the experts

 

[JerseyWendy]

Harrisons is a much loved food indeed.

Here are some links for you that you may find helpful:
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/28242-ingredients-pellets.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

 

[BostonBirdLovers]

very good! thank you so much folks! we will pursue that info and make a good choice.

Mike & Sue

 

[dskidd]

Harrisons is a much loved food indeed.

Here are some links for you that you may find helpful:
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/28242-ingredients-pellets.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

So...um...Eliza and Henry subsist on a diet of brats, potato chips, beer, and single-malt scotch. Am I doing something wrong?


Seriously, I have no doubt you'll make a good choice--you seem well on the way already. E&H don't get any kind of seeds at all, except in the form of a reward. It's all pellets (Harrison), fruits and veggies.

 

[Steph1521]

Agreed...Mr big gets harrisons too, with plenty of fruits and vegetables. I do however give him a bit of seeds sometime, never in his cage but once in a while as a reward or maybe once ever two months I put about a bit on his play stand when he's not expecting it

 

[ShaunaR]

Hi Mike and Susan,
We had a long discussion/lecture on food from Pixie's Avian Vet a few weeks ago. At the time we were feeding a huge variety of food but mostly Tropimix. (Afterall there is a picture of a Caique on the bag!) We noticed she was selectively eating just the seeds from that which is obviously not optimal. We were told at her checkup that their particular office had switched from recommending strictly Rowdybush to only Harrison's as an every day food and Nutri-Berries for treats. She told us the reason for that was because they had seen a number of blood work irregularities corrected without medicating birds when they simply recommended a switch to Harrison's. For us that was enough evidence to make the switch. The Vet herself had an Amazon with chronic kidney failure and that was cured completely with using Harrison's pellets. That company has a variety of pellets but we find Pixie really likes a larger pellet she can hold with one foot and munch versus a smaller grind. Sometimes I grind up those into a powder using a coffee grinder we only use for bird food and mix it with warm water for a change of pace. We were lucky in that Pixie is a great eater and was easy to switch diets. We just monitored her stools to make sure she was eating enough and switched over the course of about 7 days. We had quite a bit of the Tropimix left so I feed that about every 5 days for a treat only. When it comes down to it I think that every Vet and owner has their own reasons for what they suggest and feed and as long as your bird has great bloodwork and overall health then you are doing the right thing for them.

Shauna and Rick