Kodie's diet

[Mat]

Hey everyone,

Only my second post on the forum after my introduction post and I think this is the most important topic I'd like advice on.

At the moment, Kodie is on a seed mix combined with fresh fruit every day. This is what she was on when I purchased her.

However, I can see that the great majority opinion seems to be that a pellet based diet is far superior. I instantly came across the name Harrison's but these seem to be exceptionally expensive (at least here in the UK). I'm pretty sure Kodie would go through these rather quickly.

My local pet shop stocks the following pellets:

• Zupreem Natural
• Zupreem fruit blen
• Pretty Bird Afican Grey
• Tropican lifetime granules

Could anybody offer any opinions on the above brands/lines or any alternatives I could consider? Or indeed any good websites to compare prices online?

Kodie is 6 months old, if this is relevant.


Thanks everyone!

 

[critterman]

Mat I have a crimson bellied conure. I feed him a mixture of Harrisons fine blend, roudy-bush, and zupreem natural. He loves the mixture of them all together and eats them well. I also give him lots of fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, grains, etc. If your bird wont eat the pellets to start with mix them in with some food (fruits or veggies, etc) until you are sure he is eating them. Good luck.

 

[MamaFuzz]

A lot of people use the Zupreem. I personally would stick to the natural as it doesn't have the dyes that the fruit blend does. Also don't forget to introduce veggies. African Greys have been known to get vitamin deficiencies and those dark leafy greens give them what they need. Check out the section about parrot food, recipes, & diet for more suggestions and how to covert Kodie to the good stuff.

 

[Kiwibird]

I [respectfully] disagree that parrots should eat pellets. They are highly processed and too new to really know how a parrot who has eaten them since weening fares in 40/50+ years IMO. I would personally not feed processed pellets to my bird unless he liked them as a treat (which he doesn't). The problem with seed lies in where it is the ONLY thing the bird will eat (or is fed). They are too fatty and will cause liver disease as well as nutritional deficiencies because they do not provide complete nutrition. However, when a bird gets plenty of variety and eats more fresh produce then it does seed, they aren't actually unhealthy. You have to both have a bird who's very good about eating their fresh food AND be very good yourself about providing A LOT of varieties of fresh food for them every day. Pellets actually are no different really. A parrot cannot in fact get "complete nutrition" from eating all pellets either. They are fruit eaters, and need a wide variety of fresh food every day, not pellets or seed be all they eat.

I am personally a fan of feeding as close to a natural diet as possible, without offering processed foods except as small treats. That means an emphasis on fresh produce, soft (cooked) grains, some seed/nuts and small amounts of safe table foods. Parrots are opportunistic omnivores, so they can and likely will eat a little bit of everything (except outright toxic foods like avocado, chocolate, caffein ext..), but their primary diet in nature is native fruit seeds and nuts. It is best to research and gain a good understanding of your birds species natural diet, and try to imitate that as closely as possible. I feed our bird a cooked grains mix 2x a day along with fruit, veg and a little off the table. I would say 50% of his diet is the grains, about 25% the fresh fruit and veg and the rest seeds, nuts and table food. He is healthy, perfect weight, amazing plumage quality and energetic. My parents have 3 birds, all around 40 years old who have eaten a diet of fruit/veg, seed and table foods their entire lives. All are healthy, active birds despite their ages, and even the one born with genetic issues is still doing well in his "old age", and recovered fully from a stroke. Obviously, a produce heavy diet supplemented by seeds is not bad for birds. We have taken it one step further with our boy for cooking special grain mixes for him.

 

[critterman]

Kiwibird I tend to agree with you for the most part. Fresh fruits and veggies are always the best to feed your parrot. Seed and pellets should never be a main diet or given in large amounts. A well balanced diet is the best way to go. Thanks again for that perspective.

 

[Katiejayne]

Well said kiwi bird, fresh fruit veggies and a variety is really important to a birds diet

 

[antoinette]

With the pellets, the fresh fruit and veggies offer the following

Nuts - unsalted - Cashews - Pecan - Macadamias - Almonds - Brazil - Pistachios

Only offer a few nuts per day.

 

[Terry57]

Some of my fids eat Tropican pellets, some eat Zupreem and some eat Roudybush..you may have to try a few different ones before you find one he likes

 

[Mat]

Hey guys,

A quick and happy update - On Friday I bought Kodie a nice big bag of Zupreem Natural. After about 10 seconds of them being in her bowl she dived into them and hasn't looked back. She had some initial difficulty in figuring our how to hold/bite them to stop them 'pinging' across the room (they're pretty hard lol) but after that she hasn't looked back.

Truly amazed that she took to them in seconds and I didn't need to use any tricks to get her eating them

 

[MamaFuzz]

That's great. I'm happy you had it easy. Hopefully all the veggies will go over just as well. Keep up the good work.

 

[Katiejayne]

That's great she took to them so quickly well done