Need advise on food pls.

[Thekatsmeow]

I have more questions about a good, well rounded, complete diet. I know I am obsessing about this but this will be her diet for the rest of her life so to me its not a quick decision. I have some samples of various pelleted food and it looks like a conversion is not going to be a problem at this point (crosses fingers). My first question is this : Why is sugar bad when it is found naturally in nature? Harrisons was the only one I recieved that didn't contain sugar in some form but how boring can you get? I know this food it supposed to be one of if not the best but there is just no fun in that food at all. Zupreme and Kaytee are readily available in my area and I dont have to order those online for availability. I have been told there are studies that have proven birds dont care if its in little fruit shapes so would the natural colored be better? Ugh, I can just FEEL the grey hairs popping out of my skull from stress

 

[Adinafloyd]

Im not sure about all the pellets, my vet said sugar in amazons isnt good because they are so prone to being over weight which causes a multitude of problems for them. As is though I would initially let him choose his pellet and supplement with lots of veggies and other good stuff. I have also heard that the coloring isnt good, dont remember why Good luck to you.

 

[DebsFlock]

I don't think sugar is inherently bad, and I don't think most of the pellet brands have a huge amount of it. If I wasn't having difficulty with weight control, I don't think I'd worry about it too much. I think because "low carb" is the big thing for people right now, it's getting projected onto other species. I don't really buy it in people, but that's a digression.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the major pellet brands including Zupreem. I think the concern about colorants and sugars is somewhat misguided, since no pelleted diet is of much use if it isn't palatable. And they recently switched to "all natural" colorants anyway.

I think the ideal diet for most birds is dominantly pellets with some added whole foods -- around here I add some seeds or nuts, some pasta, some chiles, a tiny amount of dried fruit, cinnamon stick, star anise to a mixture of a couple of pellet types. I offer fruit and veggies in the morning (more veggies than fruit) and sprouts in the evening. Scotty gets nuts, Scooter gets millet, and Blanco gets more pellets for a foraging treat. Blanco really likes the Zupreem fruitblend, I call tehm his "Fruity pebbles". Scooter still is not eating as much pellet as I like but scarfs down fresh food and Scotty likes his pellets, loves his nuts, and picks grapes out of his fresh food, typically disdaining the remainder. With a baby, I think you can shape the preferences, but mine had opinions already when I got them!

 

[Thekatsmeow]

Alright then I think I can finally rest easy with my decision. Thank You so much for the advice. In my opinion she is not overweight but I will let the vet determine that when she sees Rocky. As far as the fresh foods, I offer all kinds of them to her but she wont eat them. She was very spoiled by her other owner as far as her diet goes. She was allowed to eat way too many starchy foods like potatoes. Anyway, thanks for all the info. I will put it to good use.