MonicaMc
Well-known member
- Sep 12, 2012
- 7,960
- Media
- 2
- 43
- Parrots
-
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
No, pellets aren't natural, but neither are the diets we feed them.
Do you really think that parrots are finding the same seeds, fruits and vegetables that we feed them out in the wild? The short answer is, no. They aren't. Foods can vary depending upon the time of year, as well as the amount of food available. Droughts, flooding, fires etc all will effect the food supply.
Wild parrots fly for many miles every single day in the search of food, water, places to nest and to rest. They use up a lot of calories every single day.
Now consider the average captive raised parrot. We clip their wings and stick them in a tiny cage! Where's the exercise in that? If we were to try and truly replicate their natural diet, we might kill them.
I do understand where you are coming, and I agree! But on the flip side, you need to be realistic. If you can't provide a healthy, fresh food diet, then pellets need to be a part of the diet. If you can provide a healthy fresh food diet with all the necessary nutrients required, that's awesome! It's great for your bird, because fresh food is *LIVE* food. Some seeds (sterilized or just plain dead) and pellets aren't "living" food because you can't grow them.
If you wont feed pellets as part of a healthy diet, then feed a sprout based diet with fresh foods available. In this way, you are providing a far healthier diet than dry seeds could ever provide. Mold and bacteria is a concern with sprouting seeds, but it's also a concern with providing fresh foods of any sort... so just make sure what you provide has been cleaned and is as fresh as possible!
Do you really think that parrots are finding the same seeds, fruits and vegetables that we feed them out in the wild? The short answer is, no. They aren't. Foods can vary depending upon the time of year, as well as the amount of food available. Droughts, flooding, fires etc all will effect the food supply.
Wild parrots fly for many miles every single day in the search of food, water, places to nest and to rest. They use up a lot of calories every single day.
Now consider the average captive raised parrot. We clip their wings and stick them in a tiny cage! Where's the exercise in that? If we were to try and truly replicate their natural diet, we might kill them.
I do understand where you are coming, and I agree! But on the flip side, you need to be realistic. If you can't provide a healthy, fresh food diet, then pellets need to be a part of the diet. If you can provide a healthy fresh food diet with all the necessary nutrients required, that's awesome! It's great for your bird, because fresh food is *LIVE* food. Some seeds (sterilized or just plain dead) and pellets aren't "living" food because you can't grow them.
If you wont feed pellets as part of a healthy diet, then feed a sprout based diet with fresh foods available. In this way, you are providing a far healthier diet than dry seeds could ever provide. Mold and bacteria is a concern with sprouting seeds, but it's also a concern with providing fresh foods of any sort... so just make sure what you provide has been cleaned and is as fresh as possible!
