Pellets

[Ivorbasic]

I have read that best diet is chop in the morning and pellets in the evening. Can you please tell me if that is true, what pellets are the best and what amount od pellets do I need to give to my eclectus per portion? Thanks!

 

[noodles123]

No pellets for eckies...not safe at all.

 

[chris-md]

That’s one way to do it, but it’s not the only way or the “best” way.

Generally speaking you want to avoid pellets. However, the principle problems with them are the artificial dyes and the added supplemental vitamins and minerals. If you get a pellet like TOPs that has neither of these you’re generally safe.

That said, while I do feed TOPs, my boy kinda quite eating them. So I lean more heavily on Goldenfeast products for a dry mix. Highly diverse mix of 50 ingredients or so, nice blend of seeds veggies and fruits (albeit dehydrated, which is not the greatest for nutrition).

Keep offering fresh stuff in between meals. We’ll often drop a quinoa cracker or vegetable rotini noodle or celery or Swiss Chard leaf in my boys bowl for snacks.

 

[Ivorbasic]

No pellets for eckies...not safe at all.

So I should give my eckie only chop?

 

[chris-md]

Fresh food is always best whenever possible.

 

[Anansi]

A fresh diet is the best option for ekkies. BUT that fresh diet needs to have a lot of variety. Otherwise, you invite deficiencies or excesses in particular nutrients. Here is the list of fresh foods I usually post when asked about what I feed my ekkies.

In the interests of sharing information, here is what I currently feed Maya and Jolly: I tend to provide between 6 and 8 types of food per feeding (2 meals per day), weighted heavily toward the veggie side as only 1 of the food selections in a given meal is a fruit.
Various sprouts, carrots (very important due to the high content of beta carotene - precursor to Vitamin A), bell peppers (red, yellow, orange and green – also very high in Vitamin A), jalapeno peppers, Jamaican Scotch bonnet peppers, chili peppers, squash (butternut, green and yellow), pumpkin (again, high in Vitamin A), blueberries and pomegranates (both among the most nutritious of fruits), snap peas, broccoli (high in calcium), cactus pears, dragon fruit, persimmon, starfruit, bananas, grapes (only for flavor and hydration. Relatively low in nutrition), kale, turnips, radishes, brown rice, quinoa, cucumbers, endives, dandelion (nutritional powerhouse offered at every meal when seasonally available), sweet potato (cooked), red swiss chard, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, cilantro, parsley, watercress, arugula, granny smith apples, papaya (don’t go too heavy on this, as it is a diarrhetic), African horned melon, hominy, oatmeal (sans sugar or flavoring), kiwi, barley, calendula flowers, fennel, chocho beans and garbanzo beans, as well as Volkman's Fancy Soak and Simmer as a base for the majority of their legumes and grains.

For food accents I'll add one or two types of the following as well: star anise, milk thistle, elder berries, rose hips, hibiscus, bee pollen and chamomile flowers.

Twice a month, I'll give a little hard-boiled egg (with the crushed shell for calcium). Slightly more frequently during a molt.

For their training treats they get an assortment of unsalted nuts (one to three or so per bird in a given day, broken into small pieces and fed as rewards during the training sessions). And for their "goodnight treat", up to a teaspoon or two of seeds.

 

[Alembic772]

Well I am not going say I am an expert, and Basil has a lot of stress marks from his last molt (due to a stressful move in the middle of it). But he’s 22 years old and has had pellets since the day he could eat them. Now we have switched over the years to ones without artificial colors, and a mixture current of Harrison’s, Oven Baked Bites, Nutriberries (adult version and tropical version), and a touch of some pretty bird eclectus formula pellets. The last ones are a small amount, because someone gave them to me. I tried putting tops in the mix but he won’t eat them.

He has pellets. He also gets birdie breads, fresh fruits and veggie, chop, eggs every once and a while, and I will admit a small nibble of hamburger from time to time. I know the burger is not so good but it’s a little tiny but that is smaller than a penny.

He loves almonds, cashews, walnuts, pepitas, and has never ever been given sunflower seeds in his life. He also gets sprouted millet, winter wheat, adzuki beans, mung beans, garbanzo beans, and navy beans.

This is all mixed and varied. I know our loves need variety and special provisions. But I feel the absolutely no pellets is not necessarily true.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chris-md]

Alembic - you are exemplifying the old adage of “it doesn’t happen to me, so it must be ok”.

You’re preaching a lazy approach by posting that you feed a highly fortified diet to an eclectus straight out of PetSmart, and encouraging others not to worry about fortified foods. That is a problem. Im going to hope and pray that you have a more nuanced understanding of the eclectus diet than you let on, and that perhaps you weren’t terribly articulate In expressing it (lord knows I’m guilty of that and sometimes need a do over!!) but above as written is dangerous advise For eclectus. To be clear, do whatever you want wotg your bird. Not my business. But you can’t try teaching that to others.

Also - sprouted navy beans are poisonous. Please don’t feed those sprouts. They should be cooked thoroughly.

 

[Alembic772]

I honestly regret making any post in here about this subject, as it has always been one that is touchy with Ekkie owners. I'm not saying it worked for me, so everyone should do it, I am more saying that I've included them in a rounded diet for Basil for 22 years. He's never picked, he's never had problems with his coloring, his weight is good, the vet says he looks great, so I'm going based upon my experience, which may just be my experience and I've been lucky. And if I have, thank you god, because my 22 year old green chicken is like a child to me and never want to see anything bad happen to him.

As far as being lazy. You don't know me or what I do for my birds. You don't know the hours I spend making chop, birdie breads, trying new foods for them, making sure they get a shower or bath every other day, etc. etc. etc. Basil (who, again, has never picked and never had a health issue in his life) isn't some PetsMart bird either, he came from a local breeder, and I've had him since he was five weeks old. I have the egg he hatched out of right next to me here at my desk. I can be more than articulate enough, but I find myself biting my tongue now as I don't want to turn this into a flame war. You want to see how much I do for my birds, and my laziness??? Head over to the conure forum and read my posts about my black cap... Then you tell me what you think of my efforts.

As far as the sprouts, I messed up and meant to say green lentils not navy beens, and it's also not winter wheat, it's spelt berries.

Please follow what Anansi posted, as it is great advice. Ekkies have unique needs, and are not a simple parrot when it comes to feeding. I wish you success with your bird, and everyone else here.