Brown Headed Parrot Diet

[Idenmamiri]

Hi all,

So I have finally found a beautiful baby girl brown headed parrot that I have placed a deposit on.

She is located in my home town, and I will be visiting her this weekend. She will be ready to take home in about 2-3 weeks, so I am preparing for the rest of our lives together!

I have already purchased a wide variety of toys, I have the largest cage I could find with the proper bar spacing, and a wide variety of perches with varied diameter and shape.

I am now deciding on a brand of pellets. My baby will be freshly weaned onto a mixture of fruits, veggies, and a seed diet, so I would like to slowly transition her to a pelleted diet + fruits/veggies. I don't want to stress her out so early, so I won't remove the seeds for a decent amount of time, but would like to have the pellets in her cage right when she arrives.

What brand, size, and type of pellets do you all recommend?
What do you feed your Poi?

I am leaning towards Harrison's in the Fine size, but don't know if I should go for high potency or if the Fine size is okay.

Thanks in advance!

 

[SirEdwin89]

I'm a big fan of Harrisons. Usually, they recommend the high potency for birds who haven't had a good diet to begin with to get them back on track, so you would probably be fine with the adult lifetime, and it's a little less expensive. Of course, what it really depends on is your new little girl. If she will eat the harrisons, you are set. It's fairly unarguably one of the very best pellets available.

They also have really good public relations. If you throw them an email, saying you are getting ready to get a new parrot and ask nicely for a sample, they will likely send you a small bag free as well. They actually sent me a bag, and a sample bag of their power treats when I asked. Good way to find out if your new fid will take to it before you start buying it.

For those of my Fids who won't take Harrisons, I've had fairly good luck with Zupreem. Probably not quite on par with Harrisons, but a bit more flavorful for the stubborn pellet switchers. And a variety of flavors.

Personally, I would send out several emails to the pellet suppliers you are interested in. They will likely all send you free samples if you ask politely, and then by the time you get your girl in a few weeks you should have several options to see what she likes best at no cost to you.

 

[Idenmamiri]

I will definitely do that! Thank you for such a helpful bit of info!

 

[SailBoat]

Take the time to determine where your brown headed parrot's natural range is and what foods are available naturally in that area. This will provide you with what should be part of their diet for the base fresh foods and dry foods; like seed, nuts and grains. Pellets are an important part of the diet to assure that all of the needs are met.

A health diet would be a mix of the three groups with the fresh foods being the volume and the other two balanced. Commonly, seed mixes are far to general and commonly contain seed that are not common to your Parrots natural range, so learn what is common.

Goldenfeast has ready made diets targeting different regions of the World and their diets are set for specific regions.

Pellet selection can be a true pain resulting from the vast number of choices! Target Pellets that have no 'color(s)' added! Are low or no sugar or salt added. (NOTE: Keep Pellets Frozen until needed!). Size does matter, as some Parrot will choose one size and not touch another. So, it maybe easier to get a large size pellet and break or crush them to a smaller size. Also, the crumbs can be added into the existing provided diet and act as a transfer tool to help transition your parrot. Also, look for Pellets that are processed in a 'Human Grade' facility!!!

Keep asking great questions!

 

[mppinegar]

Harrison's and veggies and a little fruit! I have mine for 14 years and she is beautiful and healthy so far. I just wish her temperament were as good. Ha.