Can I cut out the pellets?

[Boki]

I have two Amazons who eat their vegetables and fruit far better than the seed mix and pellets. They always do a great job with their vegetables in the morning except maybe for carrots. But the pellets and seed mix in the evening meal often seems to be wasted for the most part. It is not fun to see the Harrison's pellets untouched and floating in the water bowl.So is there a reason I need to feed them pellets?

 

[eliholtman]

I have two Amazons who eat their vegetables and fruit far better than the seed mix and pellets. They always do a great job with their vegetables in the morning except maybe for carrots. But the pellets and seed mix in the evening meal often seems to be wasted for the most part. It is not fun to see the Harrison's pellets untouched and floating in the water bowl.So is there a reason I need to feed them pellets?

Pellets are a good “staple” but you could make a chop for them... again my knowledge is still very knew on parrots and their diets so someone will probably correct me


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[LaManuka]

Personally I make pellets available all day. I can't remember which forum member it was, but it was one of the biggies, who said that it can trigger a famine response in the brain if they think they are not able to access food at any time. Plus sometimes my guys are up in the morning before me and are snacking early so I like to leave something available to them. Yes it's a bit of a waste but what are you gonna do?

 

[Sunnyclover]

Yes I agree with the above post. Try making pellets available all day and let that be the 1st thing available to them in the morning. I don't believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that fruits and veggies are not enough to sustain a healthy weight on their own. If you must take away pellets try offering something as a replacement like lentils (cooked) in the chop or something equally nutritional with lots of nutrients but I'd recommend you keep them on pellets and maybe try a different pellet. The most nutritional pellet is the one the actual eat...

 

[Boki]

"I don't believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that fruits and veggies are not enough to sustain a healthy weight on their own."

I thought that it is most natural for them to eat fruits and vegetables as that is what they would do in the wild. I do know this. My parrots have the opposite problem of sustaining a healthy weight. They could use losing a few grams which is why I want to drop the seed mixture too. This is a long term path as I have enough pellets and seed mix for a couple of months.

 

[LaManuka]

My avian vet told me to ditch the seeds because they are too energy dense. Birds do eat seeds in the wild, as well as a wide variety of other things, but as they don't get as much exercise actually flying around looking for food in captivity, they end up putting on weight/contracting fatty liver disease etc.

Either that or you buy them a treadmill

 

[Jen5200]

I’m with the above posts and would keep the pellets. Pellets are designed to be nutritionally balanced, and you can’t be sure that you are getting all of the nutrients and minerals that your bird needs in your veggies. A well-made pellet helps make up the nutritional shortfalls in the other stuff that we feed. I would also agree with limiting the seed - my vet also advises that because the birds are not foraging and flying all day to burn off the energy, it can be detrimental to their health in the long term. You don’t need to cut it entirely, but limiting it to a treat instead of a diet staple? My birds all have pellets in the cage all day for snacking. I’ve narrowed down approximately how much they eat in a day and that’s what I put in their bowls. That way they get fresh pellets daily and I don’t feel like I’m wasting much when I toss the few leftover pellets away.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Please keep the Harrison's, agreed!

My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. Worked like a charm!

Good for you, for researching before making big changes!

 

[Flboy]

IMHO, if you are seeing the pellets floating in the water, more than likely they are being eaten!

 

[SassiBird]

"I don't believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that fruits and veggies are not enough to sustain a healthy weight on their own."

I thought that it is most natural for them to eat fruits and vegetables as that is what they would do in the wild. I do know this. My parrots have the opposite problem of sustaining a healthy weight. They could use losing a few grams which is why I want to drop the seed mixture too. This is a long term path as I have enough pellets and seed mix for a couple of months.

What you will have problems replacing without pellets is protein.

 

[Scott]

Agree with all of the above! I considered switching to a smaller Harrison's pellet (fine) to reduce waste, but the vet said they derive enjoyment from making the big squares into tiny shards.

 

[EllenD]

Yes, please DO NOT eliminate their pellets and/or their seeds!!!! First of all, parrots in the wild DO EAT plenty of different "pulses" and do not simply eat veggies and fruit. They eat all different types of seeds, grains, nuts, grasses, wheat, etc. Yes, wild parrots will definitely eat more pulses than a captive, pet parrot will, but that also goes for the veggies and fruit, wild parrots eat far more of everything than captive parrots do. That doesn't mean that captive parrots don't need the pulses.

Secondly, feeding a daily diet of only veggies and fruit will not provide the protein, the vitamins, the minerals, the amino acids, etc. that the pellets and seeds provide. Pellets don't exist in the wild, however they are formulated to replace all of the different pulses that they eat in the wild. There is no amount of fresh veggies and fruit that can provide your parrots with the necessary nutrition that they get ONLY from pulses, i.e. the pellets and/or seeds in captivity. And I would bet everything I own that if you did eliminate the pellets/seeds from your parrot's diets and only fed the veggies and fruit, and you weighed them every day, you'd see a drop in their weight, which indicates that their are also starting to suffer at least some nutritional deficiencies, if not great ones.

Also, something that no one ever thinks about is the fact that a bird's body is designed to eat, digest, process, and use seeds and the nutritional constituents that they provide. I'm one who feeds a natural pellet as the main staple yet still supplements with a small amount of a healthy, low-fat, non-nut, sunflower seed, or corn seed-mix, as it benefits not only their GI Tract health, but also their mental/psychological health. And whether you feed only pellets as their staple or pellets and a healthy, low-fat seed mix, your birds need to eat one or the other, or both, to sustain their overall physical and mental health. Period.

***And as Scott wisely pointed out, the fact that there are any pellets floating in their water dishes every day indicates that they ARE eating the pellets! Otherwise those pellets wouldn't be in their water in the first-place. This is called "pellet-soup" and it's something that most-all parrots do with their pellets while they're eating them...So don't for a second think that your birds aren't and haven't been eating their Harrison's pellets this entire time, because they have. Please don't take them away from them, as this is only going to create both physical and mental health issues that they don't currently have.