Carotenoid for parrots is essential

[crimson]

Being at the vets again on Monday,I had to see my other avian vet(he is less expensive and I see him with more minor issues)

I had Sundances beak trimmed(she is the mom of Num Num)....now her beak grows fairly quickly. when I first got her it needed a really good trim, often 1/4" every 2 months!
....since I've had her almost 3 years, her beak trims have been reduced to every 7-8 months

she is an excellent veggie eater, but is on a seed diet, never to be transformed, she is an older cockatiel, we don't know her exact age, but I was told when I got her she was between the ages of 6-8.

we got to talking about improving the health of Sundance. Carotenoid came into the conversation( I really didn't know much about the name)

He handed me a product which I was familiar with, I've seen it at different vets many times, but never really paid much attention to it

the articles(links) some of them are from the late 80's so some of the info may be outdated, but I thought it was a good read.

Dr.Donai also recommended this for birds on a pellet diet, there are not enough cartenoids in this type of diet(according to him)

Metabolism of carotenoid pigments in birds. [FASEB J. 1990] - PubMed - NCBI

https://companionparrotonline.com/color_bramble

Harrison's Bird Foods is a family of certified organic pet bird diets that were formulated to make your bird as healthy as it can possibly be.

 

[crimson]

....anybody want to read this?...it's good info I promise, haha

 

[Mike17]

You're right Crimson, it was good info. I especially enjoyed the abstract from the paper "Metabolism of carotenoid pigments in birds". The other link was dead, and I thought the supplement was nice, but awfully expensive. Much cheaper to get your birds to eat carrot

 

[SandyBee]

Thanks Crimson,

I swear by the red palm oil (sunshine factor)
You really need so little of it to make a difference that the price doesn't work out too bad. I buy a 4 oz bottle and it lasts me about 8 months for 2 parrots.

 

[Boysmom]

Great read, Thanks Crimson. My question is about the feeding direction for the booster. Can we mix it with fresh foods and would anyone know the amount to use on fresh foods ? I very rarely feed pellets to my girls.

 

[SandyBee]

Here's a link to the directions and ingredients.

http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/rc/booster.pdf

 

[Boysmom]

SandyBee Thanks, but I had already read those directions. They are for using it on pellets. Would I just follow the oral administering directions for using on fresh foods ?

 

[crimson]

lets hope this works:

https://companionparrotonline.com/color_bramble.html

 

[SandyBee]

Hi Boysmom,

I use the sunshine Factor and the correct ml for my parrots weight, I use it on fresh food, in birdie bread etc. The booster seems to be about the same from what I read.

 

[crimson]

I'm mixing it in my chop mix, I had to add 2 tsp.per lb of food...let's just say I almost used up the entire tiny bottle, and will have to get more