Ingredient check please

[starrynightxxi]

Leonard has been eating the rat's food. In fact, he really loves it, which is just ridiculous. If I toss a couple pieces into the seed/fruit/nut mix in his bowl, he will eat them first lol

he is such a weirdo.

I'm not overly concerned, really, for rats it is one of the top two pellets available, but I thought that maybe some folks who know bird nutrition better than me might take a look for anything that could be troublesome, just in case.

[eta] This is a treat only, he isn't and wouldn't be getting this exclusively.

thanks!

Ingredients
Whole Brown Rice, Oat Groats, Wheat Bran, Wheat, Soybean Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Soybean Hulls, Calcium Carbonate, Yeast Culture Dehydrated, Flax Seed Meal (Linseed), Inulin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Soy Oil, Methionine DL, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Wheat Germ Meal, Salt, Magnesium Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Natural Flavor, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Oxide, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-Monophosphate, Biotin, Niacin Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Natural Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Cobalt Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K Activity), Calcium Iodate, Vitamin B12 Supplement
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min) 15.00%
Crude Fat (min) 4.00%
Crude Fiber (max) 7.00%
Moisture (max) 10.00%
Calcium (min) 0.80%
Calcium (max) 1.20%
Phosphorous (min) 0.80%

obligatory photo :

 

[weco]

You really should not feed foods formulated for other animals to companion birds as some ingredients may be toxic to birds, like the zinc oxide in your rat food. Zinc is a heavy metal and is highly toxic to birds. Even only the one or two pellets you say your bird gets of the rat food can cause neurologic damage and its eventual death.....you do realize that zinc oxide is used as a sun screen, a diaper rash cream and an additive for paints.....

 

[starrynightxxi]

Well, I imagine it's pretty clear that I didn't know about zinc being toxic to birds, particularly in the levels that might be present in a pet food, but that is why I asked.

I don't make a habit of feeding rat food to the bird, he just begs for everything that he sees the other animals being given, and many of the basic nutritional needs for rats are similar to those of birds so I didn't see the harm in a pellet once in a while.

I will keep the zinc in mind though, thanks. Is that the only ingredient of specific concern, or are there others? I know some people don't like soy, for a variety of reasons.

Do mammals process zinc so much differently than birds?

 

[weco]

It's not so much whether birds & mammals process zinc differently as is the fact that some life forms are able to evacuate excess vitamins, minerals and quantities larger than the trace amounts their bodies need, while other life forms may not have that ability, causing toxic buildups, making them toxic to that lifeform.

If you only feed fresh, natural foods that are safe for avian consumption or foods that are specifically formulated for birds, you should be OK, but if you want to feed your bird(s) things like rat food, you'll need to research the ingredients individually, to determine if they are safe for your bird(s).....there are many foods and substances that are safe for human or other animal consumption, but deadly to birds...and...there is no printed, complete list, so if you want to feed something to your bird(s), research it to be sure.....there is an old belief that if it's a bird, feed it seed, that's not necessarily true because some bird's systems cannot process seeds of any kind.....

Sorry, but owning birds requires a good bit of reading & research to be able to care for them properly.....

 

[starrynightxxi]

Gotcha, that makes sense.

I'm not sure why you apologized at the beginning of your final statement there, unless you think you are giving me information I don't already know or am not likely to do, which isn't the case. It's why I'm here. I only asked if there were other ingredients of concern for educational purposes.

In any case, Leonard already has plenty of Harrison's and Mazuri he can work on, as well as his fruit/veggie/seed/nut mix. It wasn't ever my intention to give him the oxbow pellets as a main diet, but I'll forgo them as occasional treats, as well.

Thanks.

 

[Christinenc2000]

That is a great picture of Leonard

 

[weco]

I'm not sure why you apologized at the beginning of your final statement there, unless you think you are giving me information I don't already know or am not likely to do, which isn't the case. It's why I'm here. I only asked if there were other ingredients of concern for educational purposes.

Possibly it was just a consideration as we often don't know how an individual will receive the proffered information and there are some who seek definitive or more definitive information than what was given, then there are those who may have done considerable research of their own, only to have it suggested that their particular information source(s) is/are less than credible.....as to your having specific information or not, I'm not known to deal in presumptions, preferring to source the factual data rather than that lacking in credibility.....

Yes, there are other ingredients/substances that are or can be dangerous/toxic to our feathered friends, a search I just conducted of the forums' archive using "toxic to birds" as the search parameters, brought up several hundred threads (20 pages of 25 line items each), some of which are probably non-topical, but that's the limitations of our searching capabilities at the present.....a similar search of the internet would probably pull up similar quantities, though maybe more on topic, so, using your own search parameters would likely find things more specific to your search(es).....

To help you get started, chocolate and cocoa can be dangerous, but it's the theobromine that is the culprit, but in actuality, you have to pretty much use European chocolates to get dangerous levels of theobromine as the stuf that's sold in the states is usually too full of fillers & sugars.....

Good luck.....