Was there a change in Zupreem Fruit Blend a few years back

[Botsari]

OK, I have always wanted to ask other parrot owners this, and now‘s my chance.

My two African Greys (one unfortunately recently deceased) have eaten the above mentioned pellets their whole lives - somewhat shy of three decades for both birds. They ate those, veggies and fruit, and special treats occasionally. A few years ago, perhaps going on more like a decade ago, I can’t be sure, I noticed they aways saved the orange, spherical pellets for last. This is definitely NOT what they have always done. I never noticed any preference before this. I concluded that they made a change to the recipe for the orange ones. They did end up eating them once they ran out of the other “flavors”, but I always wondered what was going on there.

As my birds got older any change at all was considered a bad change - so that might be a sufficient explanation all by itself. But has anyone noticed this with their birds? Does anyone know if there was a change? I have considered trying the orange pellets myself just to see what gives, but I never tried the original ones to compare. Probably I should call the company if no one knows. But just a little minor mystery. I always wondered if they suddenly put too much pepper in there, or something.

 

[wrench13]

Hate to say it, but Zupreem is like #10 on my list of pellets I would give Salty. ANd the colored ones even lower due to the dyes used. I mean the best pellet is the one that your parrot WILL eat - if he won't touch #'1 thru 9, then #10 is a winner. Me I would try going UP the food chain ( no pun intended). Salty settled on ROudybush, which is like #5 but he will not touch others, I;ve tried them. Sorry about the lpss of your CAG - I've lost a much loved parrot in the past. It hurts!1

 

[Botsari]

Hate to say it, but Zupreem is like #10 on my list of pellets I would give Salty. ANd the colored ones even lower due to the dyes used. I mean the best pellet is the one that your parrot WILL eat - if he won't touch #'1 thru 9, then #10 is a winner. Me I would try going UP the food chain ( no pun intended). Salty settled on ROudybush, which is like #5 but he will not touch others, I;ve tried them. Sorry about the lpss of your CAG - I've lost a much loved parrot in the past. It hurts!1

I’m not %100 sure all of those options were even available back when they started eating them in the mid ‘90s. As I‘m sure you can appreciate, by the time they are 5 or so getting them to accept anything new becomes harder and harder. Nutritionally they have been in peak health this whole time - and my CAGs issue was unrelated to diet. It has been a great relief just to know that those pellets were doing the heavy lifting with the proper nutrition so that everything else they ate was just for variety and fun.

 

[SailBoat]

Fully agree with Wrench regarding his list.
Zupreem did make changes as did a couple of other manufacturers back a few years. Most of it was based around changing to an FDA approved processing /pelleting facility and meeting their requirements for chemicals used, especially the source of the color supplied. I believe it was around the time that several Pellet producers for dogs had killed so many with a non-FDA approved chemical and facility.
We use one of the top five as an additive to a Healthy natural dry food part of the diet as they can just as easily cause problems with too much of a good thing. We watch our yearly blood tests for variations and adjust based on findings.

Very sorry for your recent loss!

 

[Botsari]

Fully agree with Wrench regarding his list.
Zupreem did make changes as did a couple of other manufacturers back a few years. Most of it was based around changing to an FDA approved processing /pelleting facility and meeting their requirements for chemicals used, especially the source of the color supplied. I believe it was around the time that several Pellet producers for dogs had killed so many with a non-FDA approved chemical and facility.
We use one of the top five as an additive to a Healthy natural dry food part of the diet as they can just as easily cause problems with too much of a good thing. We watch our yearly blood tests for variations and adjust based on findings.

Very sorry for your recent loss!

The picky eater, and although one of the most gentle birds I have ever known, a bit of a drama queen with respect to any changes, was the bird I lost. My remaining parrot eats almost everything offered to him. In fact my whole strategy when giving them something new was first to hand it to my TAG. So maybe this is the moment to try to shift him onto something else.

 

[texsize]

My CAG likes and eats the Zupreem nut blend.
it doesn’t have the colors so I always thought it was a bit better.
As a bonus all my Cockatiels eat it also.