Which pelleted diet do Amazons tend to like?

[Ladyhawk]

I know each bird is an individual, but you can make some sweeping comments regarding types of birds. I would like to try several brands. Hopefully, I can get some samples.

 

[texsize]

I go with Zoopreem (not sure about spelling) fruit blend.
my RLA likes them as is. My YNA only eats them after soaking in apple juice.
My CAG likes them as is also

 

[RavensGryf]

I've been using Harrison's for decades with excellent results. Bright colors and proof in perfect bloodwork time after time.

I also use Lafeber's Nutriberries. Both Harrison's and Lafeber's are known as some of the best nutrition on the market. Not cheap though.

Check out this link that describes Lafeber's pellet manufacturing process for optimal nutritional benefits. https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/bird-food/pellets/

Here is their complete list of products. https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/shop/ Nutriberries also encourages foraging, which is good too.

 

[SailBoat]

Reality check, the only pellets that all parrots seem to like are heavier on the Sugar and Salt levels. This makes sense if you understand the limited range of their taste sensors. The more sugar and salt the more other problems are invited. So avoid those products that use and especially those who over use them.

Colored pellets can have you rushing to the CAV when your favorite buddy elects to eat only red color (or, your name the color) pellets that day! So, do you heart a favor and avoid the colored pellets.

The neat part about weaning a baby is that you can provide the pellet in a tiny size or crushed when converting them to solid foods. They have no preconceived notions about, which is better or worst. So, start with an All Human Grade Ingredients mix with no sugar, no salt and no colors. The selection narrows down pretty fast with those requirement in place.

Organic based pellets - sadly, the term has been so miss-used that its hard to tell where it is a benefit or not! In this area, I go with the ones that have been doing it for the longest time and stay with them.

Pressed for an answer; Harrison's.

NOTE: Alway Freeze Dry Goods until ready to use and then only enough for a couple of days. We pre-pack three /four day amount and date the packaging before placing in the Freezer. Avoid over-buying, everything looses its quality the longer it is stored!!! We buy quarterly and assure that nothing is in the Freezer for more than six months at the longest. But we are known to spoil a certain Amazon!

Enjoy!

 

[Taw5106]

Mine will eat Rowdybush. I've tried Harrisons but they become missiles. Mine are on a fresh diet and after my visit with the vet where I learned that birds don't have a lot of taste buds it makes me wonder why they won't eat Harrisons.

 

[SailBoat]

Mine will eat Rowdybush. I've tried Harrisons but they become missiles. Mine are on a fresh diet and after my visit with the vet where I learned that birds don't have a lot of taste buds it makes me wonder why they won't eat Harrisons.

That is a great question! Harrison's has no sugar and no salt. The very few taste buds they have can be triggered by both.

The neat part of starting a Parrot as part of weaning from wet to dry is that they are not aware of the wonders of sugar and salt! Much easier to start them on that type of Pellet than an Adult that has been eating pellets with sugar and salt.

 

[Laylatoo]

I don't have an amazon but my recently acquired Galah was on an all seed diet only before I got her. She took to TOPs pellets right away. I've purchased Harrison's, zupreem natural, roudybush and she will only eat the zupreem naturals and the Tops so we do a combo of both (more tops than zupreem) with fresh chop, nurriberries and sometimes a few seeds for treats. TOPs are a little pricey but she sure does love them which makes me happy because my previous bird wouldn't even try pellets.

 

[Flboy]

My JoJo has Roudybush, Zupreem(fruit and natural), and TOPS(favorite). Along with Abba seed soak sprouts. Each at a different station, per JoJo's orders! I buy in bulk, everything in the freezer, in bottles!
I have one station I use to introduce new foods, and he is so funny, first exposure, I swear he spits it at me! Second, oh this again? Third, 'oh my' bring it on!

 

[wrench13]

Salty is a Roudybush boy. Hewill eat the middle size and the bigger ones too. He gas 24/7 access to them. He gets a fruit lunch ( 2 or more kinds) and chop+Avicake ( crushed up fine) and sometimes some baby food , all mixed together for dinner. Salty likes his pellets dry or soaked in some juice once in awhile. The idea is to give him some variety. Dinner can be said chop, or yams, or squash. He didnt care for samples from the other BIG guys. But lil guy can be introduced to any kind right now, he doesn't know what he likes.

 

[Kiwibird]

Kiwi seems not to mind Goldenfeast Golden'Obles too much, but I use them obscurely in his diet (ground up to make bird bread or incorporated into a toy). I don't bother fighting with pellets as a dietary staple. There are no pellets in the jungle. I personally tasted several brands after he repeatedly rejected them and frankly, they all tasted pretty nasty. Parrots do have tastebuds, a concept pellet manufacturers seem not to have caught on to. I can understand the struggle to get parrots to eat them.

I prefer to feed a fresh foods diet. Whole grains, beans, fresh produce and some nuts and seeds as foraging treats. A definite PITA and a whole lot more effort but (just a personal opinion) it is a closer diet to what he would be eating in nature with more variety and seasonal shifts in availability of different foods. There is also a higher moisture content in fresh foods vs. dry pellets. In nature, parrots stay hydrated primarily through their diet, not drinking from open water sources. I also find that the small quantities of human grade food required to feed him a healthy diet is far less expensive than the animal grade ingredients used commercial diets available in pet stores cost. I do spend a whole lot of time chopping, cooking, dehydrating, baking etc... meals for him (in batches that last weeks-months), but I do like spoiling him just a little bit

 

[Ladyhawk]

Kiwi seems not to mind Goldenfeast Golden'Obles too much, but I use them obscurely in his diet (ground up to make bird bread or incorporated into a toy). I don't bother fighting with pellets as a dietary staple. There are no pellets in the jungle. I personally tasted several brands after he repeatedly rejected them and frankly, they all tasted pretty nasty. Parrots do have tastebuds, a concept pellet manufacturers seem not to have caught on to. I can understand the struggle to get parrots to eat them.

I prefer to feed a fresh foods diet. Whole grains, beans, fresh produce and some nuts and seeds as foraging treats. A definite PITA and a whole lot more effort but (just a personal opinion) it is a closer diet to what he would be eating in nature with more variety and seasonal shifts in availability of different foods. There is also a higher moisture content in fresh foods vs. dry pellets. In nature, parrots stay hydrated primarily through their diet, not drinking from open water sources. I also find that the small quantities of human grade food required to feed him a healthy diet is far less expensive than the animal grade ingredients used commercial diets available in pet stores cost. I do spend a whole lot of time chopping, cooking, dehydrating, baking etc... meals for him (in batches that last weeks-months), but I do like spoiling him just a little bit

Gabby got more and more finicky with age. I did make human-oriented meals for him, but if I froze what I made and tried to feed it two days in a row, he'd turn up his nose: "I ate this yesterday. I want something different!" Diet items could also be rejected based on temperature, color or however he happened to be feeling that day.

When Gabby was under a year old, a strawberry attacked him. Not only did he never try strawberries again, he regarded any red-colored food item with great suspicion. I used to have one of those old dome-shaped cages with a removable top that turns the cage into a stand. I would stick different soft foods to the bars of his cage so he could try them out. I'd stuck a strawberry on a bar toward the top. He regarded it with suspicion for quite some time before finally working up enough nerve to approach it on the outside of the cage from below. Tentatively, he stretched his neck toward it and just before he touched the strawberry, it slid down the cage bar right at him. The poor little guy screamed and fell backward off the cage. It was sort of funny at the time, but I think it gave him a bad case of birdy PTSD. He never again went near a strawberry, no matter how many times I tried. He learned that strawberries were evil. End of story.

 

[Ladyhawk]

Mine will eat Rowdybush. I've tried Harrisons but they become missiles. Mine are on a fresh diet and after my visit with the vet where I learned that birds don't have a lot of taste buds it makes me wonder why they won't eat Harrisons.

That is a great question! Harrison's has no sugar and no salt. The very few taste buds they have can be triggered by both.

The neat part of starting a Parrot as part of weaning from wet to dry is that they are not aware of the wonders of sugar and salt! Much easier to start them on that type of Pellet than an Adult that has been eating pellets with sugar and salt.

She's a good candidate for Harrison's, then. I may as well try. I have a lot of hopes and dreams for this little one. She has the benefit of years of knowledge not available when Gabby was young. I need to learn about target training. I can imagine tons of uses for it. Also, harnesses weren't available when my Gabby bird was a youngster. This little girl is going to learn about everything in as gentle a way as possible.

 

[clayman]

My two BFA girls love Versele-Laga Nutribird Tropical. VL is a known brand (in Europe anyway) so I consider them quality pellets. They are colored, though, so I am considering replacing them with plain Nutribird variant, which should be color-free, when my current supply runs out.

 

[Scott]

Gonzo will only eat ZuPreem fruit blend. I realize it is not the best product, but none of my fids will touch either the "natural" variety or any of the preferred pellets. His "dry" bowl has about a teaspoon or so of seed mixed in for balance. His overall diet is biased towards fresh chop.

Gonzo is my first bird, acquired just over 32 years ago. My guess is he was hatched in the early 1980s.

 

[KimMichele]

All of them. They love to eat.

 

[Ladyhawk]

OK, Kizzy starts her morning with Lafeber's, Zupreem Natural Harrison's High Potency Coarse, which I like, too. Go figure. She didn't like soaked pellets, so I crumbled them instead. Now she gets a mouthful of crumbles and wets them herself. Again, go figure.

If all goes well (knock on wood), she will live a long time, perhaps see some of the pellet companies go out of business. I would prefer she stick to Harrison's, but because it is made to such exacting standards, I also expect it would go out of business first.

Would you add a fourth pelleted diet? If so, what?

 

[PL84]

My two BFA girls love Versele-Laga Nutribird Tropical. VL is a known brand (in Europe anyway) so I consider them quality pellets. They are colored, though, so I am considering replacing them with plain Nutribird variant, which should be color-free, when my current supply runs out.

My birds eat those too, if they can choose between seeds and those they'll always go for seeds... But if (and when) no seeds are available they eat those without a fight or throwing. I'll add little bit off apple juice or orange juice in their food bowl with the pellets, they seem to like it

nutribird-p15-tropical

I've tried Harrisons too, but like someone stated, they turn to missiles

 

[Ladyhawk]

My two BFA girls love Versele-Laga Nutribird Tropical. VL is a known brand (in Europe anyway) so I consider them quality pellets. They are colored, though, so I am considering replacing them with plain Nutribird variant, which should be color-free, when my current supply runs out.

My birds eat those too, if they can choose between seeds and those they'll always go for seeds... But if (and when) no seeds are available they eat those without a fight or throwing. I'll add little bit off apple juice or orange juice in their food bowl with the pellets, they seem to like it

nutribird-p15-tropical

I've tried Harrisons too, but like someone stated, they turn to missiles

I'll have a look at NutriBird.

As for the Harrison's, Kizzy pretty much ignored them until she saw me eating them. Yes, that's right. I'm eating pelleted bird food. XD Harrison's isn't bad at all. I've tried the Zupreem (yuck!) and the Lafeber's (double yuck!), too. The Harrison's Power Treats are also quite good. If I were a bird (and had access to human taste buds) I'd prefer Harrison's.

Eating is a social thing for parrots, so Kizzy will ignore everything she doesn't see me eat first. Sometimes I'll eat something in front of her early in the day and she'll turn up her nose at it. Then later in the day I'll see her eating it. She actually likes broccoli. Color me stunned. She tried green beans today and liked them, too. So far, I'm very happy with her progress. The only seeds she's had are those that come with Lafeber's Avi-Cakes and some chopped raw sunflower seeds for training. I've started withholding the Lafeber's Avi-Cakes so she'll be interested in training. She has to eat pellets first thing, then vegetables, then it's time for training. At night she gets a hand-feeding. She'll be eleven weeks old on Monday, so she's on schedule for weaning at twelve weeks. However, I am thinking about continuing with occasional hand-feedings so I'll have an easy way to give her medication. The few times I had to force it on Gabby = NOT GOOD!!!

 

[KevH]

Mine will eat Rowdybush. I've tried Harrisons but they become missiles. Mine are on a fresh diet and after my visit with the vet where I learned that birds don't have a lot of taste buds it makes me wonder why they won't eat Harrisons.

That is a great question! Harrison's has no sugar and no salt. The very few taste buds they have can be triggered by both.

The neat part of starting a Parrot as part of weaning from wet to dry is that they are not aware of the wonders of sugar and salt! Much easier to start them on that type of Pellet than an Adult that has been eating pellets with sugar and salt.

Harrison's does have salt check the ingredients on the back but it's minimal as I feed my birds harrisons

 

[clayman]

I'll have a look at NutriBird.

As for the Harrison's, Kizzy pretty much ignored them until she saw me eating them. Yes, that's right. I'm eating pelleted bird food. XD

I have tasted the Nutribird pellets and kinda liked them. They certainly taste better than dog pellets, which I have also tasted just for sh*ts and giggles.