Do you feed your parrot pellet food?
I only want pellet answers! I know about diet – fresh food – etc. What I want to know is what type of pellet food do you feed your bird and why? Have you tried other pellet food and what was your birds preference? Mine picks out certain colors, but I was told by the manufacturer that there is no flavor attached to the color and the bird just had a color preference. Do you get your food locally or do you have it shipped? What about expiration dates? Please try to answer all questions. Thank you
85% of my birds’ diet is composed of pellets and it’s the best choice I’ve ever made. Ever since switching from all seed, I noticed brighter eyes, more playful moods, smoother and softer plumage, and overall much healthier birds. Anyway, onto your questions:
1. I feed a variety of pellets. Harrison’s, Roudybush, Zupreem, Lafeber, and Tropican. I used to feed Hagen Cockatiel Lifetime but I found this was less favoured. I feed these because Harrison’s is a fantastic brand, very well researched and trusted by parrot owners everywhere, and best of all, it’s organic. I feed Roudybush because it is also highly researched and trusted, and my birds love it. Zupreem was the second type of pellet I tried with my birds, and I feed them Garden Goodness for small birds – they love the dried vegetables in it and also the crunchiness of the pellets themselves. I also noticed they had a love for vegetables and a hate for fruit, so fruit flavours would get me nowhere. Lafeber is also a trusted brand, maybe not so much as the others, but I find its quality is nice, it’s fairly researched, and my birds enjoy it. I feed Tropimix because it has a little bit of seed, which can account for most of the seed in their diet along with pellets and a fruity sensational smell with a couple of colours. I tend to avoid artifical colours and flavours because colours can stain the poop and throw an owner off from how healthy their bird is if their poop is coming out rainbows. Flavours just aren’t good for them, just as they wouldn’t be for people. All natural is the best way to go, and the dyes in food can be dangerous to overall health as well by picking on some organs.
2. I have tried a ton of pellets. Like I said, I started with Hagen Cockatiel Lifetime, and that went okay. They ate it but it took them a while to warm up to it. Then I tried Zupreem Garden Goodness for Small Birds. That went great for most of my birds because it had the colours of the vegetables and the fact that they could dunk those pieces in their water and make them squishy was fantastic. Then came Lafeber, and although the shape of the pellets (cylindrical – all of the ones I’d offered so far were round) took some getting used to, they did eat it. I continue to feed it now because one of my (five) birds still loves it. Then came Roudybush and that was a HUGE success! I don’t know what it was about it, it could have been the colour or the crumbly shapes and size, but it went great. And lastly, Harrison’s. Took some getting used to, these pellets are tiny and cylindrical, a different colour than all the other pellets I’ve given, but the slight smell of peanut, I think, enticed them. Oh, and they had no problem eating the Tropimix since it had seeds, and regardless of most of the bright colours, the seeds were a good offering that they would eat with or without the dye. Many birds do have a colour preference, and bird foods are produced similarly to dog food – that is, every kibble is the same in nutritional value and taste, but if one is a different colour and your bird likes that colour better, you can bet they’ll go for it. Besides, birds typically have a crappy sense of taste and smell. It’s the appearance and the texture, size, and ‘feel’ of the food they go for. For example, mine hate fruit because it’s juicy and they hate getting their beaks too wet.
3. I order mine online with the exception of Tropimix. Tropimix I can now get from my local Petcetera, but Harrison’s is only available online and within certain avian vet offices. Roudybush I’ve only seen online, but I wouldn’t doubt they’re in vet offices, too. Zupreem is available at Petsmart and such, but I find the prices are better online and shipping is fair. I order from http://www.parrotdiseperch.com It’s a Canadian site and ships orders for $20 within Canada, and considering the fact that I bought a heavy order, I like it.
4. Most expiration dates say “Best if opened before”. The site I linked above informed me that a food I ordered was on a new shipment to them, and the only ones they had at the time I ordered were “Best if opened before” two or three months from then, and all that means is that you should open it before then. It will still be good for at least two more months. Anything over that, I would say is stale. If you want to try and preserve them longer, stick them in the fridge. Just like our food, the coolness slows the process of losing its taste, crunchiness, etc. and it stays fresher longer.
Hope that helps.
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