# parrot food



## Sarahhampson (Oct 19, 2010)

can anybody reccomend a decent parrot food theres loads to choose from and its confusing me :S


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

Sarahhampson said:


> can anybody reccomend a decent parrot food theres loads to choose from and its confusing me :S


look on the tidy mix website thats not bad

or the jungle good range is good


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## 53bird (Sep 30, 2009)

what kind of parrot do you have? the best thing for a parrot is pellets and plenty of fresh friut and veg, go onto any parrot forum or ask your vet they will all tell you this.
when your bird is feeding on pellets which you will see the differance, nuts are a great treat for training with : victory:


i feed my grey a mix of pellets, here are the links

harrisons high potancy is great for greys and macaws and they do other ranges depending on the bird
Buy Harrisons High Potency Coarse - Complete Parrot Food from Northern Parrots

i also mix in with the harrisons, zupreem fruitblend

Buy ZuPreem FruitBlend Med/Lg - Complete Food for Parrots from Northern Parrots

try to avoid prettybird and kaytee, i can send you link to all ther ingrediants, if you would like to have a look :2thumb:


EDIT - just got the link http://www.africangreyparrotcentre.co.uk/african-grey-forum/african-grey-diet/pellet-comparison/


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## Sarahhampson (Oct 19, 2010)

well shes a ringneck parakeet thankyou i will check out the website is a pellet diet good for our cockateil aswell he is on a cockateil seed mix can they eat the same


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

53bird said:


> what kind of parrot do you have? the best thing for a parrot is pellets and plenty of fresh friut and veg, go onto any parrot forum or ask your vet they will all tell you this.
> when your bird is feeding on pellets which you will see the differance, nuts are a great treat for training with : victory:
> 
> 
> ...


 
would you feed your reptiles a pelleted diet its so un natural and is so boreing for your bird there are so many argments for and not for if anything give seed pellets and fruit and veg but not just pellets and fruit veg

and i think your comment on go on any forum and they will tell you l
this is a lie as the forums am on most people say ether a mix of both seed and pellets or seed not just pellets


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

Sarahhampson said:


> well shes a ringneck parakeet thankyou i will check out the website is a pellet diet good for our cockateil aswell he is on a cockateil seed mix can they eat the same


 
look up there natural diet and try to get close to it cockateils and ringnecks are seed eaters best advice you can get is frm curlycharlie and zooman on here both are experianced people and curly charlie is an experianced breeder as well


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## 53bird (Sep 30, 2009)

im not to clued up on those species, but im quite sure they will be fine on a pellet diet with fresh fruit and veg, it does take time switching them over, but i have seen great improvments with feather condition, and seems much happyer in him self.
i have switched my budgies on to a half seed half pellet diet, which they seem to doing well on too :2thumb:

this is just my opinion, im sure someone will be along to answer your questions soon who know more on these species,


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## 53bird (Sep 30, 2009)

adamntitch said:


> would you feed your reptiles a pelleted diet its so un natural and is so boreing for your bird there are so many argments for and not for if anything give seed pellets and fruit and veg but not just pellets and fruit veg
> 
> and i think your comment on go on any forum and they will tell you l
> this is a lie as the forums am on most people say ether a mix of both seed and pellets or seed not just pellets


 

my vet recommended i did this? 
yes you are right, i have 30mins a night training and teaching new things which i use seeds and nuts for rewards, he also gets a palm nut for a treat for going back into bed. i have spoken many times with my vet about this.
the african grey forum, everyone recommendeds a pellet diet aswell, but greys do need abit more than most birds. 
there is nothing wrong with a good quility seed mix, im just saying what have researched and spoken to many people about this argument.

i also forgot to mention about sprouting seeds and pulses which are a great food to hide round there cage to keep them busy. with lots of natural benifits

as i said this is just my opinion. and my birds are in great condition from this, at the end of the day, if your bird is happy and healthy thats all that matters

im sorry i didnt make my first post very clear

i know this isnt about the OP's birds but have a read of this, its a very good read which i have gone other with my vet to get things right http://www.africangreyparrotcentre.co.uk/african-grey-forum/african-grey-diet/diet/


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Regarding the pellet debate:

I feed my 3 parrots a diet where the mainstay is pellets. They have pellets available 24/7. They also get a good quality seed mixture, fruit & veg, nuts, & human foods such as pasta, scrambeld egg, the odd chip, etc. I recommend pellet-based diets to many parrot owners, as they do help to provide the basis of a good balanced diet, when other foods are provided alongside.

Regarding Cockatiels & Ring-Necks diet:

Cockatiels are eaters of small seeds for the vast majority of their natural diet. They can be tricky to persuade to try new foods in captivity, especially when it comes to fruit & veg. If your Cockatiel will convert to a pellet-based diet, great. If not, it will come to no great harm, as long as you can try to get bits of fruit, veg, & human foods into it.

Ring-Necks naturally eat a more varied diet than Cockatiels, due to their habitat being more jungly than the arid grasslands where Cockatiels live. Again, if you can get your Ring-Neck to take a pellet-based diet, along with a mix of good quality seed (minimal sunflower seeds & peanuts), fruits & vegetables, & healthy human foods, that would be great.


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

Parakeet seed mix which could be used for both your birds is available at these places & of a good quality. If in doubt contact some of them to see if they can send samples out; some do some don't.

www.junglegold.com
www.robharvey.co.
Dietec UK - Specialist Avian Supplies (this guy used to breed loads of birds so created mixes specially formulated)
Tidymix diets, healthy diets for parrots, parakeets & budie's (a popular choice with pet bird keepers although none of mine will eat it!)
Home (a very helpful supplier of all things parroty)

As for the whole pellet thing - my pet birds get both pellet & seed mixes, as well as fresh foods (but not many human foods in this house coz they iz mine :whistling2. I use Nutribird natural pellets as I found coloured ones gave them a chance to pick out the ones they wanted & wasted the rest. Some coloured pellets have also been known to cause aggression due to the E-numbers.

As for vets recommending them - HA! probably because they are on commission to sell them :whistling2: My vet tried getting me to use a gluten free diet because one of my dogs needed it - strange how they sell JWB.
However, there has been research done in the USA on the use of pellet diets & it did find to be more beneficial. A friend of mine worked out there doing her Uni work placement with an avian vet & he said there is now more proof coming through as to the benefits BUT also that a lot of the research was paid for by the companies that make the pellets!! Sadly not much independent research gets done when it comes to parrots/birds & that's not just dietary research.

Another bit of info my m8s gained was 80% parrots that plucked that came to this vet were actually caused by HEALTH reasons & not psychological causes!! He had lots of expensive equipment that was able to diagnose the causes & apparently our UK vets are somewhat behind & thus still think the majority of plucking is caused by psychological factors here in the UK.


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## Snoopy84 (May 15, 2010)

we use zupreem pellets for the cockatoo as it gets more into her than a seed mix, as shes so picky and she point blank refuses fruit and veg no matter how many times we try with her.

With the african grey and conures we have a low sunflower seed mix as a suppliment to their daily fruit and vegtables.

for birds who are very picky i would always use pellets so they get plenty of nutrition. but the rest of our birds are ganets:2thumb:

our cockatoo was badly plucked when she came to us, after vet care and a lot of time and effort she is nearly full feathered, allbeit scraggy but the fact she is such a picky eater putting her on the pellets and supplimenting her water actually has done her health the world of good, and her feather conditionn is much better now too. She now only plucks when something stresses her out, last time was when my husbands best friend refused to fuss her so she sat there and pulled a feather straight away, she simply cannot cope with rejection or lack of attention. A very hard work bird and a full time job in itself.


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## Shadowz (Aug 6, 2008)

I have to admit Im one of the ones not convinced by the whole pellet diet. 
Thankfully our vet do agree ( or at least accept my views )
I cant think of anything less natural then the pellets and they dont allow for forraging and so on. 

I feed a mix of this
Buy Hagen Living World Tropimix Large Parrot Food 2Kg from Northern Parrots

and this 
Buy Prestige Premium African Parrot - Natural Blend from Northern Parrots

I wont buy anything in large sacks due to the risk of fungal setting in when a large bag is left open. 

For cockatiels and red rumps I feed this which is totally fantastic and smell delicious 
Buy Prestige Premium Australian Parakeet Blend from Northern Parrots

I also feed lots of the food in things like these 
Buy Seek `n` Find Foraging Box - Pack of 5 - Large from Northern Parrots


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## Sarahhampson (Oct 19, 2010)

Thank you I decided to give them a seed mix as spike (cockateil is really fussy and will only eat seeds) but our Indian ring neck isn't fussy at all she eats everything we put in her cage


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