Are these Treats or Foods?

[fiddlejen]

Sunny my Sun Conure is currently being fed Higgins Sunburst for Conures as her main food. Also she eats plenty of fresh, non-starchy, veggies almost every day.

Recently I've found Two additional items she loves. I am unsure whether to regard (and hence limit) them as "treats," or whether they simply count as nutritious "food."

The first is Tropical NutriBerries. I think Sunny would be quite happy if they were her main food, but that's not happening. (And probably half of each n-berry lands on her floor.) But it's not clear to me. Are the TRopical NutriBerries intended as Food, or are they supposed to be treats?

The second new item is Dehydrated Peas. These are organic, no added flavors etc, peas only. She Likes them a Lot. So far Ive only given her a FEW per day. Can I count peas as food and increase them, or should I continue to limit the peas as being treats only?

 

[fiddlejen]

(I did offering some dried peas to the budgies yesterday, but they weren't interested. This morning there's been a lot of unusual floor-activity. Looks like the budgies have
been playing birdie-soccer with the left-behind peas all morning!

 

[noodles123]

You don't want to give them too much protein, as it can tax the kidneys and liver. I think peas are okay, but if she loves them, I would save them for treats, because she may end up picking them out and filling up on them (they are high protein, so that could lead to over-consumption). Furthermore, double check to see how they are dehydrated (If I recall correctly, some of the freeze-dried varieties sometimes use a chemical during the process..The dried ones often contain preservatives and the crispy/crunchy ones are sometimes fried in oil.

Nutriberries can be fed as "a complete meal" according to the company and some "parronts". From what I understand, they are coated in vitamins (so it isn't just a ball of seed and fruit--they add stuff to fortify them). There are mixed opinions on this practice among bird owners though. You could try smashing them up...I know some people combine nutriberries w/ pellets, but long-term, that could get tricky since both contain added vitamins. I am not sure if I helped at all, but there you have it.

Here is some good information on vitamins, over-doses, deficiencies etc : https://www.beautyofbirds.com/nutritionalrequirementsofparrots