Aussie parrot owners - food question

[brunettesrule]

hello all

I was reading the parrot food (pellet) section and there is a wide variety. Which pellet food do you find the best and what is the price. I'm not sure which brand of pellet food you can get here in Oz. I am on a limited budget so can't make too many mistakes. I would hate to get a packet of pellets and they don't take to it, but I suppose it is trial by error. Do any company's give sample packs?

P.S. so the main diet of a parrot should be the pellets, followed by fresh fruit and a bit of parrot seed? I have googled so much I am now confused and so many different sites say different things. Mine are getting fussy. The conures will only eat apple by the bucket load, parrot seed and they LOVE the nuts of the bottle brush tree. I have tried peas, carrots, corn, sweet potato, brocolli, celery, grapes, fruit and nut mix - they don't touch it. Ugghh! Hopefully the pellets are stuffed with nutricious vegies and fruit, with the exception of the apple per day they get. The Princess Parrot will eat the nuts of the bottle brush tree, parrot seed and walnuts and have also tried him on all the above also.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[tab_xo]

Heya!


I buy Harrisons online.. They are the healthiest i believe!

I also buy Prettybird- Species specific (Macaw)- That is also online from the same place!


Then vetafarm macaw and maintenance just from the shop Vetafarm is the only one most pet shops have!


I like to just have a mix of all, i have no idea which is the best



Australia can now have Zupreem pellets, but they are the fruit blend, not natural, so it is has the colouring just like Pretty Bird does?

I might try Zupreem when Fargo runs out!!



I know the online shop would probably send you sample packs of the Harrisons, because when i ordered they sent me 2 sample packs along with it!





Just give me 5 minutes to get Fargo's breakfast, because he is sitting here telling me to get off the computer hahaha and then i can find the prices for you

 

[tab_xo]

Harrisons adult Lifetime comes in 454g (1lb) $12.95 in either course or fine.
Prettybird is 1.13kg (3lb) $23.95


We also stock the roudybush premium pellets, maintenance 625g $16.95 or 1.25kg $27.95, and roudybush californian (pellets with dried fruits) 1.25kg $34.95




Roudybush is another good one, but you can buy them in most pet shops i believe!

Vetafarm is about 20 dollars for a big bag!





Have you tried mashing their veges up? Cook them, makes them softer and might like them more?

 

[brunettesrule]

Thanks for the info. So jealous you have a B&G macaw, would love to get one but you could buy a car for the price of a B&G...lol. Maybe later on and save the bucks.

Which aussie website do you get your supplies from? I would love to email them to get some sample packs.

As my birds are only about 4-5 mths old, is there a "junior" one. I noticed Harrisons is adult.

Cheers, Jane

 

[Mike17]

Not sure about samples, but Vetafarm products are reasonably priced, and local as in made in Oz. We use them, mostly, although we're not as single-minded as some about not feeding birds seed. Living remote, seed is available at Woolies, pellets aren't. We have Paradise and Maintenance pellets plus Neocare for babies. Our Princess, Kermit, has a deformed beak and gets maintenance pellets put through a coffee grinder and made into a paste.

 

[tab_xo]

Here you go!

Premium Bird Foods « Petfood Plus Petfood Plus


They are the only place i can find in Australia which sells all the different types!

They might send a sample of each

 

[Betrisher]

I use Vetafarm too. There's a brand called Passmores that I've seen in Coles and Woolies, but the packs are always old and battered and I assume no one buys them. The Vetafarm ones aren't cheap (I pay $24.95 for a 2kg bag), but they're the only ones I can find. My birds are doing well on them: they're all the right weight for their species and in good feather (except for Dominic, who plucks). I also feed mixed veggies and fruits. Each bird has its preferences, but they all enjoy their fruit and veg, so that's a good thing. Dominic has an unfortunate habit of hurling the veggies he doesn't like and more often than not they wind up under my bare foot (urk!)

 

[Mike17]

I use Vetafarm too. There's a brand called Passmores that I've seen in Coles and Woolies, but the packs are always old and battered and I assume no one buys them. The Vetafarm ones aren't cheap (I pay $24.95 for a 2kg bag), but they're the only ones I can find. My birds are doing well on them: they're all the right weight for their species and in good feather (except for Dominic, who plucks). I also feed mixed veggies and fruits. Each bird has its preferences, but they all enjoy their fruit and veg, so that's a good thing. Dominic has an unfortunate habit of hurling the veggies he doesn't like and more often than not they wind up under my bare foot (urk!)

I've seen the Passmore's too, Trish, but in bird/pet shops. Didn't look tatty so maybe it moves better in bird places. They seem to do a number of lines for lories.

I recently ordered some Nutriberries for a US site with an Oz site/branch- free postage and prices in AUD. It took forever though- 3-4 weeks. The odd thing was, I bought a long ladder, which tripled the size of the box (came in two boxes taped together, in fact) yet there were eccy pellets I wanted but no free post- in fact postage went from free to USD64 in the shopping cart when I put it in! Having ordered a lot of hifi stuff from US in recent years, I know that volume is as important as weight with US postage.

This is the place I ordered from: Lafeber Company - Nutri-Berries Parakeet Food - 12.5 oz. - VitaminGrocer.com.au

Thought to get some human supplements but their prices no better than others, including from US where I got some cheap melatonin a while back.

 

[strudel]

I've seen the Passmore's too, Trish, but in bird/pet shops. Didn't look tatty so maybe it moves better in bird places.

The Passmore's packaging looks like it hasn't changed since the 1950s, so that might be influencing your perception, Trish. It's a very dated "look".

 

[Betrisher]

Strudel, have you used Passmore's pellets? I've wondered what they're like, since they're a bit cheaper than the Vetafarm ones and not (I think) coloured. The first time my birds did nuclear green poos, I nearly fell off me perch!!! Then I realised it was the colour from their pellets. Oddly the other colours don't affect their poos, just the green. Makes it a bit off-putting, y'know?

Yeah, I know what you mean about the boxes, but the ones I've seen locally were actually battered and dusty so that put me right off: they looked like ancient stock from pre-WWII. LOL!

 

[strudel]

I've wondered what they're like, since they're a bit cheaper than the Vetafarm ones

No, I haven't tried them, but I'm going to. I just saw them up at a different shop and they had 5kg bags which were around the same price as they sell the 2kg vetafarm at city farmers (but they are probably available cheaper elsewhere). The vetafarm I buy aren't coloured. Just beige.

 

[Mike17]

After searching for Passmore's for some time, I found out it's Passwell's:22:

 

[strudel]

hahaha, yes of course it is. Passwells. Passmore is the gardening bloke on the telly.

 

[tab_xo]

I have tried the Passwells- it was a mix of dried fruits, and their pellets

I didn't like it, looks kinda cheap and not that healthy :/

And Fargo didn't even eat the dried fruits, which is strange because he loves dried fruits... and he wouldn't touch the pellets :S


Fargo gets mostly harrisons and vetafarm, and then the vetafarm macaw nuts are always blended into birdie bread

and his pretty bird is the treat pellet, cause it seems very sugary and sweet smelling

 

[Betrisher]

Hnyah! Passwells Schmasswells! I prob'ly didn't have me glasses on when I saw them. LOLOLOL! Sorry about that, guys. My bad.

 

[tab_xo]

HAHAHA Trish ! You got the first 4 letters right!