Food, food, food

[ScooterMcTavish]

Hi All,

Question about diet for our new Amazon.

Our breeder had Monty on Roudybush pellets, with a small dash of Zupreem Fruit Blend added in (color? flavor?). For treats, he would get a bit of the Hagen premium parrot mix, or a few almonds, plus the odd bit of toast and scrambled egg.

Since we've had him, we've followed this, and have tried him on a numnber of different foods.

In feeding Monty, I've noticed a few things:
- He doesn't eat the Zupreem, and picks around it to eat the Roudybush
- He only seems to eat part of each pellet - the rest turns into dust at the bottom of his bowl that he cannot seem (or care) to pick up
- When given greens (we've tried arugula, chard, peppers, broccoli, carrots, and blueberries), he has had only limited interest. When we've tried a few different foods (chicken, pasta, rice) his eyes pin
- He enjoys a half of an in-shell walnut, or a whole in shell almond for food and foraging
- We gave him some bulk pigeon mix (corn, wheat, trapper peas, red milo, barley, maple peas) which he enjoyed digging through and chewing, but I'm not sure he got much out of it.

So, considering all of the above, the few questions I have are:
- Are pellets truly complete? What nutritional needs are not being met by them?
- What other fresh foods have people successfully fed to their Amazons?
- Any issues with discontinuing the Zupreem? Any luck with the spicy (not fruity) Zupreem just to add some variety?
- Any other good base foods we could add to the Roudybush just for some variety (like Lafeber Nutri-Berries or Pellet Berries?)

And yes, we will limit his carb intake - our understanding is these guys can be prone to weight issues, so toast, pasta, or rice will only be served in small bits.

Welcome the feedback of other Amazon owners! I know I enjoy eating a large variety of foods with different flavors and textures, so why wouldn't Monty?

 

[BlueFrontOwner]

All my bird wants is table food, she doesn't really like any of the pellets or bird food unless there are nuts and good stuff like that in it. I find it cruel to restrict her to a pellet diet because I surely wouldn't want to eat that crap either.

Since my bird just goes crazy for table food and If I don't give her any she will scream like she is dying, I just try and make sure she eats healthy table food and a good variety to cover all the nutrients.

People on the forum are going to push all this special bird food, even when I brought my bird to the vet one time in over 20 years I have owned her the vet was pushing pellet diets.

The way I figure is that we don't even know what is healthy for human consumption, it just keeps changing what is good and bad for us, how are we going to know what is healthy for a bird. Makes me kind of laugh when people push these special diets. Just use common sense like you are doing and obviously giving her just one type of food is bad because it doesn't cover all the nutrients.

If it is healthy for you it is probably healthy for the bird, except a few foods that they have found to be poisonous. One food my bird likes is raisin bran which is fortified with lots of things just in case I'm missing something in my table food. She also enjoys salmon if there is a little mayo on it. She drinks orange juice, I give her grapes. basically these are the foods I eat mostly and that is what she eats.

Remember half the population of humans are obese, they want to eat and enjoy food, why starve these little scavenger amazons who seem to want tasty food also and dislike pellets. We don't force this on humans so I don't see why we should force it on the birds. Of course we shouldn't just feed the bird junk food because they don't know any better, but a healthy variety of table food should be more than adequate.

 

[kozykitty]

I just adopted a 30 year old BFA. She's been raised on a seed diet. I've been mixing some seed and some pellets but I've also been giving her chopped veggies and some fruit. She got pomegranate for the first time today and she's pitching a fit right now because she wants more. I give her chopped jalapeno, bell pepper, broccoli, green bean, and carrots in a dish but I give her bird versions of what I eat. I make South Beach diet spinach cups for my breakfast every day which consist of spinach, egg beaters, onion, cheese and hot sauce. I gave her a piece (avoiding the onion) and she loved them so I made mini ones for her that have spinach, whole eggs, nutritional yeast and jalapeno. I heat hers with mine and feed her from my plate. That seems important to her. She likes to eat what we eat. She loves scrambled eggs too. Tonight I threw a sweet potato in the microwave, cut some of it up and gave her some and she loved that so the rest of it is in the fridge in a zip loc bag. I'll put pieces of that in her fresh food dish.

I've only had her for a few days but I'm finding it fun and interesting to experiment with finding out what food she likes!

 

[henpecked]

Welcome to the forum. Yes pellets are an important part of their diet. I usually 40 percent pellets and the rest fresh foods. There's much debate on what pellets are best, the important part is what are a daily maintenance pellets that supplies all the trace vitamins and minerals that they need. Variety is always best. Too much of anything can be bad. Feeding many different veggies along with the pellets is usually the accepted path at this point. Sprouted seeds have many benefits and imo should be a daily routine. With non flighted, pet zons i feel their diet should not exceed 6-7 percent crude fat. A seed diet would exceed that. Yes a few nuts are good. (Variety is best) . Fresh food and sprouts are a must. I'd keep sugar laden fruits to about 10 percent. Variety is best.

 

[SailBoat]

You have asked one of the 'Hottest' questions in the parrot world. There are true wars that can flow over what is best to feed your parrot.

Amazons are anywhere from extremely picky to 'will eat anything.'

Regardless of what others may say: Pellets are NOT, in and of themselves, a complete diet base. They provide a good part of what parrot should receive, but are by no means complete. Some pellets barely meet the minimum - read what is included and compare with others. There is some really poor pellets on the market.

I provide Golden Feast's South American Blend II and Harrison's pellets as a dry base with a solid cross-section of fresh greens, veges and to a lesser degree fruits this time of year. Our DYH amazon can light-up this time of year if he gets to much sugar (natural fruit base) in his diet.

Amazon's feed the population below the trees in the wild, so grinding pellets, etc... into near dust is not uncommon in a home.

Once again, regardless of what others may say: pellets with coloring, higher levels of salt and sugar are not as good for your parrot as those pellets that do not contain coloring and have low to no salt or sugar.

OK, this thread is about to light-up with opinions and possibly some heated words. But at the end of the day, a natural cross-section of 'human grade' foods sources is what you want to target. NOTE the words: Human Grade, it is very important.

Stop feeding your parrot bulk pigeon mix. You are wasting your money, since fillers including sticks and shells, which are a large percentage of what is in that mix. There are too many 'Human Grade' parrot mixes on the market. Target a mix that contains a 'wide range' of seeds, grains, and nuts. NOTE: minimum amounts of sun floor seeds and peanuts to none. The higher end includes: dried veges and pastas. Yes, you will need a pellet supplied as part of the overall mix you will be providing your parrot, again target no coloring and low to no salt or sugar.

Human food: If its bad for humans its bad for parrots. Consider what the human diet was in and around 1910 and with some exceptions that would be food that both humans and parrots do fairly well with.

Freeze your dry foods for at least 30 days prior to feeding! We only pull out of the freezer what we plan to feed for the coming week.

Get creative in what you feed. If chop does work with your parrot, try dicing or quartering. Just because your amazon does like it one way does not mean that cut a different way may turn into his favorite. Or, a different time of the year. Remember, your working with a 'forever' 2 year old. The same tricks will work with your amazon.

 

[Peppo]

Don't forget to pick up a skewer. They are great to hang chunks of veggies on so they think it is a toy and they will try new things! When you are not hanging veggies from them, they make a great vehicle for all those broken and random toy parts to make a new toy.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Amy eats seed..but she relishes her nummy bowl! I can put her seed bowl in,then her nummy bowl,and she will literally RUN to that bowl first.

In her nummy bowl she gets a variety of goodies..all sorts of veggies and fruits etc..different things on different days. She is NOT afraid to try ANYTHING!

She eats nuts,and grapes,'nanna pieces,carrots,corn,brocoli,calliflower,PIZZA..scrambled eggs..little pieces of cheese..CHICKEN BONES...anything I will eat,she wants some! But like MY doctor tells me..MODERATION!!

After nearly 30 yrs <I got her when she was 16 weeks old> of this kind of feeding,with regular vet checks,her doc says she is in fine shape..welllll...the last check up her doc did say she was a tad "chubby" lol at 579 grams lol..time to limit the pasta I guess :54:


Jim

 

[Birdman666]

I give mine fresh foods, as well as pellets, nuts, a tiny sprinkling of seed mix primarily safflower seed, and a couple of nutriberries.

They get one bowl of fresh foods, one bowl of pellet/nuts/seed mix, and fresh water in the morning. Pellets are about 50% of the diet. Not the whole diet.

In the evening, they get a little of what ever I cook for dinner that they can have. Rice, pasta, beans, veggies, etc.

Amazons are prone to Vitamin A deficiencies, so obviously, the more vitamin A foods you can get him to eat, the better off you will be.

If you can get him to eat carrots or sweet potato, vitamin A deficiencies will never become a problem.

Obesity is also a problem with these birds, which is why we limit the amount of seeds and nuts they get. They need SOME in their diet. Not a diet comprised of seeds and nuts.

 

[ScooterMcTavish]

Good recommendations from all, thank you.

It sounds like we're on the right track, and appreciate hearing what others' birds will eat. Appreciate the tip of the Vitamin A as well, Birdman.

When feeding food from our table, my concerns would be salt, fat, sugar, and white grains, correct?

Since he likes the Roudybush better, and it doesn't have weird flavoring or colorings, I'm guessing this means its OK to take the Zupreem out of the diet. Though funny enough, when I took a close look at his bowl last night, he had eaten almost all of his Roudybush, and all of his Zupreem Fruit Blend, excepting the red and half of the purple colored pieces. Apparently, yellow, orange, and green are a preferred shape or color.

Did throw a handfulf of premium parrot mix in to his bowl last night as well, and he seemed to certainly enjoy that.

 

[kozykitty]

Where does one find a skewer? I would like to get one of those!

 

[ScooterMcTavish]

I was just going to use a stainless steel one that I would use on the BBQ.

Tip I read was to find one of the ones that has something screw onto both ends so that stuff doesn't just go sliding off it.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I give mine fresh foods, as well as pellets, nuts, a tiny sprinkling of seed mix primarily safflower seed, and a couple of nutriberries.

They get one bowl of fresh foods, one bowl of pellet/nuts/seed mix, and fresh water in the morning. Pellets are about 50% of the diet. Not the whole diet.

In the evening, they get a little of what ever I cook for dinner that they can have. Rice, pasta, beans, veggies, etc.

Amazons are prone to Vitamin A deficiencies, so obviously, the more vitamin A foods you can get him to eat, the better off you will be.

If you can get him to eat carrots or sweet potato, vitamin A deficiencies will never become a problem.

Obesity is also a problem with these birds, which is why we limit the amount of seeds and nuts they get. They need SOME in their diet. Not a diet comprised of seeds and nuts.

Mark, I was just thinking of when I first served sweet 'taters to Amy and Jonesy..Thanksgiving it was. I chuckled to myself after Jonesy lifted his face from his nummy bowl,his beak just COVERED in the sweet goodness lol..And Amy,she likes to talk in her nummy bowl as she eats,then laughs when she hears her voice echo in the bowl..but the very first time she tried the 'tato's I heard her say "Mmmmmm...GOOOOODDD"! Silly little 'zon lol


Jim

 

[Peppo]

I ordered my skewers from Amazon. I use the large stainless steel ones. 9.95 I think. They pay for themselves quickly! The brand is Scooter Z. They are made for parrots. They have a screw end.

 

[Birdman666]

Where does one find a skewer? I would like to get one of those!

These are exemplars. I just googled parrot skewers, and got about 100 hits.

Highly useful for serving food or toy parts to even the most destructive bird or parrot.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/237732...=72106d95-1a4d-2489-aa00-000042095427&gclid=C

 

[kozykitty]

My BFA sounds like she's purring when she eats her favorite things. So far pomegranate and sweet potatoes were the food that caused this reaction. Last night I introduced her to edamame. She loves it. Picks it right out of her fresh food bowl.

 

[Birdman666]

My BFA sounds like she's purring when she eats her favorite things. So far pomegranate and sweet potatoes were the food that caused this reaction. Last night I introduced her to edamame. She loves it. Picks it right out of her fresh food bowl.

Yeah. Those are all favorite things around here too, although I treat pomegranate as an OUTDOOR treat. To keep the staining from flung food to a minimum!

 

[BlueFrontOwner]

My bird always wants to go on the table when I eat so I just put her there and let her eat what she wants.

 

[kozykitty]

While we're on the topic of food, how much should I feed Gloria, my 30 year old BFA? I've had her a week now and the shop that had her for 3 weeks prior was giving her a mix of Zupreem fruity pellets and Kaytee Fiesta blend. Her previous owner had her on a seed diet and they were trying to phase out the seed and get her on pellets. They also gave her some fresh foods. I've been doing the same with the seed/pellets and her fresh food consists of jalapeno, bell pepper, carrot, edamame, pomegranate, sweet potato. I also give her some of my breakfast which is basically spinach and eggs. On the weekend she gets some scrambled eggs/omelet. Being a weekend, I've been observing her all day and she eats a good amount in the morning and evening and nibbles throughout the day. She's quite a perch potato and not very active so I don't want her to become overweight. What quantity of the seed/pellets should I give her? I figured the fresh food was probably okay as it's mostly veggies which she actually seems to prefer.

 

[BlueFrontOwner]

kozykitty, I think how much food these birds eat is hard to determine. They weigh less then 1 pound, and compared to us we weigh 100 times more than them. Does that mean they should eat 1/100th of what we eat? That would be such a small amount of food.

My bird seems to eat a lot of food. I have no choice because she will scream and scream when she is hungry. If she seems me eat anything she will scream unless I give her some.

I just let her eat until she is full when she eats with me because it is the only way to deal with her.

I can't even sneak food around her. If I try and be sneaky and open up junk food in another room and try and hide it in my hand in my pockets, she knows right away I am hiding food and she watches my hands. As soon as I take my hands out of my pockets she is looking at my hands and if I go near my mouth she is screaming. I don't know how she even knows sometimes.

I just let her eat what she wants and try and limit the junk. Her weight ranges, right now after what I believe she is eating a lot of food she weighs 15oz. If I'm out of the house and family is feeding her only bird food she will lose some weight and be around 13oz.

Tasty Food is obviously so important to these birds that I don't try and limit them to only pellets or seed mixes. We wouldn't do that to humans so why do it to birds who want the human food. Plus over half the population is obese and are humans even limiting on themselves?

 

[Mallory]

Get yourself a good kitchen scale that can measure ounces and grams. I would spent a week or so offering a separate bowl of the dry mix (pellets, nuts, seeds, whatever you usually use) and offering fresh foods in another bowl. At the end of each day, record how much of the dry mix is missing from the bowl and get an average over that week. I would use that to determine a daily allotment for dry food. For us, we offer less than our amazon eats every day in pellets so she will eat her chop, however if you do that you need to make sure the bird is reliably eating fresh food.

I try to feed about 50% greens and healthy veggies, 25% pellets and 25% cooked grains, beans, legumes, fruits, nuts, sprouted seeds, etc. That works for us but everyone has their own ideas about what is healthiest for parrots.

As for table scraps and junk food, please don't let your parrot gorge itself on anything and everything you eat. Even if you are eating healthy foods, we eat much larger portions than our birds and it is very easy for our birds to pick out their favorite bits. Usually these are the less healthy bits! Most of what my birds eat comes from the grocery store (human food), but I try to get a lot of variety into my birds and while I have a healthy diet too, if I always let them eat off my plate they would not be getting the proper balance and would get exposed to some dangerous foods. If you absolutely can't keep your bird from begging, keep some of their food or treats on hand and give them that from your plate so they think they are getting your food. Just know that, like letting a dog go for food that falls from the table, it can have serious consequences when you are eating something unsafe for birds.