Oversized Pellets

[Starlit_Night]

Every day as I feed my dogs Aleta tries to steal a Piece of kibble. Personally, i think its gross, having fresh fruit and veg and your own pellets, why on earth would you want dog food?!

None the less, she seems to want something larger and solid to chomp on. I was thibkibg perhaps if i got some large bird zupreem i could give her a random piece here and there, as a treat. Maybe even in those paper carnations she is now devouring, thanks to Michelle's post.

Anyone have any thoughts on that? (Sorry for the poorly typed post - my tablet and I dont akways get along )

 

[Terry57]

I think that sounds like a great idea, Christine, and what a great foraging treat!

 

[TessieB]

My Blue Front loves dry dog food. During breakfast rounds, she wraps herself in her invisibility cloak, sneaks down her cage, walks across the table, and ever so carefully picks up a kibble from the dog bowl in line near the parrot bowls. Pinning her pupils, she sneaks back with the kibble hidden under her tongue. She'll get to the top of her cage, shake her feathers, wag her tail and crunch loudly.

Birds are so funny.

 

[critterman]

Just a question. Is dry dog food ok for a bird? What about dog biscuits. My crimson likes to fly off his cage and steal the dog biscuits before they get to them. I take them away from him but are they safe? Just wondering. I don't like to let him have the dry dog food or dog biscuits. Thanks.

 

[Starlit_Night]

Ha. Never thought about if it was safe, just prevented her from getting it. I have a dog with allergies so the food is pretty expensive. Just didn't want to pay that much for the bird to eat too

 

[Starlit_Night]

Thats cute Tessie. Would love to see that.

 

[TessieB]

Just a question. Is dry dog food ok for a bird? What about dog biscuits. My crimson likes to fly off his cage and steal the dog biscuits before they get to them. I take them away from him but are they safe? Just wondering. I don't like to let him have the dry dog food or dog biscuits. Thanks.

I think an occasional tidbit would be okay. I moved the birdcage so Louise couldn't get her sneaky snacks on a daily basis. She hates her parrot pellets, though.

 

[MonicaMc]

No, dog food is not safe to feed our parrots.

It has high amount of protein in it and may have a high amount of harmful bacteria in it that is not good for birds.

Cat and dog kibble is far too high in fat and protien, as Monica has said. I know of a person who used to give their Ekkie small pieces of dog kibble every day as treats because the bird was crazy about them. After only a couple of months the bird developed kidney disease and came very close to dying. The bird will spend the rest of his life enduring emergency vet visits because the owner ignored the vet's strong warnings about the harm the 'little tidbits' (as the owner called them) could do. The person didn't give the bird cheap kibble, it was a high quality vet-exclusive imported brand.

Tango is the absolute ruler of the household and when he walks the dogs walk the other way. The last couple of weeks Tango climbed on to the utility table and was helping himself to dog kibble. Now comes the really dumb M2 owner part. To stop Tango I would get a few pieces and put the kibble in a puzzle. It became a game and he would quickly get the dog kibble.

Yesterday Tango had an emergency visit to the Vet. He was picking on his foot which was caused by too much protein in his system. He's now on antibiotics because he had puss in his urine. Lesson learned. The dumb M2 owner is sticking to Harrison's pellets and other approved foods.

Do you really want to take the chance that your dog's food is safe for your parrot when they eat an entirely different diet out in the wild?

Dog food may be fine for certain birds like starlings, but I'm hearing more and more that cat food is safer to feed to these birds than dog food is... but again, different species, different diet, different diet requirements.




As far as a different sized pellet? Heck, go for it!

 

[jenphilly]

I don't think stealing a piece of kibble here or there is gonna hurt your baby. But, think about making treats that are large biscuits that she may enjoy. If you search thru this recipe section, there is one listed in there somewhere about biscuits made with pellets. You can make them thick so its more like a chunk of kibble