Pellet food

[Cagzo]

I'm in a quandary with the purchase of pellets.
I first of all got Connie Kaytee exact,which she was ok with but left all the red ones, then I saw good reviews for Harrisons fine pellets,which cost over £14 and would be out of date once opened,in three months. Ive kept it in the fridge hoping it will last. Its far too much to feed one small bird for 3 months.
Now thinking of nutiberries. Does anyone know if these have a longer "use by"
Date??
There is no way you can read the back of the packaging if buying online,they just dont show it.

Any reccommendations would be wecome.

 

[SailBoat]

The Freezer!

I'm really not happy with colored pellets for the very reason you have seen. If your Parrot had chosen only the red ones, you would rushing to your Avian Vet with a red poop sample.

 

[Stitchthestitch]

I use nutriberries as treat as they are expensive in the uk and the packaging says a conure needs about 12 a day.

Albie likes to destroy them and pick out the seed/nuts/fruit and leave the pellet part chewed up as dust.

 

[Owlet]

Nutriberries arent great for a pellet. Theyre all seed and sugar

 

[Laurasea]

Nutri berries aren't bad. I like oven baked bites and do fo my parrots, I also like mazuri.
Harrison was to expensive fir me and a lot was wasted.

 

[Cagzo]

Laurasea, I agree,Connies wasted a heck of a lot. You dont mind the cost as long as it gets eaten,but she grabs a handful,takes it up to her eating perch,then drops it. Its too small.
I was so annoyed that the date was so short after opening. Its very expensive for what it is,I do feel we bird owners get ripped off, toys as well are very expensive.
Moan over!!!
Which Nutriberries did you get Stitch?

What do they eat in the wild? What is the reason for giving pellets,apart from vitamins.

 

[Owlet]

I don't know about conures specifically but most wild parrots would be eating plant foliage and fruit which is fine because wild parrots a lot more active then our household companions. Too much sugar will cause hormonal issues and too much seed will cause fatty liver issues. I think nutriberries are better as a snack rather than their primary diet.

 

[chris-md]

The point of pellets is to provide a standardized, nutritionally well rounded diet that ensure even the micronutrients are consumed.

I don't know about conures specifically but most wild parrots would be eating plant foliage and fruit which is fine because wild parrots a lot more active then our household companions. Too much sugar will cause hormonal issues and too much seed will cause fatty liver issues. I think nutriberries are better as a snack rather than their primary diet.

As always the answer is somewhere in the middle, right? Yes to all the above, but our perspective comes from relative perch potatoes. Conures by nature are far more active and need that energy source the ekkies don’t need - a captive hummingbird will still need a high amount of sugar to hummingbird about daily life.

Agreed as a source of daily food, BAD. But so are so many pellets, they are all LOADED with extra sugar to improve diet adoption. Nutriberries at least have some pellets, but not as a particularly high proportion. They are treats, not main diet staples.

Conures are not inducible to hormones so it shouldn’t CAUSE hormonal behavior. Rather, exacerbate it when it does eventually come around.

 

[Stitchthestitch]

Connies wasted a heck of a lot. You dont mind the cost as long as it gets eaten,but she grabs a handful,takes it up to her eating perch,then drops it. Its too small.

Which Nutriberries did you get Stitch?

You have just described albie with his food!

Currently we have the tropical fruit nutriberries but we're gonna get some other flavours to see if he likes others.

 

[Laurasea]

A nice chop article
Life From Scratch: Chop: all things good for birdie

Ideas for them to try, eat veggies,
https://threebirdsandacloud.wordpre...parrot-to-eat-vegetables-or-unfamiliar-foods/

I am not a diet expert, and recommendations are always changing. I feed pellets, seed mix, lots and lots of veggies, leafy greens, boiled egg, some cooked lentils or legume , just started sprouts, rare on berries or fruits. A little yogurt here and there. I try fir about 30% pellets.

 

[Cagzo]

She's probably eating 30% pellets,maybe get some nutriberries and go back to a little seed and millet. She gets lots of fresh fruit and broccoli,plus loves carrots.
Thankyou for all suggestions.

 

[Laurasea]

The lots if fresh fruit is not good for them. Firstly way to much sugary in fruits and theses sugars cause yeast overgrowth abd bacterial imbalance. Some amount of fruit is good. I feed fruit twice a week with rge veggies. 1 strawberrie shared between 7 birds. I dont feed grapes at all, and rarely feed apple. I don't feed any citrus. I like pomegranate, plums, fresh cherry, mango, cranberry, blackberry, blueberries.

Secondly, fruit is not as nutritious as veggies. And you want to push the veggies with beta carotene or vitamin A, like bell peppers or any of the peppers, cooked sweet potatoes( you csn sprinkle cinnamonon it) , cooked pumpkin, cooked carrots, romaine lettuce has vitamin A , you really want offer a very wide variety. Broccoli and carrots won't cut it. Broccoli is great but it aldo has properties that block some nutrition uptake. It should not be fed all the time, but still is great to offer some of the time.

Like Chris, I know I can't cover all nutrition and micronutrients, so pellets are important. If you can't get your parrot eating a very wide assortment of vegetables and leafy greens then pellets should be a higher percentage of the diet.