Pellet shortage ??

[parrottoys]

About 7 months ago I started getting my food sent auto ship through Chew.com
I got tired of making multiple trips to the pet shop and finding that they were out of what I needed.

This is the second month that Chew is out of stock of the Browns tropical pellets.
This month was the first time they were also out of Zupreem nut blend pellets.
I had to get seed with sunflower seed in it cuz the pet shops near me don't sell the California blend I use that doesn't have sunflower seeds.

Soooo I was wondering if anyone else out there in parrot land is having trouble getting there birds favorite pellets ?
Zupreem says it's made in USA. They can't use the excuse it's sitting off the coast in a container ship.

Try Harrison's. Excellent stuff. I add veggie baby food of a different flavor each day to make them more interesting. I also crush them for my tiny Moluccan. The grey doesn't care what shape they are in but I crush them in a baggie as well. You can now order Harrison's on Amazon at last look.

Always add minced veggies.

I also make pancakes for my birds... but they are very special. I use Besan flour which is garbanzo bean flour which is quite high in protein. I add egg replacer to two cups of four and the liquid is liquified green veggies and cashew milk from the blender.

At the last moment before you put the batter into the pan, add the appropriate amount of baking powder. It's a very small amount mentioned below. Cook, cook and have some with the birds. They are delicious and an easy way to get healthy greens from the outside to the inside. I also sometimes use buckwheat flour as you see below.

You can also add a tiny bit of almond meal and or some blueberries as they will love the almond meal bits and the blueberries are deeply nutritious. They and other dark berries are high in anthocyanin which is a critical part of their diet and ours.

 

[texsize]

I tried Harrisons years ago. My birds liked throwing them on the floor but did not eat them.
Still it might be worth a try as my flock has changed substantially since then.

Use to make birdy bread too. It was a lot of work and the entire flock liked it at first...
Eventually they got tired of it and stopped eating it.
I have thought about trying the pre-packaged birdy bread mixes but so far I have not done that.

 

[kme3388]

I will add that I went shopping for heated perches, and warmers. I learned quite a bit from this experience. Petco, and Petsmart do have a lot of stuff for my conure. I growing up had parakeets, cockitiels, and lovebirds as well. All of these types of birds I can find stuff for. My larger parrot is hard to shop for in person. I am guessing most people don't have larger parrots which is why the larger chains don't carry alot for them. I find myself having to buy a lot online. Does anyone else run into this issue as well?

 

[Zoruace]

I find myself having to buy a lot online. Does anyone else run into this issue as well?

i run into these alot

the pet stores here are garbage no good toys cages no nothing and no pellets!
everything has to be online

 

[Skarila]

I find myself having to buy a lot online. Does anyone else run into this issue as well?

Pellets here have to be ordered, not a single shop sells them. Lots of things like appreciate cages I have to order, I think only the small "aviary" was picked up personally from a shop, they didn't even advertise it... Or shown on display, I litteraly got word where I could buy, I asked the store if they have it and they dragged from the warehouse... I wonder if I should get more, haha.
I wish I could order stuff like in US.... Here also toys are just overpriced, same fluff I can make. I was so upset seeing there is this "coconut king" where you can buy really good materials for bird toys (like sola balls or chips) which costs peanuts - but to ship to Europe would be around 60 dollars... Shipping from US is just overpriced

 

[kme3388]

What is the coconut king, or sola balls/chips? I've never seen anything like this, and I'm in the US. Harrisons, caitec birdie cookies, tops parrot food, and birdie bread regardless of the brand I have to order online. I've never seen it in the stores here. The stores do have nutriberries which my vet told me to use as a treat. Zupreem, and seed mixes are very popular in stores as well. Toys are made more for smaller birds like the parakeets. Are your stores a lot different overseas?

 

[Skarila]

What is the coconut king, or sola balls/chips? I've never seen anything like this, and I'm in the US. Harrisons, caitec birdie cookies, tops parrot food, and birdie bread regardless of the brand I have to order online. I've never seen it in the stores here. The stores do have nutriberries which my vet told me to use as a treat. Zupreem, and seed mixes are very popular in stores as well. Toys are made more for smaller birds like the parakeets. Are your stores a lot different overseas?

You can google coconut king - the site pops up on first link.
They sell all kinds of natural materials from coconut shells, palm leaves and such, and parrot toys from said materials.
Sola is a plant that when dry, the stem (i think??) Stays in this soft yet dry form, perfect for tearing for a parrot. It's short lived by them, but parrots do loooove tearing it apart. Especially our sennie. Sadly here i cannot even buy anywhere or order.

Shops here are very much different, I'd say. Imagine you walk in a HUGE pet store, section for birds it's only one single tiny corner. That's it. Parrot shops on their own simply do not exist, any pellets do not exist in shops only seed mixes (branded like versele laga or non branded). At least I can buy the stainless steel bowls!! I guess parrots are not a popular pet in Balkans.

 

[kme3388]

You can google coconut king - the site pops up on first link.
They sell all kinds of natural materials from coconut shells, palm leaves and such, and parrot toys from said materials.
Sola is a plant that when dry, the stem (i think??) Stays in this soft yet dry form, perfect for tearing for a parrot. It's short lived by them, but parrots do loooove tearing it apart. Especially our sennie. Sadly here i cannot even buy anywhere or order.

Shops here are very much different, I'd say. Imagine you walk in a HUGE pet store, section for birds it's only one single tiny corner. That's it. Parrot shops on their own simply do not exist, any pellets do not exist in shops only seed mixes (branded like versele laga or non branded). At least I can buy the stainless steel bowls!! I guess parrots are not a popular pet in Balkans.

To be 100% honest here. I don't think our pet stores here are much different then they are over there. We can buy cages for parakeets in store for sure. Both the cage for my conure, and ekkie I had to order online. Unless I want to stick my ekkie in a parakeet cage, and see if he likes the snuggle effect ha ha (I'm kidding). The parrot selection in store here leaves a lot to be desired, and espcially if you have a larger parrot. I find myself ordering alot from amazon, chewy, caitec themselves or so on. I am a person who likes to buy things in store. I like to see things in person.

 

[Skarila]

To be 100% honest here. I don't think our pet stores here are much different then they are over there. We can buy cages for parakeets in store for sure. Both the cage for my conure, and ekkie I had to order online. Unless I want to stick my ekkie in a parakeet cage, and see if he likes the snuggle effect ha ha (I'm kidding). The parrot selection in store here leaves a lot to be desired, and espcially if you have a larger parrot. I find myself ordering alot from amazon, chewy, caitec themselves or so on. I am a person who likes to buy things in store. I like to see things in person.

Agreed, I'm the same, but if I am forced to order online, then be it.

 

[imouse1]

I will add that I went shopping for heated perches, and warmers. I learned quite a bit from this experience. Petco, and Petsmart do have a lot of stuff for my conure. I growing up had parakeets, cockitiels, and lovebirds as well. All of these types of birds I can find stuff for. My larger parrot is hard to shop for in person. I am guessing most people don't have larger parrots which is why the larger chains don't carry alot for them. I find myself having to buy a lot online. Does anyone else run into this issue as well?

Where I live, it's kind of the opposite--they carry mostly stuff for the larger parrots and very little for the smaller guys. I just went to PetSmart again this weekend to get a new toy (Gregg hated the foraging wheel and would rather starve than try to figure it out) and they only had 1 each of the naturals, nut, veggies, and pasta for the Zupreem, still no Harrison's. At least I was able to get my hands on the Naturals. I'm still running into roadblocks finding anything that is in stock online =(