The Pellet Diet vs Seed?

[Vivica]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to know if it is better to keep a conure on a nutritional parrot diet rather then a fatty seed diet. He's been converted to the pellet diet 100% and i'll occasionally give him some of my food so he has some fruits in his diet. So what are your takes?

It's some pretty expensive stuff, but he eats it like--- ALL the time.

Seed or Pellet diet (lafaber's pellet diet)?

 

[Von1983]

When I took Cal home she was only ever on a seed diet. I've introduced fruit and veg and am looking into pellet but tbh, seems quite hard to locate in the UK. I've yet to research online because I was hoping one of the many pet shops might have some - negative!

 

[Vivica]

Funny, a pet store that doesn't sell pellet diets? Maybe i'm just too enamored with petco being near my house.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Fatty seed, Bad
Pellet Diet, Good
Fresh F&V, Better
Moderated portions of all of the above, the best

Not sure what the EXACT nutritional needs of a conure are. I have an eclectus so I'm in F&V overkill mode lol. I leave the pellets to fill in the gaps. I do also feed tiny portions of seed (birds do eat some seed in the wild, just not bowls of it like we offer them ). You should avoid large amounts of fatty seeds like sunflower.

So in answer to you question, a balanced nutritional diet with fresh F&V and pellets will always be better than a seed diet. Converting a parrot from seed on the other hand is a whole other story. If I were you I would just offer a small bowl of fresh foods along with the pellets. Birds have taste buds so they are always suckers for yummy fruits and veggies. Colourful fresh foods also act as enrichment, they love the colours.

 

[Von1983]

Yep!

I've tried all my local ones. Pets at Home, 2 independants....petfood stockists such as Wilkinsons and the supermarkets on the off chance. Nothing!

I'm no expert, but every bird I've ever met in the UK has been on a seed only diet so I don't think it's a common thing here? I've looked into it though and it seems as sensible as when I changed my rabbit and guinea to pellets. I'll keep trying. As I say, I've online to go yet, it's just I wanted to check for convenience first!

 

[Vivica]

Yep!

I've tried all my local ones. Pets at Home, 2 independants....petfood stockists such as Wilkinsons and the supermarkets on the off chance. Nothing!

I'm no expert, but every bird I've ever met in the UK has been on a seed only diet so I don't think it's a common thing here? I've looked into it though and it seems as sensible as when I changed my rabbit and guinea to pellets. I'll keep trying. As I say, I've online to go yet, it's just I wanted to check for convenience first!

Can you order from the website I linked? That's a good source, and it's from the people who make it.

 

[Von1983]

I would order from the US or Europe if needs be, but there must be a UK supplier somewhere.

I'm not too worried at the minute as the books I have contain some great recipes and she eats more fruit and veg than seed as it is. I'm getting there with it though - she's taught me a lot in a short month lol!

 

[Von1983]

This one looks ok and is in the UK which is gooood.
Buy Kaytee Exact Rainbow Complete Food for Parrots & Conures from Northern Parrots

I shall order some and see how she goes.

 

[wildheart]

Kaytee Exact are sold at all our vets and recommended as one of the best. My girl LOVES it.

 

[Von1983]

Oh well that was happy concidence!!!! Thanks wildheart!!!

It looks nice and colourful too. So Cal will now have all 3. Excellent!

Just a shame noone actually stocks it. I don't know why though, I mean, surely it's not a new idea that seeds alone aren't enough? It's just common sense! Same as thinking "Russel Rabbit" is complete because they put bits of hay in there lol.

 

[Vivica]

Oh i've seen that in stores too, seems interesting. Glad you're feeding fruits and veggies instead of nothing but seed.

 

[Ratzy]

I don't have access to pellets here either and I can't order them ( parents won't let me ). A scary article on pellets scared me off them as well. As long as their diet is well balanced, I don't really think about it much. Sprouted seed is a good way for a healthy bird if you don't have access to pellets.

 

[HRH Di]

It's so odd that there aren't pellets available in the UK or Australia. We can get Zupreem at just about any petstore here in the US. Our birds diet is made up of about 60% pellets, 30% sprouts/fruits/veggies and 10% seets/nuts/treats.

I have to say that all the research I've done says all seed diets are bad for our birds. Personal experience with our Alexandrine (he was on an all seed diet when we got him) taught me that these don't make a healthy bird. Some people don't like pellets either for several reasons - freshness, artificial colors, etc. - however, many parrot guardians don't have the means or experience to give their birds a well balanced diet without pellets. In my mind, pellets are kind of like buying prepared food (healthy prepared food, not Spam) instead of making everything from scratch. Yeah, scratch is healthier but the other way is okay, too.

Ratzy has a good point about sprouts. They're very easy and I've never heard of a parrot not liking them.

 

[Aussie Ben]

We do have some brands available down here in Oz, but none of the 'high profile' ones like harrisons and zupreem. We do have 'passwell/wombaroo' which is a pretty good brand, but my birds don't really like it so i stick to fresh food for the most part.

 

[Quantumcat]

I ordered some online from MyParrotShop, and it was really expensive. The brand is Vetafarm, which I've never heard anyone mention. It is supposed to be a replacement diet for frugivores. It has pictures of eclectus, rainbow lorikeets, and toucans on it. Scarlett hates it. I leave them in her cage for snacks between meals, and it seems the only time I top them up/replace them is occasionally when Scarlett is angry at nothing and throws the bowl on the ground (and climbs down to attack it if it didn't completely empty!). So before you spend hundreds of dollars (or tens of pounds lol) on importing something from overseas, consider that your bird will probably refuse to eat them, anyway!!!

If you can't find pellets, it might even be cheaper to feed just fruits and vegies; if you have a farmer's market anywhere nearby you can get boxes and boxes full of perfect quality fresh vegies and fruits for next to nothing.

You can also invest in a fruit dehydrator, which will ensure you have jars and jars full of dried fruits for when you forget or weren't able to get fruits on a particular week (or if you can't get cheap fruit except in serious bulk, you can dry it all). They will be chewy and harder to eat for your bird but it will be a new experience and extra enrichment You can slice apples and pears with a potato peeler, slice bananas, use whole berries (raspberries, blackberries), slice zucchinis and cucumbers, pretty much anything can be dried!

 

[Aussie Ben]

I ordered some online from MyParrotShop, and it was really expensive. The brand is Vetafarm, which I've never heard anyone mention.

One of my local pet shops and my vet both stock Vetafarm, but neither of my birds even so much as looked at it. Luckily it was only a small bag so it didn't cost too much. I do also agree that pellets can get expensive.

 

[Von1983]

I have ordered Cal some pellets but I'm going to stick at the home made recipes too. You're talking to a girl who makes home made dog biscuits on a Saturday for my doggies and all the doggies that visit the shop lol.

I've got a book coming with a huge section on diet especially for Sun Conure's. Cannot WAIT!

Sprouting seeds sounds interesting, I will certainly look at that!

 

[Vivica]

I had my Wrnts try a banana again yesterday and he shook his head like "YUCK!" I don't get it, because he will eat dried bananas... Oh so difficult. LOL I honestly need to work on getting more fruits in the house. I'm a vegetarian, and don't have fruits in the house. Yeah, that makes sense, right? All my bird seems to like is junk food like french fries and mac and cheese. If he sees me eating in here, especially corn muffins, he'll fly over to my seat and be like "mommy mommy I WANT SOME!" And will literally dive over my shoulder to eat it. So I guess I'll let that be my lesson. I NEED to eat healthier, and so does my bird.

I give my guinea pig and gerbils fresh greens all the time, so I better get a move on for my wrnts. See what fruits he likes and doesn't like.

He likes scrambled eggs, but my fiancee does backflips when I give wrnts eggs, because "it's like being a cannibal."