upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

I would like to get a good, soild and safe food for my Amazon, Chilli, if there is such a thing as a safe and solid food.

Right now she will only eat Kaytee Exact pellets and Higgins Vita Mix (which has sunflowers and dried fruit and other things but I take all the peanuts out). She also sometimes eats small amounts of Large hookbill mix, which has walnuts, pistascio, safflower seed and dried fruits.
I have tried the Higgins several times and she will not have anything to do with it. I have also tried Nutriberries over and over and she will not even go near them.

I realize birds are very picky, so I wondered if anyone had a food that their birds seem to take to fairly easily, but was also good for them?

Thanks.

Also, I can't give her fruit as a snack right now, due to her yeast problems. What do you all give as "treats" that is safe and healthy, but not a people food? Anything?

Dried fruit is loaded with sugar. That's probably why she can't get rid of the yeast

Oh Crap. Thanks...I did not realize that and the vet knows what food she eats but may not have thought about that (in general). She won't eat only pellets, but I will try to get her to eat more pellets, at least and I will take the dried fruit out, if I can.

I meant to say I have tried the "Harrisons" food and she won't eat it. She eats the Higgins VIta Mix, but it is not nearly as good as Harrisons. She also takes vitamins that the vet prescribed and has for about a year.

We use Zupreem. The birds like it & it seems to be good for them. I add red palm oil to it occasionally as well. They also get birdy breakfast of various nuts in the shell, fruits & veggies in the AM. Then a snack at nite. They also eat some dinner with us if it's appropriate. You might try Zupreem. That's all we have ever really used.

All my birds get a staple of zupreem and nutriberries with fresh veggies, fruits and whatever we're eating thrown in . IT seems to work for them!

I agree with the Roudybush, has always been good for the birds.

A pelleted diet is best for most birds. It contains all the nutrition they require and you don't have to worry about giving supplements like you do with seeds. There are many makes of pellets, fruit flavored and plain. Many birds that are fed the fruit kind will pick out a favorite and toss the rest.

youbetcha, I suppose you don't worry about soy products being harmful (which they shouldn't be if fully cooked), the high content of peanuts, the high amount of sugars, artificial food dyes (which have shown to cause problems), and the fact that pellets are "dead" food (i.e. enzymes). Not to mention that corn is said to be one of the grains with the least amount of nutrition (however, I don't know how that compares to birds) and is used as one of the main ingredients.


How Natural is "Natural?" - http://www.yourparrotplace.com/pages.php?pageid=54
Food For Thought - What's NOT In My Bird's Food - http://yourparrotplace.com/pages.php?pageid=48
Why Food is Better Than Pellets - http://www.naturalbird.com/mcwatters/foodbetter.htm
Synthetic Bird Feeds: Do They Promote Health or Disease? - http://www.naturalbird.com/mcwatters/synthetic.htm
The Truth about Vitamins - http://www.naturalbird.com/mcwatters/vitamins.htm
Refined Sugar: Is it in Your Bird’s Diet? - http://www.naturalbird.com/mcwatters/refined_sugar.htm
What is Avian Health Coming to??? - http://www.naturalbird.com/mcwatters/avianhealth.htm
Caique Diet - http://caiquecrazy.org/caique-diet.html
The Dog Food Project; Ingredients to avoid - http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php ... ngredients
Understanding Pet Bird Nutrition - http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM067


Granted, I do feed Zupreem Natural which has sugar, no dyes, soy and corn within the ingredients.... ingredients I'd rather not see, but I also understand that pellets can be beneficial over seeds in their own ways. However, seeds also bring their own nutrients to the diet. With that in mind, my birds get seeds, pellets, and fresh foods. One in particular gets Roudybush Maintenance which has corn, soy, and salt. Other things I don't necessarily care about... as well as the synthetic vitamins which are not processed as well by the body as natural vitamins.

With that info, can you really say that pellets are the best? Better than "live" food? I'm not a nutritionist, but it makes sense to me to use live food over dead... I also realise that not everyone can provide a diet high in fresh foods like others.