Are pellets a must?

[alibaby]

I read somewhere - possibly on this forum? - that fresh fruit, veges, grains, beans, seeds and nuts are required for a healthy diet, and that pellets are not a must. Is this true? Are pellets required for a healthy diet?

I'll be getting an Alexandrine soon, and just making sure I know what to have on supply as food. I'll of course talk to the breeder about what she is feeding the babies and try to supplement that as well.

[vankarhi]

alexandrines do require more than fruit and veges. Eclectus need to have mostly fruit and veges in their diets. I give my alex's seed and pellets (yes I have been converted to pellets.......sometimes lol my cockatiel has pellets all the time now due to her being a seed junkie and now she eats her fresh stuff too).

All my birds get a fresh food mix including my alex's but not all my birds get seed.......my cockatiel gets pellets with fresh stuff in another bowl and she gets a millet spray also.

My alex's get seed and fresh stuff and they all get soaked seed or sprouts. My ekkies get fresh stuff ..... a little seed every now and then some pellets every now and then.

[alibaby]

Okay, cool. Thanks =]
Any particular brand of pellets you'd recommend?

[vankarhi]

Roudybush and Vetafarm are apparently a good brand. At the moment I am using vetafarm maintenance. I bought vetafarm nutriblend (I think it was called) while at parrots 2010 and I didn't like the smell of them ........ all I could smell was sugar (in my opinion) ...... so I will not buy them again. But the maintenance (and you can get them in different size pellets) seems ok.

[alibaby]

Okay, I'll try that. I've found it for sale on several sites so that's good. I'll double check with the breeder to see what she's feeding them first though.

[raven]

I don't feed my corella pellets, I feed her all the good stuff mentioned plus sprouted seeds, which are the mainstay of her diet. I have read a comparison of pellets verses non pellet discussion and in parrots magazine. It pointed out that for some birds pellets have too much protein, too much iron and what have you. Sprouted seeds are low fat and high in available vitamins and minerals. See Leslie Morans column in Parrots mag or on line.

[alibaby]

Thanks Raven, I'll see if I can find it.

[vankarhi]

I did not sall "all pellet" diet. I did say fresh fruit/veges, sprouts, some seed and or some pellets!! The only reason I bought pellets was because my cockatiel has become a seed junkie and was getting fat and was only eating seed (especially sunflower seeds)......so I bought the pellets to see if she would eat them......now she eats the pellets and she is back to eating her fresh stuff too. She gets a millet spray also. My other birds get seed/sprouts and some pellets from time to time (they are too expensive anyway)

I do not believe in an all pellet or all seed diet and would never suggest it.

I realise no one said "all pellet" or "all seed" ....... we have had so many discussions about "seed or pellets" ...... I for one always protested against pellets in the past.....now out of necessity I felt the need to convert one of my birds over to pellets for her own health. I also feel it must be boring for birds stuck in cages or aviaries.....they dont have the freedom to fly around and find their own food of choice.......so I decided to add pellets on occassions for something different for them to try and taste. Mind you my birds do get an awesome array of fresh stuff given to them......pellets and seed make up such a small part of their diet (Snowy the tiel is the exception).

Eclectus in particular can be sensitive to pellets.......the additives that can be in them........so mine get pellets occassionally since I do have some pellets in the house now. I do try to buy more natural pellets also.

Oh and I just realised your actual question is "are pellets a must"

in short........no they are not a must..........but can be an addition to an already balanced diet.

[Robyn]

Ali, Tracey is spot on regarding the feeding of pellets to Alex's. Way back when i was breeding Alex's, i had 2 pair & i always believe if a breeder is fed correctly they will reproduce no probs. 1 of my pairs would triple clutch & hatch out 4 bubs each clutch the other pair 2 clutches of 4 chicks each. They were fed a fresh fruit & veg diet with seed, nuts, sprouts. Back then pellets were just becoming available where i live. I think the point i am trying to make is all my birds did well before i ever introduced them to pellets. These day's they more or less get them as a treat. I for one will stick to what has worked for me.

So really i would take the advise of the breeder your getting your bub from she will have all the right answers for you. There is no right or wrong way to feed an alex as long as its healthy & balanced. A good variety of foods is a good place to start

[alibaby]

Thanks for the input guys! I'll let you know what the breeder says. I think she does feed pellets, but I'm just not sure what kind.
Don't worry, I will of course be feeding my new baby fresh fruit and veges every day!

[conureowner1]

Hi Tracey is correct a all pellet diet or an all seed diet is bad for birds. I feed all my birds seed,soaked seed and fresh fruit and veggies. I also give them meal worms too when i get them.

Everyone is different in what they feed there parrots i tryed pellets and fruit and veggies with my birds and it didn't work out too well. Congratulations on your new alexanderine your getting. The breeder should be able to help you alot too, I wouldn't change the diet or anything like that till the bird settles into its new home.

[alibaby]

Fair enough =]
I'll stick to the breeder's diet to begin with.

[vankarhi]

You can stick to the diet it used to .......... but I like to add things too.......that is me and my birds will eat everything and anything (except my cockatiel for a while........but now she eats her fresh stuff again). My birds eat a wide variety of fresh stuff and will try new things too. Sometimes it can take a while for them to try new things. I remember when I first pomegranites home.......they all hated them........now.........they demolish them with great gusto.......so much so I bought a tree and will buy more if we do move.

[alibaby]

Well I've read that it's best to introduce them to new things at a young age, so I'll try different fruits and veges, but I won't take the pellets out of their diet or change the pellet variety straight away, and I'll keep giving them the kinds of fruit and veges they are used to as well.

[raven]

Oh yeah growing your own fruit is great, appart from having the fun of growing the fruit, its nice to know you can provide unsprayed fruit to ALL the family, human avian or whatever. There was a discussion about pomegranites on another forum and somebody mentioned crab apples, how much their birds love them. So now I'm on the hunt for a crab apple to add to our fruit tree collection.
I'd like to add my endorsement to the idea of variety in diet, offering lots of different stuff means birds (and people) get all the micronutrients they need, it also makes meals interesting. I offer a lot of garden stuff as well, buffalo grass runners, lily pillies, weeds (safe ones), dandilions, bits of grapevine, orange tree blossoms, pomegranite flowers and fruit...in much the same way E.B.Cravens does.

[alibaby]

I think we have a passion fruit tree, and we have a lemon tree =P
We also grow our own herbs. But we don't have much room for any other fruit trees.

[vankarhi]

Most birds love passion fruit but not too keen on lemons......I wouldn't feed lemons to my birds (just in case you were going to)......I give mine a bit of fresh basil and the basil flowers from time to time and every now and then I also might give them an aloe vera leaf from my garden.

[alibaby]

I'll try them on the passion fruit then =]

[Laraine]

I've got aloe vera growing but haven't thought of giving it to my birds, does it have medicinal benefits Tracey?

[velocikeet]

Yes, Laraine, Aloe Vera has medicinal benefits for birds. There are some good articles on it on the internet if you do a search.

Sprouts are one of the most nutritious foods you can feed any bird- what other food is alive right up until the moment it is eaten? I'll answer that- mealworms! Consider those as well. Seed is very easy to sprout yourself at home- and you know they are fresh. Just google how. You can also buy commercial mixes of seed to sprout with instructions on the back. Alternatively, you can buy sprouts from the grocer's or supermarket.