Is it normal?

[Amaseya]

Is it normal for an irn to eat only one color type of food? I feed Charm zupreem wild and spicy and he will only eat the red pellets and sometimes the green ones. Do the different colors have different nutrients or is it all the same just diff. color?

Also, is uncooked oatmeal, wheat germ, and nonfat unsweetened yogurt all right? The reason I ask is because I have sugar gliders and I homemake them food with those ingredients in them, and I gave Charm some today (though I probably should have asked first) and she loved it!

Okay, one more stupid question: Why are scented candles a no no?

Please forgive me for all the dumb questions!

[angie]

not sure about the pellets .. or the yoghurt, but I think generally dairy is not good for your bird. (someone else will be along shortly that knows more about these things)

The scented candles are a no no .. and any other burning inscence or room deodorant sprays, any fly sprays, smoke, burnt food smells, cooking with teflon especially if it over heats, anything like that.

Birds have extremely delicate respiratory systems and very different to ours, they cannot filder such things, they can kill your bird and instantly, no warning.

One of the reasons they took canaries down into the mines with them, the canary would fall off the perch long before any gas could over come a human and humans then had time to evacuate.

[Amaseya]

okay, thanks! I hope the yogurt and other stuff is all right, she sure did love the little taste I gave her (never seen her clean her bowl like that before!)

[Bird crazy]

I think yogurt in a very small amt is ok, they have yogurt covered treats for cockatiels at the pet store. Not sure if a lot would be a good thing though.

Sue and Nila

[Amaseya]

Great, thanks! I think it would be really cool if when I get to feed my gliders I can give some of the food to her as well.

[xo Missi]

Hmm I read on an Eclectus site or in a book that birds are lactose intollerant *shrug* But yea, I've seen the yogurt treats for birds, as well...so I dunno!

[Cindy]

Yogurt is ok in small amounts for birds so long as it it plain yogurt...In fact a brand named Activia B.L cultured yogurt is the best ...Yogurt is not like normal dairy..Once milk has been converted to other foods, such as cheese or yogurt, birds may be able to tolerate it. The bacteria in milk change the lactose into lactic acid, and this is what causes milk to go sour. The bacteria that transform milk into cheese and yogurt also often feed on the lactose in the milk, and leave these foods safe for the birds...Plus, yogurt has a probotic....but not all yogurt contains active bacterial culture. L bulgaricus, S thermophilus and L acidophilus are the most common bacterial strains added in yogurt. Therefore look for these bacteria on the ingredient list. Also check the label and look for the words "live cultures" or "active cultures". Avoid yogurt that says "heat treated after culturing" on the label......This is a GREAT digestive aid for parrots. esprcially babies! Hope this help....Try a health food store for natural yogurts...Activa is sold in regular grocery stores, but it is hard to find the palin kind.

[Mikaela]

Thats interesting because I too use the wild n spicy and Baby will only eat the colorless pellets. Im not getting wild n spicy next time. Instead, I am getting the Zupreem colorless pellet and adding raw chili peppers dry peas and corn to it.

[Amaseya]

Thanks! Does freezing the yogurt break down the bacteria? When I make a batch of food for my sugar gliders, I freeze it and it lasts about a month so I wonder if any bacteria is killed or if it is still alive when it thaws out. Yeah, I think next time I might try the harvest blend or one of the other kinds just to give charm a change of diet. Thanks!

[Ed Loschi]

This is good advice and info about yogurt from Cindy:

"Yogurt is ok in small amounts for birds so long as it it plain yogurt...This is a GREAT digestive aid for parrots. esprcially babies! Hope this help....Try a health food store for natural yogurts."

I feed yogurt regularly to my Irn and he likes it and eats it up. The only downside is you got to get the leftovers out of the wet food dish pretty quickly because it spoils fast, is nasty smelling and attracts fruit flies better than anything I've seen.

[Melika]

Cindy's info is spot on.

I know heating the probiotics can destroy them so I looked up their viability when frozen and found this, "Research shows that these probiotic bacteria can survive the freezing process, so freezing your yogurt won’t diminish its health benefits." (http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/news/pro09spr02.htm)

Though that was only one site and was referring to the yogurt in a tube which I assume would be applicable to your situation.

The rest of the sites I tried to access were unavailible to me.


And also, Hane does not like his green pellets. He leaves them for last and will only eat them if he has no choice.