how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

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fionalouise1989
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Location: South Brisbane, Australia

how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by fionalouise1989 »

Hey everyone!!
I just introduced my little one to pellets. My main question is 1. how much pellets/fruit/veg should I give him and 2. should I just get rid of the seed completely if he likes the pellets (he is munching through some I just gave him) or just slowly put less and less seed with the pellets?

I understand that they need a balanced diet of mainly pellets and vegetables (although it seems that some people think seed is better than pellets) it makes me super confused because I just want to give it the best diet to grow and nourish. So my thinking is, leave pellets (with or without seed) in a container all the time in his cage, then just put the vegies (plus fruit every second day) in the morning and take them out in the afternoon.

Doing my head in a bit have to say!! So many theories don't know which one to believe!!

Regard Fi
ellieelectrons
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by ellieelectrons »

The pellet versus seed diet is contentious. Most of the local breeders I know don't like pellets at all. I ended up choosing to go with what my avian vet suggested so I give them pellets and vege and fruit every day and try minimise the amount of sugary fruit and vege I give them. I don't feed mine seed at all now at my vet's urging... although I did offer it when my girl was sitting on eggs, just in case she needed it. In the past, I have alternated between pellets and seed or given half and half.

Ellie.
MissK
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by MissK »

I've had a few go-rounds on the pellet issue, myself.
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fionalouise1989
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by fionalouise1989 »

Hello Hello
Thanks for the advice Ellie, haven't been to the vet yet because Im a bit low on funds unfortunately the downside of being an agency nurse dont get as much work around Xmas time!! Hoping to take him mid January or earlier depending on work/funds, my little fella is eating well and doing all the normal things but of course if anything changes I'll have to make the trip earlier... So looking forward to hear the vets ideas/reasons..

Thanks MissK, Youve raised some good ideas for me as a newbie Im going to have to get reading!! I unfortunately am a bit of a neat freak so have put the pellets in airtight containers and threw out the packaging haha so will have to go back to the petstore and make a list of ingredients since the website doesnt list the ingredients so I can research better.

Im trying to find ebooks on asiatic birds/ringnecks etc but it seems I'll have to buy the hard copy which is a pain but such is life. But if either of you know of a good ebook would be great appreciated if you could let me know :)

Kind regards
Fi
MissK
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by MissK »

Fi,
What type did you buy?
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fionalouise1989
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by fionalouise1989 »

Hey MissK
I got the vetafarm brand because that was the one that the pet store recommended, they have a new line out called complete naturals (no colours just plain brown pellets + looks to be dried fruits in it as well) I cant find the ingredients for that one and then the normal line nutriblend pellets (coloured) which i salvaged the packet for has fresh australian whole grains (soybean, wheat and maize, vitamins A B6 B12 C D3 and E, minerals calcium copper iron magnesium phosphorus selenium sodium and zinc, fruity flavours (apple, blueberry & raspberry) lysine, methionine, vegetable oils and natural organic acids. Min crude protein 17%, min crude fat 5%, max fibre 3.5% max salt 0.5%.

Which sounds ok but be interested to see what the naturals one has in it, if only I saved the packet for that one, I would assume it would be better because you dont have the colours but I guess I wont know until I read the packet. It would be good if that one was better because he seems to enjoy that one more despite the brown colour.

I didnt see Harrisons there but I also didn't have the best look either.

I have been reading the hard copy of "guide to campanion parrot behavior 2nd edition by mattie sue athan". Which did provide some insight into "why" people choose pellets over seeds and seems to be good so far. But I'll let you know if the rest of it is any good :) I did get it at a second hand store which had a surprising selection on parrots/asiatic parrots many which seem to be listed on the bird keeper site so I think I scored a winner at that shop :) It talked about that seeds can be quite fatty for birds and sometimes birds wont go for the fresh fruit/vegies and will just pick out and eat seed and thats when they become obese and health problems follow etc. Also as you were saying if you had to go away and couldnt take them with you i.e. had to have a pet sitter or have it boarded then their diet wouldnt be upset as much if they were already accustomed to pellets as its easy for less informed people to feed them pellets and they could still get their nutritional needs met, if that makes sense (trying to paraphrase in my own words so not plagerising). Also they suggested mixing a few brands together or interchanging them so its not like eating the same things every day.

It seems to be hard to find books on just asiatic parrots/ring necks but will keep my eye out for more haha my partner thinks Im crazy doing all the reading he's like it's just a bird. Doesn't realise to me it's more like a child but I know secretly he loves the bird just as much as I do and wont admit it!!

Fi
MissK
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by MissK »

Check the internet for your pellets and info.
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fionalouise1989
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by fionalouise1989 »

Thats ok, I had a look at the list and they do sell Harrisons at the vet I intend to go to in brisbane, so might ask his opinion on different pellets while Im there and if he thinks Harrisons is better I might switch to it, it does look like it has more natural things.

Ive found the book to be very interesting so far but a bit repetative in places, have you got the one I think its called a well behaved parrot? did you find it beneficial if you did have it? I have the book under it on asiatic parrots for 37.95 or so I got it for 25 so that was good. Yes it is pretty pricey but I'll keep a look out for it second hand, I dont plan to breed (yet anyway) but I still like reading about it.

Pre Christmas and Christmas is a busy time!! Hope you have a lovely Christmas, best wishes for the new year too!!
Fi
MissK
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by MissK »

Merry Christmas!
-MissK
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fionalouise1989
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by fionalouise1989 »

Well Miss K, here I am trying to read your post while my significant other is snoring away :P I'll be interested to see if the little one ends up learning to make a snoring noise since my partner does it every night :)

I did find a local store that sells the natural pellet line so I took a photo of the ingredients!! They do sound better than the coloured ones but much the same, I really like the sound of that harrisons brand as you said it lists actual ingredients... For now I will stick the the natural line I think until I go the vet, although I'll probably mix the coloured ones in so they dont all go to waste, luckly he seems to like the non coloured ones better anyway :) attached a photo of the ingredients too for you just incase you had any thoughts...
http://i1307.photobucket.com/albums/s59 ... 1183a0.jpg

Thanks for the insight into the books, yes I did notice that it had a bit on other birds and what to expect from them (, I was all set to read it last tuesday night on my night shift and then realised I had forgotten it then thursday night shift I remembered it and was too busy to read it!! Isnt it always the way haha I will have to keep an eye out for the guide to well behaved parrot book at the second hand store, sounds like a bit of a good read and I am intersted in teaching Chevolski how to talk, but then again if he doesnt talk Im not too fussed either, but I guess hints are better than blindly repeating words haha

Ive only seen one book purely on indian ringnecks but it was part of set of which I already had one of the books and the set cost 70 dollars which I wasnt quite yet ready to fork out that much considering the books looked fairly thin too. I find it hard to decide which books to get because a lot of the parrot stuff doesnt always relate (as you were saying) to ringnecks. I havent really looked into parakeet books either, or do they even have those, maybe they just lump parakeets and parrots in the same basket...

I will definitely stay clear of the breaking bad habits one... I think I know what you mean, I was watching a tv show just the other day (one of those shows that have the vet segments) and he was teaching a young lady how to deal with biting, went for a about 5 minutes and him talking about a stick instead of hand then next minute its over.. so I kept watching the show thinking they will come back to it and explain why you should use that technique and if it worked for her but they never came back to it.

A family friend has an Alexadrine how ever you spell it... I will be interested to see how it goes because she does a lot of things, like tapping its beak when it bites (only when it bites hard)... think I might have to give her a lend of some of my books :S so I guess my point is at least even if we take away one thing from a book thats better than not reading at all and potentially creating a stressful environment for the birds like she is likely to be doing... Although in saying that the bird seems to adore her but it is only young, who knows what will happen...

I did also read about your Rocky going for a climb onto your wrist!! That's wonderful progress, looking forward to hearing if he continues or goes back to his old ways of chasing and biting you!!

Dont worry about apologising for the long post, at least you didnt ramble on like I think I did haha ah well...
Take care and good luck with Rocky and your hand!!

Fi :)

Ps. I also got a bit of miracle myself, I was playing games with the little one and next minute he must have got tired and decided to have a rest on chest while i pet him... He normally scurries away from petting so I was so excited I had to get my partner to snap a shot of us. http://i1307.photobucket.com/albums/s59 ... b4a39b.jpg
MissK
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by MissK »

Fi, you're very good with the pictures!
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fionalouise1989
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by fionalouise1989 »

Well all I can say about her Alexandrine is its VERY noisey. We were also contemplating getting one but I thought a smaller bird would probably fit in better in our townhouse... Im so glad that I didnt get one while I dont mind noise I dont think my neighbours would have appreciated as we have adjoining walls on one side.

I would think similar would be better as wouldn't larger vs smaller birds end up one getting hurt? My partners sister has just got a eclectus parrot to go with her ringneck so it will be interesting. My gosh those birds bite hard!! I thought my IRN bit hard then their eclectus snagged my finger and I thought my little fellas bite is nothing compared to that haha

That cereal sounds really good, I was thinking about getting some kind of breakfast museli or oats to try with my bird, but havent had the chance to do much research on that kind of stuff yet so Im mainly sticking to the natural pellets a bit of seed and fresh fruit and vegetables.

What kind of changes did you see in their behaviour? That must have been interesting watching the changes and see that finding the right diet for them really does make a difference.

2 sleeps until Christmas :) exciting!! We are taking my little fella over to my partners sisters for a supervised play date with their IRN christmas day. I figure its beneficial as if anything happened to us or we needed to go on vacation they are likely the ones that would look after him. They are so cute because they are both a bit cautious of each other and have a 2 year age gap. Not sure yet how the eclectus parrot will change things though as their IRN was hand raised by them so hopefully jealousy wont become an issue :(

Fi
MissK
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by MissK »

Merry, Merry Christmas!
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fionalouise1989
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by fionalouise1989 »

Merry Christmas to you too :)

Thats very interesting about your canaries and something for me to keep in mind... My little fella is eating fine, lively and his poop looks normal haha so I think Im on a winner, but still awaiting more work so I can afford the vet to have an informed opinion.

Well interestingly at the xmas do their IRN is more in charge than the eclectus parrot youd think a smaller bird would be scared of such a large one but no haha

I of course have a picture (because I LOVE pictures :) ) of them all on their play gym thing on the cage
http://i1307.photobucket.com/albums/s59 ... faba44.jpg

They also have an industrial fan that blows mist/water. I thought I'll just give Chevolski a little go in front of it and see if he crawls up my arm trying to get away but no he absolutely loved it haha it was the cutest thing (also another picture) haha
http://i1307.photobucket.com/albums/s59 ... 34dfd6.jpg

He also managed to unwrap his present from "charlie" the blue IRN haha they are now as I call it frenamies because Chevolski had a go at him so I guess Chevolski thinks hes top bird :) but thankfully it was more just Im boss thing and they all settled down together for the day. Charlie is a very cautious bird though so I think he kept his distance. (added a picture of him starting on his present he even untied one of the bows :) )
http://i1307.photobucket.com/albums/s59 ... a4e833.jpg

Also got one of those ipads for xmas (lucky thing I am) so have started reading ebooks "parrots for dummies" I bypassed it in the book store thinking it would be gimmicky but so far has been interesting, but in saying that Im only through the introduction and first 2 chapters haha will let you know if you havent already read it. Another I downloaded is called good parrot keeping by robin deutsch so hoping that will be also interesting too.

I do have a food related question that you may able to answer for me though, do you know how often birds can have chilli's? My bird LOVES them but I dont want to over dose him on just chilli's. I also heard its good for worming them.

Regards
Fi
MissK
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by MissK »

Hi Fi,

Great pictures.

--MissK
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fionalouise1989
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Re: how much of each (pellet, fruit & veg)

Post by fionalouise1989 »

Haha you make a good point!
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