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Senior parrot food experiences?

apples

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Not sure if a bird being very old is what this forum is for so I may be posting in the wrong place.

My two tiel hens are both over 20 and I just ordered Senior Nutriberries and have found a few other senior parrot foods and treats online. They are picky for sure and the worst they will do is not eat this food. They are in great shape for their age and both came from a bad, bad place years ago and were true rescues. They eat zupreem which I have made for years for them in a custom crumble in the food processor or just buy the finch/canary size and really like it. Seeds are limited to about half of their daily food and they eat most all the seeds in the Volkman tiel mix and have for years along with the zupreem pellets. They refuse fresh and cooked foods most days but sometimes do eat peas, rice and frozen mixed veggie mixes on some days and plain life cereal. At their age and with their past neglect in a basement in filth for years before me (they were vetted and a good friend without birds did quarantine for me and a second vetting for more disease testing) I don't want to push them but I also feel a need to give them anything which may be good for them at their age. I do spike their oatmeal which they will eat once in a while with just a tiny, tiny bit of Nekton S and the AV tells me I am overly concerned that their diet is good but I'm very protective of all my birds and especially these two senior sisters. Anyone tried this Senior Nutriberries and what do your birds and you think? Do they eat it?
 

CeciliaZ

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I have a tiel who is at least 15 yrs old, my other tiels are almost 5 yrs and another tiel almost 4. I bought the senior nutriberries esp for my oldest but they all seem to like it.
 

webchirp

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Yes Hachi likes them.
 

Clueless

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My amazons love the senior nutriberries. Rather odd, they couldn't care less about the other types.

I've been wanting to find natural tart cherry juice (no sugar added) in small containers. I thought I read in the Phoenix landing cookbook that it had benefits (arthritis/gout/whatever it was it sounded like something that older folks could get).
 

Mizzely

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My amazons love the senior nutriberries. Rather odd, they couldn't care less about the other types.

I've been wanting to find natural tart cherry juice (no sugar added) in small containers. I thought I read in the Phoenix landing cookbook that it had benefits (arthritis/gout/whatever it was it sounded like something that older folks could get).


I get my tart cherry here: Dynamic Health Laboratories, Organic Certified, Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate, 16 fl oz (473 ml) - iHerb.com

Gizmo was 12 and loved the Senior Nutriberries. Her liver levels and mobility seemed to improve.
 

apples

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Thanks for the tart cherry info. I'm going to buy some and try a local organic grocer in my area first. Do you just add to the water? Have you noticed any hesitancy in drinking the water if you add to the water? I'm going to try it for me for my arthritic hand aches as well.

My two girls get a nice, gentle rub down, massage of legs and feet at least twice daily and I can tell by their eyes and face this helps them and they really like it. They knock my hands with their beaks if I stop before they have had enough as if to tell me keep doing this you're not done yet. The AV has told me to massage, gently twice a day or as often as they like and I can do. Sometimes they don't want a leg foot massage mostly mid day rejections but they never refuse AM and evening. The one hen actually sticks her foot out for me most evenings so I know it helps them.

We did Metacam short term low dose for a while a couple years ago but the AV can't continue it longer without blood work every few months which she and I both don't want to do. It did help them some for sure. I've tried several heated perches but for some reason they don't like them more than about two minutes but I plug them in anyway each evening but mine just don't like them. I think they are afraid of why this perch has a constant gentle heat and I think they think maybe it may get hotter?
 

Clueless

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Straight on the juice. I'll go find my cookbook later to see what the particulars were. Maybe offer as treat in tiny cup?

Best to leave them regular water.

What about a heat panel? Someone sells those, avitech?
 

Clueless

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Cherry juice helps reduce uric acid which leads to gout,....a form of arthritis.
 

Verivus

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I personally feel that most senior foods are rather gimmicky. You're better off providing the beneficial ingredients yourself such as the cranberries, milk thistle, ginger, etc. Incredibly easy to source yourself, and you know exactly how much they're getting rather than seeing the ingredients #9 or lower on the list.
 

melissasparrots

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I used to give my 25-27 year old cockatiel a lot of sprouted seeds and cooked grains and beans. He was always picky too and toward the end had trouble keeping weight on. I think his biggest issue was getting the right proteins into him because he never was all that into pellets. I think the spouts and soak and cook stuff helped him some. Never tried any senior foods for him though.
 

Monica

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I haven't tried senior food for my bourke hen, but she does well on a pellet based diet. Would like to try sprouts with her.
 

Clueless

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JosienBB

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I wonder if Target should be on a senior diet... she's 15. May ask the vet.
 

Jeddy

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My senior parrotlet of 16 yrs loves these. I just started giving them to him after his hospital stay a couple months ago. It was a long shot but he enjoys them.
 

sunnysmom

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My tiel is 18. I haven't tried any of the "senior" products but have thought about. He does get daily probiotics, per my vet's recommendation, because he seems to have trouble maintaining his good bacteria level. I also purchased DMG for him, which was recommended by members here but wanted to double check with my vet that it's okay to give with his probiotics before I started giving it to him.

Do you have any rope perches for your tiels? They're supposed to be good for older birds' feet.
 

melissasparrots

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My tiel is 18. I haven't tried any of the "senior" products but have thought about. He does get daily probiotics, per my vet's recommendation, because he seems to have trouble maintaining his good bacteria level. I also purchased DMG for him, which was recommended by members here but wanted to double check with my vet that it's okay to give with his probiotics before I started giving it to him.

Do you have any rope perches for your tiels? They're supposed to be good for older birds' feet.
I used rope perches for my guy. I also used flat perches. The ones I used looked like dowel cut in half length wise so the bird had something familiar to perch on but a different surface. I did have to always inspect the rope perches and cut off loose threads. I've noticed a few places now make shelf perches out of various rocks or hardwood.
 

karen256

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One thing I like to do for my GCC who is also healthy but getting older, is to give an occasional treat of whole milk thistle seeds. Fatty liver disease is one of the major causes of death in older or overweight birds, and milk thistle (in humans anyway) helps the liver recover from damage. I don't know of any studies done in birds, but I figure, that there's a good chance it could be quite beneficial to their livers.. at worst, it's a harmless treat. (They basically look like gray safflower seeds and most birds will happily eat them).
 
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