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Best seed mix

Mizzely

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Zupreem gets a lot of flack but it's a solid diet and one I'm very comfortable feeding. Ripley has been on it for the last 3 years and it literally saved his life. He was on an all seed diet for 19 years before I brought him home and was very sick with nutritional deficiency ailments. Zupreem was the only pellet he would eat, and he bounced back to life because of it :)
 

Budgiessss

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Yea, I wasn't sure if I should try zupreem since many other bird owners say bad about it. Thanks! I'll try the fruit pellets and try to covert them to naturals! Also thanks everyone, I didn't think this many people would reply,:).
 

Mizzely

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The_Mayor

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There are a lot of things I'd do before making the decision to go back to an all-seed diet.

But, the important place to start is - are your birds eating enough to maintain themselves now?

I mean, if you're only offering them pellets and they're not eating enough of them, that's a bigger problem than them kicking the pellets out of the dish. Birds have tremendous energy needs and your first job is to make sure those needs are being met, even if that means they have a diet that's less than perfect for a while. Birds can become seriously malnourished and the carer has no idea.

Second, kicking the pellets out doesn't necessarily mean they don't like the food. I've watched Esmerelda very deliberately drop a millet berry off their feeding table and onto the floor (they could forage from the floor, but they never do, so I know she's not just saving it for later).

But, if you're currently feeding them an all-pellet diet, that also isn't recommended for budgies. You do want part of their daily calories to be coming from somewhere other than just pellets.

So, what I'd do is: if you think your birds really don't like the Roudybush, try different pellets. Or, try offering the pellets moistened - when I bring the moist pellets in, my birds are like, "finally, the good stuff."

I wouldn't worry about which pellets are the "best." The best pellets are the ones your birds will eat.

You can also try nutri-berries and avi-cakes, which are formulated to be equivalent to pellets but in a form that the birds register as seeds. Two caveats there: one, some people say their birds very carefully pick the seeds out of the berries/cakes, so they may not be getting all the nutrition, and two, I have to crumble the nutriberries up as my weak beaks totally can't make a dent in them otherwise.

Lastly, their nutrition shouldn't be either/or, pellets or seeds. If you want them to live a long, happy, healthy life, they should have a variety of foods available to them.
 

FeatheredM

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Yes, I recommend you to convert them on seed mix, they are more natural for them. Do not be affraid that the seeds themselves will cause fatty liver or what.... Try to find grass seeds and canary seeds for your birds. If not, prefer normal millet seeds withouth sunflower and cardy.... Try to get them red millet sprays... Not just like a treat, but you can also use them regularly like a normal food.
Although seed is what budgies eat in the wild, they also get a ton of exercise and vitimin D from the sun. pellets are built specifically for a budgies needs, if you look at the ingredients there is other stuff to benefit their health. There are poeple who do deep studies on our birds diet, and I choose to trust them on my budgies diet. It is not natural to give them pellets, but it's also not natural to keep them as pets.
 

FeatheredM

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It's empty, I tried to make them eat, but when I was at school they continued kicking. I bought a feeder, but it didn't last very long and got stuck.
Birds are very stubborn, as long as you give them your best, your birds will be good.
 

Ivan.Vanca

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Not each budgie withouth vitamine D is going to struggle health problems... You have your own choice... I do not choose pellets also because I do not want to charge their kidneys... I wonder if there is any parrot who is kept on pellets with healthy kidneys. I would say no.
 

Sparkles99

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I think there are some. Someone mentioned a 30 year longitudinal study with Amazons. I hope you’re right though since mine eschew pellets. :(
 

FeatheredM

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If they like the zupreem colored, do you think I can give them that will veggies and sprouts?
Any kind of diet needs veggies, mine ate their veggies with the zupreem pellets, so I can't see why yours can't
 

.........

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Yes, I recommend you to convert them on seed mix, they are more natural for them. Do not be affraid that the seeds themselves will cause fatty liver or what.... Try to find grass seeds and canary seeds for your birds. If not, prefer normal millet seeds withouth sunflower and cardy.... Try to get them red millet sprays... Not just like a treat, but you can also use them regularly like a normal food.
Mine were not healthy on a seed mix, and it was a good quality seed mix too. I supplemented veggies as well, but they still were not that healthy.
They are much more active and have better feathers, overall more happy, since changing to a 50/50 ratio of pellets and seeds.
 

FeatheredM

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I think that pellets is healthier than seeds, but pellets can still cause problems if your bird deos not have veggies with it. Someone can eat one healthy thing for a long time and be healthier than eating something junky, but you still need a good variety of different foods
 

Mizzely

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Not each budgie withouth vitamine D is going to struggle health problems... You have your own choice... I do not choose pellets also because I do not want to charge their kidneys... I wonder if there is any parrot who is kept on pellets with healthy kidneys. I would say no.
If you feed them 100% pellets, yes, budgies can have issues with kidneys. However, no one on this thread is saying to feed an all pellet diet. For budgies, I wouldn't recommend over 50% of the diet being pellets. Just like 100% pellets is bad, so is 100% seeds.
 

Destiny

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Not each budgie withouth vitamine D is going to struggle health problems... You have your own choice... I do not choose pellets also because I do not want to charge their kidneys... I wonder if there is any parrot who is kept on pellets with healthy kidneys. I would say no.
There are studies of large parrots on 100% pellet diet for decades. Can't remember if it was Harrison's, Rhodybush, or Tropican. One of those, I think. Pretty sure all three done some testing.

I doubt all pellets are equally good, but there are good ones out there. Just need to do your own research and educate yourself on your bird species.

From what I've read, the concern regarding pellets causing kidney problems is just for smaller parrots/parakeets, like budgies, and other small birds, like finches. For larger parrots, this is unlikely to be an issue. Also, I wasn't able to track down any good sources that provide proof that pellets can cause kidney damage, even in small parrots. It gets repeated a lot, but I don't know how accurate it is or which specific pellet brands/formulations were linked to the kidney problems or if it is a general concern, like how feeding dry kibble to cats can cause kidney problems because they don't drink enough. Budgies are desert birds, so they might not drink water as much as tropical parrots and could end up too dehydrated on a dry foods only diet.

In my opinion, it is safe to feed pellets to budgies, but you should keep a larger portion of seed or sprouts in the diet, along with fresh veggies or fruits rather than feeding 100% pellets.
 
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