Food for the conure

[pelmenyi]

So being a new bird owner and such, I've come to understand that I don't know a lot about the proper food. I feed my GCC Zupreem fruit blend flavored pellets and I just wanted to get some advice if this is a good brand and if there are better options out there. Thanks!
I do feed her fruits and vegetables as well so thats not an issue. Just curious about the pellets themselves

 

[EkkieLu]

Welcome aboard Julia!

 

[Mizzely]

The best pellet is the one they eat, do well on, and that you can afford

I personally feed my Jardine's Zupreem fruity also because that's what currently works for us. However, some people don't care for the added sugar and dyes in Zupreem. There are a LOT of options out there! I personally stick with ones that are fortified with Vitamin D3 because I live where sunlight days are few and far between sometimes!

Pellets for Parrots

 

[pelmenyi]

@Mizzely Thanks a bunch. That does help a lot and I'm not happy with the sugars or dyes but she doesn't seem to like anything else besides her treats and the pellets.

 

[Donna turner]

Cheeky gcc, has been on fruity zupreem since I got her almost four years ago. She is pretty ,healthy according to vet, and happy and that's good because she won't eat other pellets either

 

[Tara81]

I used to feed my budgies zupreem fruit blend, I slowly converted them to zupreem natural, I mixed them together for a long time , I’d say a couple of months and slowly decreased the amount of fruity ones. But my budgies are not super fussy , they eat veges and sprouts. If your bird refuses veges I’d try dehydrating and sprouting crunchy veges and wet nutritious seedlike food gets them used to vegetable tastes and wet foods. One thing my birds will not do is pick out anything but seed if it is in the same dish. So I put seed at lower perch and heathy foods up high in cage. Out of cage I always feed healthy unless it’s a rare treat time or trick training with millet motiviation

 

[Kodigirl210]

Our GCC won’t eat any pellet except if it’s mixed in a nutriberry. Unlike some birds, she does not just eat the seed and dump the rest-so in this case if she eats it, I’d stick with it rather than not having her eat them at all or only mixed like a Isen does.

 

[Mark & Da Boyz]

My vet once told Mr "the best pellet is the one they'll".

My crew get Roudybush Mins because they eat them.

 

[Farlie]

Farlie was raised on these small Zupreem Fruit Pellets. He is 9 months old and in good health. I add more types of food to his diet too.
Sounds like your doing the right thing. Keep the love going.

 

[Mark & Da Boyz]

Let me add my crew gets daily, a good seed mix (no Sunflower seeds or other fatty things) fresh pellets but most importantly fresh and cooked food. Typically it's homemade chop, I use Baby Kale, Spring Greens, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Corn Niblets, Sweet Peas, matchstick carrots, plus whatever fresh fruit I happen to have.To this I add cooked rice or spaghetti noodles or a cooking food (Higgen's Worldly Cuisine or Crazy Corn) Sometimes they get Birdy Bread ( I can't bake to save my life so I buy it from the pet store when I'm down there. They ket is that they get a choice and will often ent some of, but not, all.

While pellets are good they are not the do all end all.

 

[NutMeg1987]

Maverick, my GCC, was weaned onto Kaytee Cockatiel food. Since he was just weaned when I got him, I kept him on that and added in fresh vegetables and fruits. So far, the only thing fresh he will eat is carrots, but I'm planning to keep offering and see what else he might eventually eat. He also loves to be handfed Nutriberries, but I'm trying to save those for treats. His vet recommended NutriPellets, and I started him on those today. I don't plan to cold turkey him with his Kaytee food, but I plan to gradually cut down on them a lot. My question is, how many NutriPellets should he be getting per day? Right now he's getting 3 tablespoons of Kaytee.

 

[Mark & Da Boyz]

I don't plan to cold turkey him with his Kaytee food, but I plan to gradually cut down on them a lot. My question is, how many NutriPellets should he be getting per day? Right now he's getting 3 tablespoons of Kaytee.

Wise move as birds will not eat what they don't know they can eat, A girl starved a Parrotlet to death by trying to force him on to pellets by taking away the seeds he knew. She was even told not to do this but did it anyway.

 

[BrianB]

Most of my conures eat Mazuri pellets. The golden conures and the macaws eat Zupreem. They don't seem to like the Mazuri. It can be difficult to transition them over, but it can be done with enough patience.

 

[AstridBird]

I have a similar questions , I have been doing research for a long time about getting a GCC but I cant find anything about how often your bird should eat pellets.some pet shpps , books and other resources say daily , some say weeky and some say they don't even need to have pellets in the diet.So im not sure who is correct , can someone please give me some advice or share how much they give their bird and how often? Thanks x

 

[Mizzely]

I have a similar questions , I have been doing research for a long time about getting a GCC but I cant find anything about how often your bird should eat pellets.some pet shpps , books and other resources say daily , some say weeky and some say they don't even need to have pellets in the diet.So im not sure who is correct , can someone please give me some advice or share how much they give their bird and how often? Thanks x

Hi there

The answer will depend on who you ask lol.

My simple answer :
I give free access to fortified pellets 24/7, and then give a bowl of veggie mix in the morning with the hopes my bird will eat it

The long answer:
The bag may tell you to give it as 100% of the diet.

People against vitamin supplements will tell you to give none.

Vets will tell you to give them somewhere between 50% and 90% of the diet.

Why such huge differences?

Birds used to die very young because we didn't know that seed diets were bad for them. And we're still fighting that in a lot of ways as populations are sometimes slow to learn. We have millenia of information on cats and dogs; but for parrots we are honestly still learning. It is a lot harder to keep up with the varied diet of a flying creature in a rainforest than it is to watch a cat or dog's ancestor! What we know today may be different in a decade. A lot of what we know started out as chicken studies.

Now, some pellet manufacturers have long histories (going back to the 80s, that's as long as we have!) and the information shows one main thing - that when pellets are given as the majority of the diet, birds live longer than a bird on a seed only diet. This is not surprising. We do know that parrots need many nutrients that seeds simply do not give. For example, Vitamin A is something parrots have a high requirement for compared to humans, and seeds have none! Seeds are also fatty, lacking calcium, and Vitamin D3.

Vets like pellets because one of the leading causes of death for parrots besides accidents and malnutrition is heart problems. With a fatty seed only diet, especially in birds who are cage bound or clipped, this increases their risk of atherosclerosis and fatty liver disease. So for them, pellets is an "idiot proof" way to help keep their patients healthy on many fronts.

Now, I'm not sure when, but people started to realize that maybe some variety was good for parrots, and that some birds don't do well on an all pellet diet. It is quite dry compared to their natural foods in the wild. So, people started incorporating fresh veggies into their diet, along with seeds for treats or for grainivores, nuts for macaws, etc.

It boils down to this for me:
Unless your parrot gets outside, in the sun, for 15 to 20 minutes a few times a week, your parrot should eat fortified pellets or get a supplement. I go over that more in depth here : Vitamin D3 for Our Birds

If your bird does not eat a wide range of veggies and fruits, especially dark leafy greens and orange colored (beta carotene rich) ones, you should be providing a fortified pellet or supplement.


I have a bird that for 2 decades was fed only seeds. He came to me with respiratory ailments, a heart murmur, underweight, and looking like he may not live another year. All were because of diet. Pellets have saved his life. That is not a hyperbole. This bird does not eat veggies or fruit yet. He only wanted seeds. It is not a pellet I prefer to feed because it has sugar and artificial dyes but as it was the only thing he'd eat besides seeds, those things are for me a drop in the bucket against the things he was fighting!

There are a lot of pellets on the market and they all have their own benefits or drawbacks. Pellets for Parrots

 

[AstridBird]

Thankyou so much mizzely x

 

[Tara81]

I believe a varied diet of vegetables , pellets and some seed/grains /sprouts is best.

The more vegetables they eat the better! If you are home often, three meals of vegetables/sprouts/chop is great. At least one meal of vegetables should be offered daily. Low fat seeds like milllet, wheat, rye berries, kamut, spelt, sesame, canary grass seed is fine in moderation, and at least 20% of their diet should be pellets in case they don’t get any sunlight and /or are picky eaters. You can also give them a meal of sprouts mixed with vegetables or on their own. And you can feed them some cooked quinoa with a vege meal instead of sprouts for protein, and boiled egg once a week during their molts.

I fed my budgies zupreem fruitblend at first , and gradually changed to natural . I mixed 70 % fruitblend with 25% natural for a week, then did 50:50 ratio for two weeks, then 25:75 fruitblend:natural for two weeks, then tried just natural. It worked for me. They ate them

 

[Monica]

My recommendation? If you are going to feed Zupreem, try to feed the dye-free one at least.

I'm not a fan of the sugars or dyes either... but I have fed Zupreem (Charlie came to me eating it), Roudybush, TOP's, Lafebers, Pretty Bird.... The one I typically feed is Harrison's. It does tend to be pricier than the others but I buy in bulk to save some and then store most of it until I'm ready to use some of it.