Help needed with Yellow-Crowned Amazon diet

[Pretzel]

Hello! I am looking for advice regarding the diet of my one year old Yellow-Crowned Amazon, Vuela Vuela. Currently her diet consists of a porridge thing made up of oats, baby bird food, banana, and pellets. Recently she tried a banana by itself without any other food mixed in. I’m wondering if she should’ve been fully weened a while ago, and if her diet if currently alright. We are planning on getting her to try even more fruit. She also eats dried chili peppers, peanuts, and pecans as treats. Should we be weening her faster? She isn’t being hand fed anymore and we just set down her food mix in a bowl in front of her and she eats it by herself.

 

[MommyBird]

I have heard several vets refer to bananas as " a yellow tube of sugar" and they would not recommend feeding a lot of it.
It would be OK for her to learn to eat different kinds of fruit but they should actually only make up a small percentage of her diet.
What would be better is to introduce more kinds of greens and vegetables. I don't know what is avauilable in Panama so I won't make specific suggestions other than to say that vegetables high in beta carotene (which the body converts to vitamin A) are very important for most parrots, but especially Amazons.
Peanuts can be contaminated with aspergillus since they grow under ground, I would suggest replacing them with almonds (gives calcium) and walnuts (important Omega-3 Fatty Acids). Pecans are a bit high in fats so should be limited.
It's great she eats some pellets. My advice would be to get her used to at least 2 kinds of pellets because experience has shown that often the company changes the formula, discontinues it, or the old "supply chain shortage" so it is good to have an alternative you know she will eat.

 

[Clueless]

Peanuts was the first thing I removed from my amazons. No sense in talking a chance with that.

I've heard veggies were better than fruit and with bananas, I just give Secret a tiny piece. She's quite a bit older than yours.

 

[Pretzel]

I have heard several vets refer to bananas as " a yellow tube of sugar" and they would not recommend feeding a lot of it.
It would be OK for her to learn to eat different kinds of fruit but they should actually only make up a small percentage of her diet.
What would be better is to introduce more kinds of greens and vegetables. I don't know what is avauilable in Panama so I won't make specific suggestions other than to say that vegetables high in beta carotene (which the body converts to vitamin A) are very important for most parrots, but especially Amazons.
Peanuts can be contaminated with aspergillus since they grow under ground, I would suggest replacing them with almonds (gives calcium) and walnuts (important Omega-3 Fatty Acids). Pecans are a bit high in fats so should be limited.
It's great she eats some pellets. My advice would be to get her used to at least 2 kinds of pellets because experience has shown that often the company changes the formula, discontinues it, or the old "supply chain shortage" so it is good to have an alternative you know she will eat.

Thank you for the advice! I’ll make sure to let her try some almonds and find another pellet brand. I’ll also try to introduce her to new fruits and veggies.

 

[Pretzel]

Peanuts was the first thing I removed from my amazons. No sense in talking a chance with that.

I've heard veggies were better than fruit and with bananas, I just give Secret a tiny piece. She's quite a bit older than yours.

Alright, thank you! I’ll make sure to introduce her to veggies next. What vegetables would you recommend to be best for Amazons? Also I’ll swap her from peanuts to almonds since I was told that they are better.

 

[Clueless]

I buy the almond slivers in the grocery store (baking aisle, no salt).

I buy organic peppers for Secret. Currently we are doing the small banana peppers.

Secret loves green beans.

 

[April]

@Fuzzy

 

[Fuzzy]

Alright, thank you! I’ll make sure to introduce her to veggies next. What vegetables would you recommend to be best for Amazons? Also I’ll swap her from peanuts to almonds since I was told that they are better.

Vegetables rich in beta carotene are important. These are brightly coloured like sweet potato (you can cook and mash it if she is used to eating mushy foods at the moment), carrot, squash/pumpkin, kale, broccoli, chilli peppers (parrots can't taste the heat), sweet red or orange bell peppers, etc. Fruit could be papaya, mango, persimmon, but these are full of sugar, so not too much. But you can also try sugar snap peas and french beans for interest.

What brand of pellets does she eat? Harrison's, Roudybush and Lafeber Nutriberries and Avicakes are the better formulated ones.

Re nuts, my Amazons' favourites are pieces of cashew and walnut. But try pieces of almond as well - my Pionus loves almond.

I think Vuela Vuela might be a Panama Amazon with that pale beak. Are her feet pink or grey?

 

[Pretzel]

Vegetables rich in beta carotene are important. These are brightly coloured like sweet potato (you can cook and mash it if she is used to eating mushy foods at the moment), carrot, squash/pumpkin, kale, broccoli, chilli peppers (parrots can't taste the heat), sweet red or orange bell peppers, etc. Fruit could be papaya, mango, persimmon, but these are full of sugar, so not too much. But you can also try sugar snap peas and french beans for interest.

What brand of pellets does she eat? Harrison's, Roudybush and Lafeber Nutriberries and Avicakes are the better formulated ones.

Re nuts, my Amazons' favourites are pieces of cashew and walnut. But try pieces of almond as well - my Pionus loves almond.

I think Vuela Vuela might be a Panama Amazon with that pale beak. Are her feet pink or grey?

Thank you! I’ll ask my mom for a picture of the brand of pellets and I’ll look into mixing mashed sweet potato and carrots into her food. Vuela Vuela’s feet are gray and she’s most likely from Panama since we actually live in Panama and see many of her wild counterparts daily.