High Performance or Lifetime Formula Tropican pellets?

[charlieboy]

So Charlie has been fed High Performance Tropican pellets (link) since his weaning. I'm really happy he likes them! He eats about 40% pellets, 50% seeds and 10% veggies/other for now, slowly moving towards a better diet of course.

He is now almost 5 months old and I have been eyeing the Lifetime Formula Tropican pellets (link) because Tropican recommends it for the long run, but the only difference seems to be that the nutrients in the High Performance are more concentrated/in higher amount than in the Lifetime Formula, I think?

Is there a big difference between the two, or could Charlie be feed High Performance his whole life? Can he have "too much nutrients"?

I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to nutritional needs in cockatiels, so I'd appreciate an answer a lot even if you haven't tried these pellets but find one better than the other according to nutritional content or description.

Thanks in advance

 

[Love My Zons]

@Mizzely bump

 

[painesgrey]

Typically high performance diets are for birds that have strains on their systems - weaning birds, stressed/sick birds, breeding birds, etc. These diets tend to have more calories than their Lifetime counterparts, and thus can cause obesity and other such problems in otherwise healthy birds. If it's something you want to continue feeding in the long-term, which I personally would advise against, then you'd need to decrease the amount he's getting to compensate for the higher calories.

Pippin was placed on Harrison's High Potency (similar to the Tropican High Performance) when he lost weight due to illness two years ago. It helped him boost his weight while he was recovering, as he was getting more calories for the same amount (or slightly less) food intake. The vet recommended he stay on it only for a short time, as long-term use could swing his weight in the far other direction and lead him to be overweight.

 

[Mizzely]

The simple answer is that yes, you can have too much of a good thing. As @painesgrey mentioned, higher performance diets are not usually meant for long term use. Some birds DO require it for longer periods of time (some species like macaws that can do better on a higher fat diet, and even then not all of them) but for most birds it is an unnecessary boon. Giving a bird too much protein and fat can also trigger hormonal behavior as in the wild the times of plenty is when they reproduce.

 

[charlieboy]

@painesgrey @Mizzely Thank you for your great answers!! I will get Charlie some Lifetime formula then