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quick question

roync

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roy
my dyh has the habit when he eats seeds to only eat sun flower seeds.......mind you he gets served 3 fresh meals a day.....befor he came here he was fed mainly sunflower based seed mix and an occaisional treat of a fruit or veggie whe richard took him we worked very hard to switch him to pellets and fresh foods it worker he is nosey like me and investigates every thing, which is good....
for breakfast this morning he and simon were served cheerios, yougurt, raspberries, black berries and a monkey biscuit...... he ate but after he ate what he wanted he went in the cage and ate some sunflower seeds......should i be concerned by the amount of sunflower seeds hes eating with the way he eats fresh food 3 times a day... or should i cut out the sun flower seeds? doesnt eat millet at all, every once in a while he will eats a pellet
 

Clueless

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Sunflower seeds are no longer in my amazons diet.

I feed my guys roudybush maintenance pellets (medium) and fresh chop.
 

Mizzely

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Sunflower seeds are beneficial actually! But only in moderation, just like other seeds and nuts. They are still fatty and consumption should be limited. I would not free feed them

sunflower-seeds-3.jpg
 

Mockinbirdiva

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Why cheerios and monkey biscuits? ( what brand ) Yogurt -What brand?
 

roync

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plain cheerios, and plain yogurt......mozzy likes yogurt the monkey biscuits are exotic nutrition they are good for protien....the yogurt is dannon
 

Hankmacaw

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Amazons are prone to be little fatties, so be careful that he doesn't put on too much weight. Amazons are also more susceptible to fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis than any bird except a CAG. Keep him lean and make sure he gets lots of exercise. Flying is by far the best exercise.

No sunflower seeds are not 100% bad, but they sure are full of fat. Why don't you try to keep them as only a treat?
 

melissasparrots

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I always think that if a bird is able to be picky, it's because they are being over fed. If he is selecting sunflower only, and ignoring other seeds, then you might want to consider if you are feeding him too much. Is he fat? I ration the food for all my amazons. One female in particular can quickly gain 100 grams and get enough padding around her lower belly that I worry she will develop a fatty tumor. Its surprising how little she eats and maintains an only slightly chunky figure. Personally, I'd keep seed limited to less than a tablespoon a day. I feed my amazons a cockatiel seed mix primarily because it is lower in fat than most large parrot mixes and has fewer sunflowers. If they want to eat seeds, they have to be willing to eat the millet. I also feed pellets and fresh food too. I give them as much fresh as they want, so if they are hungry, they have food, it just might not be the food they want. Seed is only fed right before bed and only in limited quantity. By morning, their seeds and pellets have been consumed and they are hungry for their fresh or cooked veggies and other foods. I do give some sprouted seeds, but still keep it to a lower fat mix with a good amount of legumes so they can't feast on fat and become protein deficient. I'm not one to advise eliminating any one thing from the bird's diet. Just ration it and keep it within reason as part of a healthy whole.
 
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roync

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no hes not fat, and yes probably being overfed as i offer 3 fresh meals a day and he eats from each one plus i give him snacks through out the day......last night when i gave him his seed and pellets i took all the sunflower seeds out, boy he was mad threw the dish on the floor
 

Clueless

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MC throws his dish too. As soon as it's empty, it's out of there!
 

roync

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after breakfast this morning i gave them sprouted seeds they loved them mozzy has had them before so i knew he liked them. hes still mad about not getting sun flower seeds
 

Fuzzy

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Try sprouting a few sunflower seeds and add them into your other sprouts. Don't let them grow too much or they get bitter. They would be a bit more nutritious sprouted.
 

Hawk12237

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Amazons are prone to be little fatties, so be careful that he doesn't put on too much weight. Amazons are also more susceptible to fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis than any bird except a CAG. Keep him lean and make sure he gets lots of exercise. Flying is by far the best exercise.

No sunflower seeds are not 100% bad, but they sure are full of fat. Why don't you try to keep them as only a treat?
That is true and I'll second that.... If I may also add...
The two most common reasons for malnutrition include allowing birds to choose what they want to eat from mixtures of seeds and nuts and pellets or feeding a pure seed or seed-based diet. Many of the illnesses seen in pet birds have their basis in malnutrition. These include liver disease, kidney insufficiency, respiratory impairment, musculoskeletal disease, and reproductive problems.
 

Anita1250

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My Sammy has gotten so much better about seeds. He is 37, and grew up on a seed diet. It took me two years to switch him to pellets. However, he must have a few seeds in his dish in the AM. If not, he will use his beak like a scoop and send the pellets flying out of the cup onto the floor looking for the seed. If he has his fix, he is good to go for the rest of the day.
 

Hawk12237

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My Sammy has gotten so much better about seeds. He is 37, and grew up on a seed diet. It took me two years to switch him to pellets. However, he must have a few seeds in his dish in the AM. If not, he will use his beak like a scoop and send the pellets flying out of the cup onto the floor looking for the seed. If he has his fix, he is good to go for the rest of the day.
Kind of like Pierre, double yellow headed. He's 20, had him just over a month . Seems he was mostly seed and pellet diet.
Because when I introduced fresh foods, he would just look at it like he didn't know what it was.
So I had to take the fresh food out of his bowl and make like I'm eatting it too and enjoying it. He tried it then. I also remove his seed bowl for a while which makes him eat more of the fresh.
So far he's doing good about it and eating more fresh.
 

aooratrix

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How much are you feeding? That's the key: your bird needs no more than, say, a teaspoon a day of sunflower seeds. I would only feed them if they'll sprout. If they won't, they're dead and have no nutritional value. Don't overfeed monkey biscuits, either. That's formulated for primates, not psittacines, although I am old enough to remember making handfeeding formula with them and peanut butter. I don't feed yogurt. Birds' digestive systems are not designed to digest dairy, period. There is no way they'd encounter it as a food item in the wild. I know some people will say their vets have approved, but I shake my head at that. Parrots are not designed to process dairy.
 

Hawk12237

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How much are you feeding? That's the key: your bird needs no more than, say, a teaspoon a day of sunflower seeds. I would only feed them if they'll sprout. If they won't, they're dead and have no nutritional value. Don't overfeed monkey biscuits, either. That's formulated for primates, not psittacines, although I am old enough to remember making handfeeding formula with them and peanut butter. I don't feed yogurt. Birds' digestive systems are not designed to digest dairy, period. There is no way they'd encounter it as a food item in the wild. I know some people will say their vets have approved, but I shake my head at that. Parrots are not designed to process dairy.
I also agree with this statement. Dairy is not recommended by my vet. Processed foods just are not broken down by birds and causes problems.
 

Anita1250

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I would say Sam gets about 8 sunflower seeds a day. Just enough to keep him happy. The rest of his diet is very good. Pellets, veggies such as broccoli, carrots, peas ets. Fruits he likes are apples, bananas, blueberries etc. He gets carrot every day for Vitamin A.
 
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