Pellets?

698 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by FaeryBee, May 17, 2022

AthenaTheBudgie

Discussion Starter · May 15, 2022

For a few months I was going through financial struggles due to COVID and could only afford to provide my birds seeds.

Prior, they were on a chop/pellet conversion. I offered chop, mixed with a bit of seeds (for incentive) for 4 hours in the morning. Then I would replace with seeds and crushed Top's Pellets. After about a month of powdered pellets, I began grinding the pellets less, leaving larger bits in with the seeds.

I am able to get them back on the conversion again, thank god (I felt so bad knowing I couldn't provide the optimal diet for a bit😭). I'm looking for recommendation for other healthy pellet brands. I had no issues with Top's, the ingredients all looked good, but just want to expand my options to experiment with to see if they prefer one over the other.

Also, any tips on diet conversion would be greatly appreciated! (Am I able to dampen the pellet powder and mix with the seeds, or do the seeds have to stay dry?) I realize that since I stopped for about two and a half months, I'm essentially starting from the beginning again.

💗💗💗💗(Blurry pic of my feathered babies, Athena-grey/blue female, and Poseidon-green/yellow male) 💗💗💗💗

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srirachaseahawk

· #2 · May 15, 2022

Tops and Harrison’s are good brands. Tops makes a cold pressed pellet, so it probably has a higher nutrient content; but the Harrison’s may be “more appealing”.
You also can, and should, mix it up. There’s no rule that says you should just serve one kind of pellet

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AthenaTheBudgie

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 15, 2022

srirachaseahawk said:
Tops and Harrison’s are good brands. Tops makes a cold pressed pellet, so it probably has a higher nutrient content; but the Harrison’s may be “more appealing”.
You also can, and should, mix it up. There’s no rule that says you should just serve one kind of pellet

Cool, thank you! Yeah I definitely want to offer them a varied diet so that their nutritional needs are met and they are happy and healthy.

I was looking around on google and a lot of the "good" parakeet pellets suggested were Kaytee. I don't like that brand as they use a lot of fillers and I don't trust them at this point-even if they claim no filler. However, do you know if ZuPreem is any better? There is one pellet I'm looking into trying by them called ZuPreem Natural with Vitamins, Minerals & Amino Acids. It says that there are no fillers or chemicals.

In general, what qualities do you look for in pellets to determine if they are healthy?

TY

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Cody

· #4 · May 15, 2022

I have both Zupreem natural and fruity, the fruit version comes in canary size so each pellet is about the size of one millet seed and my birds more readily accept them, I have not seen them eating the natural ones and those do not come in a canary size so maybe they don't like the size of them. I think I have tried every pellet on the market and the Zupreem are the only ones they will eat. Lafeber makes pellets that are natural you can check them out here Pet Food from Lafeber® - Working for the Health of Animals

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FaeryBee

· #5 · May 17, 2022

I would never recommend Kaytee pellets. Kaytee has had far too many recalls of products they produce in the past.

When I introduced pellets to my budgie, my Avian Vet recommended using Harrison's High Potency Mash and sprinkling it on the budgie's seed mix every day.

This way, when the budgie hulls the seed it tastes[the pellet mash and ingests bits of it as well.
This helps the budgie identify the taste as a food source.
It worked for my all of budgies and lovebirds

Many members seem to find the easiest pellets to use for introducing pellets to their budgies to be the CANARY sized (XS) Zupreem fruity pellets.
Most budgies like the taste and the "Canary" sized pellets are tiny enough for them to easily eat them.
Once budgies become accustomed to the Fruity Pellets, introducing the smallest "natural" pellets is then an easy step.

Other than when I was using the Harrison's mash, I've never mixed my birds' pellets and seed together.

My birds have Zupreem Fruity Pellets, RoudyBush Mini Natural Pellets, Dried Herb Salad and Miracle Meal available at all times.

Their seed is rationed to approximately 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of seed per budgie each day.

I give them seed first thing in the morning right after putting clean packing paper on the bottom grate of the cages.
I sprinkle their morning ration on the paper so they can forage for the seeds.
I then do the same thing in the evenings (after replacing the soiled paper with clean) and again allow them to forage for their seed.

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