Pellets for parrots

[Birdsare#1]

Hello!!!! We are planning to buy a parrot (sun conure or Alexandrine parrot). We've heard that pellets food is better for them rather than mixed daily seed mix. The problem is that we live in a country where parrot pellet food is not popular and imported at very high price and hard to find. We do have a lot of different pellets for chinchillas. Maybe we can substitute with them? At least some part of the diet (of course we know that fresh vegetables and fruits and nuts and seeds need to be given daily too).
Here is an example of chinchilla pellet contents :
Wheat, oats, barley, grass granules, buckwheat (no more than 2%), corn, peas, carob (carob), beets (no more than 2%), rose hips, carrots, apple, banana, grain granules, peeled oats, flax seeds.
Or
oats, corn flakes, dried beets, dried pineapple, banana chips, dried carrots, pea flakes, barley, wheat, dried carob, herbal granules

+- other ingredients

 

[Xoetix]

@Mizzely maybe can help?

 

[Mizzely]

I would not substitute for small animal food. While the ingredients look fine, it's not just about the ingredients. It's about the vitamin and mineral formulation. Parrots likely need higher levels of vitamin A and calcium than a chinchilla does, for example, and probably lower levels of fiber - but I don't know.

I would skip pellets and do veggies, grains, seeds, nuts, and fruit instead of giving them pellets not designed for them. If you have access to vitamins for birds, you could use that, too.

 

[Birdsare#1]

I would not substitute for small animal food. While the ingredients look fine, it's not just about the ingredients. It's about the vitamin and mineral formulation. Parrots likely need higher levels of vitamin A and calcium than a chinchilla does, for example, and probably lower levels of fiber - but I don't know.

I would skip pellets and do veggies, grains, seeds, nuts, and fruit instead of giving them pellets not designed for them. If you have access to vitamins for birds, you could use that, too.

Thank you so much for your reply! Then we will do as you said !!!

 

[CrazyKozmo]

You could also try sprouting seeds. It's easy to do with the right equipment. Check out sproutpeople.com to learn how and get seeds at your local health food store.

 

[Mizzely]

Yes sprouting is fantastic! I always forget to mention them because I lump them in my head with veggies and seeds (even though they are arguably better than both!). I feed a large mix of sprouts almost daily

 

[Birdsare#1]

You could also try sprouting seeds. It's easy to do with the right equipment. Check out sproutpeople.com to learn how and get seeds at your local health food store.

Thank you very much! Now we aren't so worried that we won't be able to provide our birds with needed nutrition!

 

[Birdsare#1]

Just yesterday, when I've been watching a bird training video, the woman there said that another plus side of giving pellets is that you can use seeds and nuts for awarding good behavior. What can I use as an awarding food if I will be giving seeds and nuts as the main food (of course with veggies, fruits and sprouted seeds) ?

 

[Mizzely]

You can reserve their favorite seed or nut for a treat, and remove it from their daily food dish.