I just got a new budgie about two weeks ago and he is about 2 months old in age. Well I am pretty concerned about its diet.

 

I did have a bird years ago that passed away due to some type of cancer. The vet was never able to confirm what it after many tests. I remember giving it antibiotics but Its stomach grew really big, and then the vet thought it was a tumor. I believe it was also because that bird was on a seed diet, with random fruits thrown into the mix. He got overweight. And its beak would grow like crazy which I would get trimmed a lot. the vet warned about liver disease and tried to get me to ween it onto pellets. And well no matter how hard I tried and different methods the bird would have nothing to do with it. He was unbelievably stubburn.

 

Anyhow I dont want to make the same mistakes as I did last time with my new budgie. So i was really happy when this lil guy today started to eat the zupreem fruity pellets I bought at the pet store. This was the only type of pellet they had there at the time. I actually thought it would be a lot harder to ween him onto them. What i did was mix a bit of seed with the pellets for a week and a bit. Yesterday I saw that he was mouthing/playing with the pellets in his beak. Today I gave him only pellets and he ate em readily after looking around and realizing that there was no seed. But now reading around I see that fruity zupreem is kind of frowned upon. Im worried of changing his diet any more than it already is. I still plan to offer him seed though. By giving him a little bit at night in a seperate bowl. I dont want to deny him anything. I feed the Hagen Budgie Gourmet seed. I mean not only did the lil guy start eating these pellets today. He actually even started eating his millet spray today as well (but still shy's away from other fresh food (veggies and the like)).

 

Anyways is it still okay to feed my new lil guy what I have now. What are your personal experiences and opinions with zupreem fruity pellets?

An all pellet diet is not recommended, I know here in the U.S. they want to see the birds on pellets and you will find that many members on here would never give their bird a pellet at all it is a very debatable subject.

 

In our food and nutrition section in the FAQ, http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/faqs/i...=show&cat=5 you will find different articles.

 

I believe that variety is best and pellets are okay and so is seed but best is a diet that consistent of a lot of variety of vegatable and fruits not just one thing is good a variety is best :doh:. If he ate the pellets that readily that means that I bet you can get him to eat a healthy diet of veggies and fruits also. You can put seed and the pellets together and see if he eats both .

 

When feeding pellets I would stay away from anything that is colored and only use natural pellets with no color additives.

 

Do becareful when you are doing a diet change it can throw them into a molt too and he probably will be going into his first molt soon anyways.

Edited February 9, 200916 yr by Elly

Natural is best. How would you like to survive on a diet of shakes and replacement meals forever? I recommend a diet of good quality budgie seed and veggies. Your budgie will thank you for it.

Edited February 9, 200916 yr by renee

Your bird is at the perfect age to become accustomed to healthy eating! Pellets can be a part of a healthy diet, they will 'fill the gaps' nutritionally. Most pellet manufacturers will recommend that pellets be fed as around 80% of the diet. In my humble opinion, that is too much. My birds eat maybe 20% pellets, 20% dry seeds, the rest are either cooked foods, fresh foods, or sprouted seed. Budgies being desert birds are designed to thrive on a higher percentage of seeds, so dry seed is not a bad thing. The bad thing is when they eat seed to the exclusion of other foods - as you have first-hand experience with what was probably cancer - you understand what I mean. Some cancers are genetic and your bird will get them no matter what the diet - I have some birds with liver issues that have eaten a varied diet since they were weaned - but you will feel better about it if you can get your bird on a healthy, varied diet right off the bat. The Zupreem fruity you are feeding has artificial colors, which might be fine in the short term, but if you can get an organic pellet instead to supplement with (I recommend Harrison's Mash - my budgies love it and it is the only 'pellet' they will eat. It is a little finer consistency than prepared eggfood - it is truly finely ground.) Artificial colors have been linked to cancers of the liver and kidney, and also to allergic reactions in some birds. Not all birds will have them, but it is a chance you take by feeding artificial colors. Stay away from any food containing ethoxyquin, BHA, or BHT. If you are interested, do a google search for those chemicals, coupled with liver and kidney. That's not to say you should freak out because your baby has eaten artificial colors, we all eat them in our foods as well. It just may not be the best choice, but better than an all-seed diet. :doh: If you can sprout your seeds, live foods are much better nutritionally and are usually very well accepted by birds. My birds love their sprouts. You can sprout your regular seed mix, provided there are not colored seeds in the mix. If your seed mix does not sprout within 48 hours, the seeds are not fresh enough for you to be feeding anyway and should be thrown out. If your bird will be an indoor bird, feeding a diet that includes pellets is a good thing, as most pelleted diets contain D3,which your bird needs. (Here is a link to those that are interested in how the uropygial gland functions when your birds preen.) Basically, the secretion from the uropygial gland also contains vitamin D precursors that are also spread over the feathers by preening. When exposed to sunlight, these precursors are converted to vitamin D3 and then ingested with subsequent preening. If your birds are kept indoors, most pellets will provide the necessary D3 your birds do not receive from sunlight if they are kept indoors. Window glass filters out ultraviolet light, so if your bird is indoors in direct sunlight, they are not receiving the necessary ultraviolet light necessary for the D3 conversion. If you are not able to provide outdoor time, then full-spectrum lamps are also a good investment.

Hey thanks for the advice. Dont worry I wont restrict my bird from its seeds! I still give him a separate bowl of seeds in the afternoon until bedtime. Im just trying to find a good pellet. Im actually happy that this guy actually eats this zupreem fruity stuff. I did do more research online and there is mixed reviews about the stuff. so who knows if its actually bad? My guy seems to be more adventurous nowadays and a bit less afraid of things so hopefully i can get him to eat some fresh foods instead of staying away from it.

 

I tried today to get the zupreem natural and plan to give him a mixture of both. I actually thought I found a place that sells the stuff but when i got there turns out the guy was wrong and he had only the zupreem fruity there. What a waste of my time lol. The guy tried to push other seed products on me. I went somewhere else though, a place where I used to go all the time, and was able to get a bag ordered for me from a very nice dude It will either be in this month, if he can tack it on to this months order, or next month sometime. So ill try that.

 

In the meantime I also bought the Tropican Life Granules from Hagan for cockatiels though to see if my guy goes for that. They might be too big though. The picture on front was deceiving. I thought they would be smaller. But you never know.

If they are too big you could always put some in a snaplock bag between a couple of teatowels and give them a bash with something to break them up smaller