Heard of it?

[Pixburgh29]

When we visited our baby yesterday, the breeder recommended a product that she puts in her breeders water. She suggested that we add it to our baby's water around 3x a week. She also gave us the paper that comes with the bottle. It is called Nekton-S and it's a vitamin supplement. Does anyone have any experience with it? Not that I don't trust the breeder but I second guess everything.. I don't want to do anything wrong that I can help and the more opinions I can get the better i'll feel.

 

Also, as far as food goes.. I went toy shopping for our baby today and stopped in the bird food section. Some of the pellets that were suggested were Zupreem (natural, nut blend, or fruit blend), Roudy bush maintenance, &/or Kaytee parrot woodland foraging diet. I've heard all the others mentioned in the bird community except the woodland foraging one. I added the site link below for those that are more experienced with the ingredients aspect to give me an opinion. It looked really good variety wise, there were dried leaves, nuts, seeds, pellets, etc all mixed. However, I raise Dalmatians and have quickly found out not to be fooled by pretty packaging on dog food brands so I assume bird food is no exception. I also went over to the millet spray and saw what was called chili pepper spray and it had a CAG on the front of it, opinions on that as well?

 

As I was standing there staring at all the foods, an employee came up and asked what type of bird I had. After bragging about our little baby and showing off with pictures, the guy asked if i'd heard of Zilla veggie & fruit mix. Of course I hadn't, and he then explained that a lot of bird owners came in and bought it for their birds to give more variety. I put this site link as well. Anyone use this at all?

 

http://www.kaytee.com/products/kaytee-foraging-woodland-parrot.php

http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/food/small-animal-munchies-vegetable-fruit-mix.htm

 

Thank you in advance!

[Jayd]

Come on all, there are some really good questions here that need more than one answer!!!! Get typing, give opinions, examples, and pro and cons...Jayd

[murfchck]

Other than the Zilla, i have tried them all... The Zupreem nut and the veggie are what we use but that being said, only my macaws actually eat it. As far as seed, usually i have Kaytee but it changes as well, i look for no(few) nuts in the bags and few sunflower seeds. They seem to get sick of the same stuff just as we do so i am a bouncer, lol. I do always add wacky mac and the dried fruit and veggies to my seed mix.

Oh, i do not use supplements in the water or food. This was advised by my avian vet. His fresh foods supply that and the lighting we are setting up will cover the rest. :-)

Edited January 8, 2013 by murfchck

[Greywings]

Nekton is a wonderful product I use when doing rescue work on injured or near death birds. Most of us here do not add any vitamin supplements to our Greys diets as they should be getting a balance of fresh foods especially those rich in beta carotene's the yellow, orange and red veggies and some fruits.

So both lack of vitamins, and toxicity of too much of a vitamin, hypervitaminosis, or a mix of the two, is one of the leading cause of death for captive parrots. It may seem odd to be talking about the dangers of too many vitamins; after all, we are always being lectured on how hard it is to get our parrots what they need, can we really give them too much? The answer, though a bit complicated, is yes.

 

"If you are feeding only fresh foods, you have no danger of hypervitaminosis. This is because fresh foods, real veggies, fruits, and grains, etc, often contain precursors to the actual nutrient, so the body simply assimilates from the food what it needs, and leaves the rest. Vitamin A, for instance, is not a natural food of parrots, rather, they consume beta carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, from their food.

 

The problem arises when we start feeding synthetic vitamins. Synthetic vitamins are already in their final form, and so instead of the body being able to take what it needs and leave the rest, they have to use all that they are given. Vitamin A, using the same example, is one of the more common vitamin toxicities heard of; vitamin A is stored in the liver until it is needed, so too much of it can overpower the liver. Hypervitaminosis can show itself through all manner of symptoms including, but by no means limited to, plucking, poor feather growth/quality, excessive beak or nail growth, hyperactivity, aggression, listlissness, and an all manner of health issues including liver or kidney malfunction or failure, and unfortunately, death.

 

Now, however, things get more complicated. No one really knows for sure how much is the perfect amount of these synthetic vitamins for our parrots is correct. Each species has very different needs from all the others, and potentially different ways of precoessing the vitamins. Combine with this the fact that each individual parrot varies in how they handle synthetic vitamins and you have quite a puzzle! Going back to the vitamin A for another example, and in regards to parrots that are being fed an almost completely (80% pellets or more) diet, I have heard of an almost equal dying from lack of vitamin A as those dying from Vitamin A toxicity. This shows how very much individual parrots vary in their use of the vitamins, for some seem to be unable to process synthetic vitamins, and simply remove them from the body as effectively as they remove a toxin, while others become overwhelmed by storing all of the vitamins.

 

For these reasons, it is very often recommended now to feed a mostly fresh diet, with some pellets if you wish to include them or do not have enough time to make sure they are getting a fairly complete fresh diet, and time outside in the sunshine for vitamin D."

This was a very well written piece I borrowed for elsewhere as it expressed the dangers better than I could.

Edited January 8, 2013 by Greywings

[danmcq]

Excellent post full of good information Greywings!

[Wingy]

That Zilla fruit and vegie grabbed my attention. Hopefully one of my local stores carries it. My buddy might really like that.

[Greywings]

Looks like Petco carries it it is labeled for reptiles and small animals. Consists of freeze dried ingredients you can just do the same thing with fresh items and eat healthier yourself.

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude Protein (min).........7.4%

Crude Fat (min) ..............4.0%

Crude Fiber (max)............6.5%

Moisture (max)................11.0%

 

Ingredients

Sun Dried Bok Choy, Sun Dried Carrots, Freeze Dried Zucchini, Freeze Dried Green Beans, Freeze Dried Peas, Freeze Dried Apples, Freeze Dried Bananas, Freeze Dried Strawberries, Freeze Dried Peaches, Freeze Dried Pears, Freeze Dried Mangos, Freeze Dried Blueberries.

[Wingy]

My buddy is Mr Picky when it comes to eating and really only eats a few vegies and even those are hit or miss depending on his mood. He will sometimes go for the freeze dried when he refuses the fresh. I live in the land of lake effect snow storms so having accepted dried vegies is a plus.

[Timbersmom]

I know that feeling. Timber won't eat fresh peas but will eat "Just Peas" dried.

[Pixburgh29]

Thanks everyone for the replies, they were all very helpful! I'm sure i'll have plenty more questions until our baby comes home in March and even after..so in advance, thank you also for your patience and understanding.

[Dave007]

Looks like Petco carries it it is labeled for reptiles and small animals. Consists of freeze dried ingredients you can just do the same thing with fresh items and eat healthier yourself.

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude Protein (min).........7.4%

Crude Fat (min) ..............4.0%

Crude Fiber (max)............6.5%

Moisture (max)................11.0%

 

Ingredients

Sun Dried Bok Choy, Sun Dried Carrots, Freeze Dried Zucchini, Freeze Dried Green Beans, Freeze Dried Peas, Freeze Dried Apples, Freeze Dried Bananas, Freeze Dried Strawberries, Freeze Dried Peaches, Freeze Dried Pears, Freeze Dried Mangos, Freeze Dried Blueberries.

 

The mixture isn't good for birds. It has much too much of fruits in it which aren't good for birds. Too much fruit means too much acid. Reptiles have a totally different metabolism. Better safe than sorry.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Dave007

[DanielaWelborn]

I totally agree, I , myself, do not take any vitamins, but rather drink my "shake" in the morning for breakfast. That is usually the first time Jellybean is getting breakfast; veggies, fruits, legumes. I also feed him nutria-berries with nuts, a tiny bit of sunflower seeds and some dried unsweetened fruits. I have ordered the red palm oil and am waiting for it to arrive. I think I might use it for Jellybean and myself in my morning shake. I have purchased pellets, but Jellybean does not touch them.

I try things that are good for him and at times he will take it and at others just throw it out. Hit and miss with these guys:)

[Pixburgh29]

Zilla also makes a veggie only mix - ingredients are as follows.. Sun Dried Bok Choy, Sun Dried Carrots, Freeze Dried Zucchini, Freeze Dried Green Beans, Freeze Dried Peas. Do you think this one would be ok since it doesn't have all the fruit in it that the veggie/fruit mix does? Primarily I would be giving the baby fresh cut veggies but I was thinking more emergency situation (no power, fridge goes out, etc). This way I wouldn't have to panic if the power is out for days (which frequently occurs out here). The baby wouldn't only have to rely on a pellet/seed mixture. (S)he isn't home yet so I don't even know if it'll be accepting of pellet at all and I wouldn't want to feed a seed only diet for days while waiting on the power to come back on.