what do you think about "Zupreem" ?

[marwan121]

Hi,

 

I went to buy normal seeds as usual for my african grey but the store keeper told me to give other food not just seeds so he can get vitamins so I got zupreem.

Do u recommend me to give him everyday or should i keep feeding him seeds for half of the week and the other half zupreem?

 

thank you

[SRSeedBurners]

Hi Marwan - do you have access to fruits/veggies at all? There's a sticky in this forum that gives a short list of some things you could try to feed by cutting/chopping. These guys really do super good on a fresh food diet. Zupreem and most pellets with a few exceptions are nothing but ground corn with some other ingredients mixed in. I call it dog food for parrots. We do feed some of these types of pellets but it's only after I've offered a nice fresh food meal or for times when they have to be locked up for a while. Can you get Harrisons? That's a really good pellet for Greys but they need to be active birds as it's really dense nutritionally.

 

Also, feed seeds sparingly. We use them for treats only around here and I have very active birds that spend part of their day being rowdy in an outdoor aviary.

[murfchck]

75% of my guys diet is fresh food. They have pellets (Zupreem Veggie Blend and the fruit blend, sorry Sterling but my guys love the stuff, lol) Seed is very sparingly given but daily, maybe a tablespoon amount give or take. They love sprouts so they get that 2x's a day also. If all your bird has eaten is seed, it will take some time to break them of it but don't starve him trying to do it. Meaning don't stop giving seeds all together at once, cut back a little at a time. It can be done but will take time.

[SRSeedBurners]

75% of my guys diet is fresh food. They have pellets (Zupreem Veggie Blend and the fruit blend, sorry Sterling but my guys love the stuff, lol) Seed is very sparingly given but daily, maybe a tablespoon amount give or take. They love sprouts so they get that 2x's a day also. If all your bird has eaten is seed, it will take some time to break them of it but don't starve him trying to do it. Meaning don't stop giving seeds all together at once, cut back a little at a time. It can be done but will take time.

 

 

They like it because it has sugar in it - 5th listed ingredient. Mine like it too! They also like red wine, coffee, beer, tacos, nachos...I'm a horrible parront. No I'm not, they force me to give them those things. I'm powerless.

[murfchck]

LOL, true to the wine, coffee, beer, etc. I came in to find Gabby with a beer can holding the it like a pro. (it was empty and didn't make it to the trash)

Most of my guys like Harrisons, but mama can't afford it for this many birds, half of who like to throw their pellets around. Vincent will put it in his foot, hold his foot over his head as he puts his head under his wing and rolls the food down his back trying to catch from underneath, he never has either but keeps trying! I will sometimes use Hagens tropican, they do like that but it is not easy to find locally and by the time I get on line to order it, I need it and can't wait for delivery. I should plan better, I will make a plan to plan that!

[SRSeedBurners]

Hear you on the Harrisons. I instituted a ban on Harrisons after the previous bag ran out. It was worse than government waste, fraud and abuse: wife was putting Harrisons in outside containers to get pooped on, mixing it with wet food so it had to get tossed daily and Rio was somehow able to make the pile of Harrisons below his food bowl larger than the pile I had placed in his bowl?!? A few F-bombs and threats and we have compromised on trying a new system: I researched and finally bought theCaitec Seed Corral. We're in the testing phase but WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!. So far Rio has only managed to waste just a few of the pellets as we buy the 'Fine' size so they don't ricochet all around the inside of the feeder as he cracks them. GreycieMae fits in it nicely but she's about the largest size bird I would use that on. It's also a little too big for Rio and especially our 10 ft tall & bullet proof Caique. I wish they made a medium size unit. Their small is budgie sized which would probably work for Toby if he could fit his ego in it.

 

If you look at the photo in the link, notice it's a photo shop job. Same bird, same image only mirrored. It's almost twice as big as the photo seems to indicate. They should have used a big fat Grey like my piggy, she can get all the way inside that thing.

Edited August 3, 2015 by SterlingSL

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

As Sophie gets older and older.she has her pellets, freeze dryed veggies. A diet picked out by her trimmer. A few seeds... but she really enjoys fresh fruits and veggies and dinner with us. Fruits are minimal, but she has a diet rich in protein and veggies. As I have become obsessed with grilling, she is now eating zucchini, squash, you name it, I am grilling it! I'm sure she is trying it, because I am excited for everyone to try it! LOL Nancy

[Muse]

Hi Marwan - do you have access to fruits/veggies at all? There's a sticky in this forum that gives a short list of some things you could try to feed by cutting/chopping. These guys really do super good on a fresh food diet. Zupreem and most pellets with a few exceptions are nothing but ground corn with some other ingredients mixed in. I call it dog food for parrots. We do feed some of these types of pellets but it's only after I've offered a nice fresh food meal or for times when they have to be locked up for a while. Can you get Harrisons? That's a really good pellet for Greys but they need to be active birds as it's really dense nutritionally.

 

Also, feed seeds sparingly. We use them for treats only around here and I have very active birds that spend part of their day being rowdy in an outdoor aviary.

 

Yeah, what he said! Also, most pellets contain a toxic synthetic vitamin called menadione. It is cytotoxic (cell-killing) to the liver, is linked to liver cancers, and causes hemolysis (bursting of red blood cells) that can lead to anemia. Pet food manufacturers use the excuse that the amount is too small, but as a nurse I believe that constant exposure to very small doses over long periods of time present a significant risk. We have a 'human edible' rule for food here. Nothing goes in a pet's mouth that I wouldn't put in mine, and since menadione is banned in human foods, we don't feed pellets that contain it. (It's also common in other animal 'kibbles'). I only know of three pellets - Harrison's, Goldenfeast Goldn'obles and TOPS pellets - that do not contain this toxin. We only use Harrison's for birds at risk of nutritional deficiencies because as Steve said, it's nutritionally dense. I don't like it because it's full of peanuts. Steve is right, most pellets are mostly corn (Goldenfeast is mostly quinoa). If you are on Facebook, I recommend searching for Jason Crean's group "Avian Raw Whole Food Nutrition." They have lots of members who are very well educated in nutrition and all members are seeing to feed the best diets they can to their birds.

[Greywings]

Great advice!

[birdhouse]

Another vote for fresh fed & TOP Pellets. If you're asking because you want healthy feeding tips in general, you can find a wealth of it by reading thru all the threads in the "Bird Food" Room. Well, maybe not all. lol

 

Fresh feeding can seem scary, but it's doable, cheaper & tons better than most store bought diets. It just takes a little work, some practice & commitment. But in the meantime, if you wanted to feed pellets & seed & supplement w/lots fresh fruits & veggies etc, that's fine too. You & your fid may both need some time to acclimate. Even getting rid of artificial coloring is a step in the right direction. But I would stick mainly to Muse's list. The TOPS Pellets especially.

 

EDIT - thought I should rephrase this. I do believe in fresh fed. There are some amazing parronts here who make breakfast, lunch & dinner for their fid(s) daily. Frankly, I'm in awe because I'm never, ever going to be that domesticated. So, around here, fresh fed is more like fresh frozen w/a side of whatever.

 

Once every 4 - 6 weeks, I make a huge mash, taking advantage of whatever fresh food is in season at the moment. This has all the balanced ingredients necessary for a healthy diet. I put each batch up in 1-2 day portions & freeze it. This way, I only have to commit to a big amount of labor the one time. Then, I thaw a cup over night in the fridge & add whatever yummy food happens to be around on any given day. So, the fids get a varied, healthy diet w/that much less work.

 

So if you thought you might like to start experimenting w/fresh foods, this might be a very good thing to try. When the food is chopped to bits &/or combined in a mash, there's less waste, it's easier to store AND you can sneak new things into old favorites. Really good for encouraging reluctant eaters, too!

Edited August 12, 2015 by birdhouse

[Greywings]

You can also sneak chopped fresh foods into an omelet or scrambled eggs I have found that works very well for reluctant eaters.

[Dave007]

I'm not fond of pellets in general. In the wild, there's no *pellet trees*. So, I guess that greys and other wild parrots which are all scavengers must suffer a lot because there's no * pellet trees* ? ARA doesn't use them. World Parrot Foundation doesn't use them.

[Luvparrots]

I have a pellet bowl in each of my greys cages, ONLY because I live alone, am older and if anything should happen to me, my parrots would have a couple of days with "extra" food until someone stopped by, hopefully. My CAG, Sterling Gris, only eats some of his if he does not like dinner. My TAG, Ana Grey, doesn't touch hers at all.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I remember the days when I just got Sophie. I wanted the BEST for her. Had a great groomer and trimmer that was very important to me! ( He still is!) He helped me plan her diet. As she got older and older, her diet became more focused on, what we ate. She still had pellets, freezedryed veggies and fruits ( more focus on veggies), but we had gotten past the fresh veggies and fruits thrown against the walls! Sophie was a very difficult bird to feed! Now that I include her on my " meal plans", mostly grilled, she gets very excited , when I am excited! I grill... she tries it... and usually she compliments! Nancy

[Greywings]

A friend just made stuffed peppers for her flock, they seemed to be quite popular will try to get permission to share a photo or two and maybe the recipe.

[Greytness]

Only 2 of my 9 regularly eat pellets. The rest get it daily in their birdie bread. I grind up the Harrison's pellets into 'flour' and use it with around 21 other ingredients. They love it!

I need to rethink the seeds, as I have seed available for 5 of them all day long. The others get it as a treat. My caique, who is a rehome, only eats a high quality seed mixture and grapes. He won't touch anything else.