Question about safflower seed

[Lovelylew]

Can you just order safflower seed to mix in with my other mixture? The breeder gave me mixed seeds with safflower mixed in, and the only plain safflower seed I can find is wild seed. The breeder told me not to feed her wild bird seed.

 

I thought I would mix extra safflower in with my mixture since that is what she seems to enjoy. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[fairymyst78]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8416

 

Hope this helps!

[Lyric]

Hi Lovelylew:

The link that fairymyst78 gave you is a good one. I'd also highly recommend Drs Foster and Smith- they have excellent service and good quality foods and toys.

Have you considered switching your grey to a pelleted diet? Seed only diets are not that great for birds and tend to lead to malnutrition problems. Be sure and supplement the diet with fruits, veggies, greens and grains if you do feed seeds. There are lots of ideas on this forum of what other people feed their birds. Some seeds on occasion would be fine or you can use them as a treat too.

[fairymyst78]

I went into a local bird store (they also breed and sell their own birds), it's a small place nothing on a huge scale. Anyway...I got into an argument with one of the ladies at the store. She informed me NOT to feed my grey Pellet diet as a base diet and to use ONLY seed as the base! I understand that seed is a good "treat" but I don't believe it is the better choice as a base diet! It just seems that the pellet's are a much better base nutritionally speaking. Why would this women be so determined to make sure I feed my bird seed diet?

[Lovelylew]

Thanks to both for the helpful information. I can't get my Grey to eat the pellets. The seed blend I purchased (2 different kinds that I mix together) have some pellets. The mix that the breeder sent me home with had a variety of seeds mixed in. Since Obi is only 4 months and ate the breeder mix like crazy and mine only some, I thouht I would add hulled oats and safflower to my mixture.

 

Obi will eat grapes, carrots, lettuce, and a variety of fresh fruits and veggies that I also give on a daily basis. I give a mixture of dried banana, yogurt peanut/raisin (which she really goes nuts over but only give like 3-4 per day yogurt) along with coconut mixed in. I also offer a soy bean mix (breeder had me soak and boil the beans and mix with frozen veggies that I warm each morning) but she's not really eating this either. I tried oatmeal to no avail.

 

Can you offer any suggestions to get Obi to eat more pellets? I really didn't want her to go hungry, so that is why I just placed the order for hulled oats and safflower to mix in with the sunflower/pellet mixture I already have.

 

Thanks for answering, and also fairymyst, thank you for the link. I did place an order.

[duchess]

While no one can answer for the woman who believes in an all seed diet, it sounds like a lack of true knowledge and understanding of a parrot's nutritional needs. This varies even from species to species. African greys are prone to calcium deficiencies and all seed based diet will almost insure that your grey will end up calcium deficient, because they will most likely eat only the sunflower seeds out of any seed diet. The advantage of a pelleted diet is that each pellet contains the vitamins and minerals that your bird needs to stay healthy, even though it seems that a lot of the pellets are wasted since they seem to pick and choose their favorite pieces even out of a pelleted diet. But, still they are getting much of their nutritional needs met in the pellets they do eat and supplying them with fresh vegetables and fruits will only better their nutrition. Good job on standing your ground!

[fairymyst78]

I am so glad the link was of help! It was funny that you had even asked that question because just today I was shopping at that site and discovered the single seed options! I can't wait to get my grey, I am already shopping for him/her!!

[Laurie]

I've heard of people soaking the pellets in juice, or maybe mixing with applesauce to make them more appetizing.

[Lovelylew]

I tried mixing applesauce in oatmeal, but she wouldn't even try that. I'm going to have to try and get her to eat more pellets, guess I'll try soaking them or something. I guess I could try putting them in applesauce and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestions.

[mas]

Lovelylew, I read somewhere (can't remember where!) that what you can do is offer seeds for 20minutes in the morning, and 20 minutes in the evening only. Rest of the time keep pellets in the cage only, and eventually your baby will start eating the pellets. I'm not sure if this is a nice thing to do - I personally would leave pellets, fruit and veges in the cage (not pellets alone), so the bird doesn't get starved into eating the pellets. Our Zahzu eats pellets quite redily now, and she was a real fuss-pot! Also, try different brands of pellets... Zahzu really liked the Kaytee weaning pellets - they are especially made to wean a bird of a seed only diet onto a pellet diet. Zahzu now only gets seeds when we are training her - it's a great motivator for her too!

Good luck!

Sameera

[Lovelylew]

Thanks, mas, for the helpful information. I bought the Kaytee parrot mix, and I mix that along with the mixture I bought from the bird farm near me with the light sunflower seeds. I've been giving Obi fruits, veggies, and still offering the bean mixture. At this point because she's still a baby, I'm letting her eat this. She's a very healthy bird, so I guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing and continue to offer the pellets which are mixed into the two mixtures I bought.

[donnanorman]

I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE HAVING TROUBLE GOING FROM A SEED DIET TO A PELLET DIET FOR MY GREY. I,M STARTING OUT WITH AN OLDER BIRD THAT IS 16 THAT I RESCUED SO I GUESS THAT,S MUCH HARDER BUT I'M NOT GIVING UP. I'M GOING TO TAKE ALL OF YOUR IDEAS AND LOOK INTO EVERYONE OF THEM. THREE TIMES ALREADY I'VE HAD ONE OF YOU MENTION IN YOUR DISCUSSION ABOUT THE WEANING PELLETS AND THAT' WHAT I'M GOING TO TRY NEXT. I DID SEE THAT THEY ARE NOT COLORED AND MY BIRD SEEMS TO GO FOR THE COLORED FOOD. THANKS

[Irishchicky]

I dont think my grey would eat pellets either.

[donnanorman]

I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE HAVING TROUBLE GOING FROM A SEED DIET TO A PELLET DIET FOR MY GREY. I,M STARTING OUT WITH AN OLDER BIRD THAT IS 16 THAT I RESCUED SO I GUESS THAT,S MUCH HARDER BUT I'M NOT GIVING UP. I'M GOING TO TAKE ALL OF YOUR IDEAS AND LOOK INTO EVERYONE OF THEM. THREE TIMES ALREADY I'VE HAD ONE OF YOU MENTION IN YOUR DISCUSSION ABOUT THE WEANING PELLETS AND THAT' WHAT I'M GOING TO TRY NEXT. I DID SEE THAT THEY ARE NOT COLORED AND MY BIRD SEEMS TO GO FOR THE COLORED FOOD. THANKS

[BMustee]

The Kaytee Weaning pellets are red and tan. Most of the birds want to eat the red ones over the tan ones.

[BMustee]

Also, Safflower seeds are not any better than Sunflower seeds in nutrution. The have the same fat content but they have a bitter resin in the shell so they don't taist as good as the sunflowers. I do offer Elmo the Higgins brand Safflower Gold seed mix along with his Zupreem pellets.

 

Parrots do need some seed in their diet because there is a need for some fats but I normally tell people to stay far away from Sunflower seeds with "heavy body" parrots like African Greys and Amazons. Greys seem to become Sunflower junkies overnight and Amazons get too fat too fast and get fatty liver too easily to risk it. The Safflower seeds are a higherfat seed but without that great taist so they don't get hooked on just them. I like the Safflower Gold mix because there is no sunflower seeds in it and there is some stuff in it that a lot of greys seem to like...the dried corn seems to be liked by a lot of the greys.

[donnanorman]

HI I DID GO ONLINE AND I SEEN THE SAFFLOWER SEEDS MADE BY HIGGINS THANKS

[dhorje]

My grey doesn't like kaytee pellets but she loves hagen's. My Grey is not a sunflower seed eater but she loves the sprouted ones. sprouted seeds have better nutritional value.

[Goralka08]

A member here named Erika (Baxtersmom) introduced me to a Whole Foods store. It's basically a really healthy and all organic grocery store. They have a seed and nut aisle where you can find all natural and organic safflower seeds of several different types.