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Parrotlet Diet

52K views 86 replies 45 participants last post by  Raylove2000 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I am an advocate for Shauna's Mash Diet from Feeding Feathers Yahoo forum, which is the natural whole foods diet I have fed for years. To summarize it as simply as possible, remembering that any changes in the right direction are positive:

Grains, 30% of the diet, soaked overnight and preferably sprouted, at least 4 different grains. The grains also can be cooked, combined with cooked legumes and frozen as a mash base in ice cube trays or small zip locks, depending on how many birds you are feeding. Millet, quinoa, oats (whole, not rolled or cut), hulless barley (not pearl), wheat berries, kamut, spelt, wild rice, brown rice, raw buckwheat.

Legumes, 15% of the diet (two parts grains to one part legumes complement each other for complete protein). Choose from the most easily digestible legumes, mung, lentil, whole pea, adzuki and garbanzo - these are the ONLY legumes recommended for sprouting because of anti-nutritional properties in other legumes. They must be soaked overnight, then sprouted fully until they have 1/2" tails, or soaked overnight and cooked (boil 10 minutes, simmer 20 minutes).

Vegetables, about 45% of the diet. Preferably at least 5 different vegetables per day, run through a food processor or finely chopped to avoid picking through for favorites. Choose at least one orange vegetable (pumpkin, carrot, winter squash, sweet potato), and at least one dark leafy green (kale, collard, mustard greens, dandelion greens - if you want to feed spinach, chard or beet greens only occasionally because of the high oxalate content). Other vegetables to reach at least five per day: broccoli, celery, romaine or other dark leaf lettuce, peas, zucchini, chayote, green beans, bell pepper, chili pepper, cabbage, bok choy, carrot tops, cactus leaf (nopal).

Fruit, choose two different fruits per day for about 5 to 10% of the diet, preferably from the more nutritious fruits. Papaya, mango, all berries, cantaloupe, pomegranate, kiwi, citrus, nectarine, peach, cherry, apricot, banana, pear, figs, apple. Try to vary the fruits, not offering the same one or two fruits day after day.

Optional ingredients: broken up whole grain pasta, minced wheatgrass, sprouted seeds. You also can offer a dry mix of mostly grains mid-day.

Supplements: Tiny pinch of organic powdered alfalfa daily (or can alternate with powdered wheat or barley grass). Powdered Kelp for Iodine (very important if not receiving fortified food, pellets, etc.) a few grains only per day, very little - you do not want to give too much. For Omega 3 EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids, about 10 whole flax seeds daily, or a drop of flax or hemp seed oil every other day.

I make up my fresh vegetables in the food processor, enough for 3 days, and add several pieces of whole wheat pasta (whole) which absorbs the moisture and helps the mix stay fresh. You can add a finely minced (or food processed with the other vegetables) garlic clove to the vegetable mix.
Reta
 
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#60 ·
Not for Blue Parrotlets?

I just got off the phone from placing an order for some Volkmans and when I asked about whether they carried zupreem fruit pellets she said 'You do know you shouldnt feed your blue parrotlet those dont you'?? I didnt know how to respond. Anyone know why?? Heidi is green and Fritz is blue but they are both fed the same obviously, they share a cage.. :confused:
 
#61 ·
A lot of breeders feel that pellets will cause liver damage in color mutations such as the blues. That's why there is so much controversy on pellets in the bird world. Vets recommend pellets for all birds. Breeders of p'lets disagree. Ultimately it is your decision. I give my girl who is blue some pellets but not a lot because I am conflicted. I tend to believe the breeders and I think once I run out of the pellets I will not give them to her. Others have fed pellets and have not noticed any problems but I think it is more of a long term diagnosis.
 
#65 ·
After reading some of the stickied articles here, I was thinking of doing something along the lines of :
30% Nutriberries (takes place of supplements and grains sections)
15% legumes
45% vegetables
10% fruit
and a few sprinklings of chia or hemp seeds on top

What do you guys think? Does it look ok?
 
#72 · (Edited)
hi there,

i recently became an owner of two 8 week old parrotlets, a blue (cobalt) female and a gray (mauve) colored male.
i feed them a seed mix from Teurlings (i'm from the Netherlands, don't know if you know this brand) (ingredients:
Milletseed, yellow 24% + Milletseed, white 15% + Canaryseed
10% + Buckwheat 6% + Milletseed, red 5% + Linseed
5% + Oats, whole, peeled 4% + Nigerseed 3% + Hempseed
3% + Paddy Rice 3% + Radishseed 3% + Oats, clipped 2%
+ Wheat 2% + Safflowerseed 2% + Cucumberseed 2% +
Dari red 2% + Spinachseed 2% + Maize groats 1.5% + Dari
white 1.5% + Mountain-ash berries 1% + Raisins 1% +
Mungbeans 1% + Melonseed 1% = 100%)

i also feed them some eggfood http://www.orlux.be/NUTRI/Nutrition/Pages/Products/index.jsp?ran=2593&pro=3661&fam=-1&ani=-1 and uni pate:
http://www.orlux.be/NUTRI/Nutrition/Pages/Products/index.jsp?ran=2599&pro=4305&fam=-1&ani=-1

i try to get them to eat lots of different vegetables, but they still are a bit picky.
i would love to feed them a fresh diet but i'm a bit confused on how to do this.

when feeding a fresh food diet, for how long do you leave the food in the cage?
when feeding them in the morning i can't take it out the cage during the day, so they would have fresh food in there which won't be changed for about 8 hours.
is this a risc?

how should a good basic fresh food diet look like?
i hope you can help me with this, i want to give them te best!
 
#73 ·
i try to get them to eat lots of different vegetables, but they still are a bit picky.
i would love to feed them a fresh diet but i'm a bit confused on how to do this.

when feeding a fresh food diet, for how long do you leave the food in the cage?
when feeding them in the morning i can't take it out the cage during the day, so they would have fresh food in there which won't be changed for about 8 hours.
is this a risc?

how should a good basic fresh food diet look like?
i hope you can help me with this, i want to give them te best!
Hi! Any fresh food shouldn't sit in the cage more than an hour, so it is something to work into your schedule. You can consider feeding them a breakfast and dinner of fresh food and seed/pellets while you are gone, or even just in the evening if you don't have the time in the morning.
 
#76 ·
The seed mix reads pretty normal to me, no seeds that seem bad. Tumi would love his mix to be like that - he is wild for buckwheat and oats! The other two things I'm not certain what they are - we don't have them in the US and my translating isn't great. :) I would suggest seeing if there is a pellet mix for small parrots you can get to add some more vitamins, and also make sure you have cuttlebone or a mineral block. I also have discovered that Tumi loves Nutriberries, but I don't know if you can get them; they are a sort of seed/pellet hybrid made into a small ball that he enjoys.
 
#78 ·
I would try to find an egg food without raisins or anything added. It is really just easier to cook them an egg or give them part of yours.

The 2nd thing I wouldn't really give to my bird. I would prefer pellets.
 
#84 ·
So I am thinking about making a 'mash' for Berry and he seems to be a bit of a fussy one.

What are your thoughts on the below as a rough plan? I have all this stuff already in the house so could begin this evening after work.

30% of dry grains - I have a mixed seed that he has at the moment that is millet, sunflower seeds and so on. I would probably leave this dry rather than attempting to 'sprout' them.

15% legumes - I have split peas, lentils and aduki beans (dry), can I use all of those? Am I right in thinking that I would soak them overnight and then cook the following day is that correct?

45% vegetables - carrot, broccoli, Peas, Courgette (I think you call this Zuchini?), peppers and brussels sprouts. Would I leave these raw or cook them?

5-10% fruit - mango, strawberries, melon, banana.

Then whizz it all up together in a food processor, and pop into ice cube tray and freeze - then keep in freezer in a tub / bag and just defrost a cube or 2 overnight to feed to Berry the next day - is that right?

It's taking me back to spending hours cooking and pureeing foods when I was weaning my daughters from milk to solids as babies haha! :D
 
#86 ·
Lettuce isn't good for them since its mostly just water. Better to feed them kale, collard greens, or spinach. Chop them up and blend them together in a food processor. Easy to add and mix in lots of other veggies and fruits in there too. Then you can just feed them a tablespoon of the blended veggies. They eat it better when its broken down.
 
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