What are some good brands of food??

[freshmtt]

When I got Jo-Jo my Green Cheek on Friday I picked up the only Conure food I could find at Petco. It is called "Sunscription Vita-Plus" Conure diet.

Is this pretty good food??

Could I also feed a mixture of Cockatiel food along with some parrot food? I see mostly Cockatiel seed and large Parrot seed mixtures at the pet stores. The stuff I bought on Friday was the only Conure seed I could find.

Michelle

[kiwi]

The Vita range is a lead brand so don't think you can go too wrong with it. I don't actually buy ready made mixes - I mix my own from the organic section of our local shop. I buy a huge mixture of seeds, add in some dried fruits and veggies (this is on top of their fresh)

It's quite easy to make your own - here's a list of ingrediants that go into conure feed....

Bee Pollen, Canary Grass Seed, White Millet, Safflower Seed, Canola Seed, Oat Groats, Sesame Seed, Sunflower Seed, Caraway Seed, Flax Seed, Coconut Chips, Raisins, Banana Chips, *Carrot Dices, Hemp Seed, Apple Pieces, Macadamia Pieces, Walnut Pieces, Almond Pieces, Pine Nut Pieces, Pistachio Pieces, Cashew Pieces, Filbert Pieces, Pecan Pieces, Brazil Pieces, Soy Bean Pieces, Cranberries, Mango Pieces, Orange Peel Strips, *Green Beans, *Garden Peas, *Spinach Flakes, *Celery Flakes, *Parsley Flakes *Broccoli, *Zucchini, * Red Bell Pepper, *Green Bell Pepper, Red Clover Blossoms, Dandelion Leaf, Calendula Flowers, Echinacea Angustifolia Herb, Alfalfa Leaf, Oat Straw, Thyme Leaf, Rosemary Leaf, Peppermint Leaf, Basil Leaf, Fennel Seed, Papaya Leaf, Red Raspberry Leaf, Rose Hips.

I use quite a few of these and I also include dried chillies, most of my birds just love them

*All these foods are dried and not fresh

[freshmtt]

Oooohh, This is a good idea as well. Our health food store has a plethora of stuff like this, I need to go and check this out!!
Thanks for the info!!
Michelle

[kiwi]

If you do decide to make up your own mix then just a little tip - when making it up take the packet from the earliest expiry and label your mix with that expiry, you'll know it's all safe until that date then

[Scully]

what portions do you measure out of each on that list Kiwi?

[kiwi]

I tend to alternate my mixture so the birds don't get bored, also it depends what my local shop has got in stock. I feed the tiels and kaks a 'less fattening' option (lessen the amount of sunflower seeds and all of the fattier ingredients on that list) and increase the dried fruit and veg. For Meg I'll add more sunflower, pinenuts, brazils, walnuts etc along with her favourite.... dried chillies. I've never took much notice of the prtion sizes I add of each but next time I make up a batch I'll pop the 'recipe' on here for you if you like Donna?

[Scully]

Not to worry i was just interested in the balance of the , of the ingredients you use.
The main food my birds have is the only thing i buy in the pet shop these days, like you i don't trust the dried fruit etc you can buy for birds. I cant find peanuts in the shell anywhere except on the wild bird food shelves.

I got a couple of those wooden shaped today, and spread a thin bit of peanut butter on it both sides. Then i did a mix of blended dried nuts and fruit and diiped the stick in. Kept Biggles and Ziggy busy for a while, with a pair of messy beaks ;D

[kiwi]

Sounds yummy - I bet they were a mess after!

I get my monkey nuts from Sainsburys - they are normally in the fruit and veg bit with the dried fruit snacks. I buy the dried fruit snacks to add into their food as they are only around 38 pence a bag. You get some lovely mixes with strawberries, cranberries, raspberries etc They were recently half price so I've got a cupboard full of them lol

[Scully]

Mine had a fresh berry mix this weekend, quite a big tub, as it was going cheap in waitrose. Strawb's, rasp, blue, and blackberries(Biggs loves to paint the wall with those )
Its about now we see the black poo ;D and the Kaks really do make a mess in the avairy.