Your opinions on some bird products?

[Shpax0r]

I have alot of pets. My best friend has ALOT of pets. We exchange pet gifts pretty frequently. Today, I gave her a 29 gallon aquarium for her rats, and she gave me some interesting bird stuff. It seems pretty cool, but I wanted to check it with you guys first, and ask if you had any experience with any of it.

"Vitakraft Sprouting Pot Bird Green - fresh vitamin-rich greens daily"
I am pretty excited about this one. It's some edible grass that grows in this little plastic pot to hang in your birds' cage. You add water, it grows. Sounds really cool, but I've also never ever heard of it before, so I wanted to check it with you guys.

"Premium 8-in-1 Multi-Drops - high potency vitamin supplement"
Liquid vitamin drops that go in water. They also say you can/should put them in their food but this seems weird. My birds shun the vitamin treats I got them, so I thought putting vitamins in their water would be a better idea. In case anyone care, it contains: Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6. Niacinamide, d-Pantothenic Acid, and Choline.

"Ultra Care 8-in-1 Bird Bath Spray"
I know my birds need to be misted. I've been feeling pretty guiltly for not yet having gotten a new water bottle after I broke the one I had. I assume this product is probably a waste of money, but, as a gift, is it generally safe to spray on my birds? It says not to use it on sick birds. It contains: Purcellin Oil (Preen Gland Oil) - 0.5% [author's note: WTF?], Aloe Vera - 1.0%, Lanolin - 0.3%

And while I'm on the subject of bird consumption, what should my birds be eating? I have budgies. The pet store I worked at fed budgies, canaries and finches seed, but fed all larger parrots pellets. A "bird expert" came in monthly to harrass us about out parrots pelleted diet - she said it was unnatural, and had corn syrup that made the birds fat. She never bothered to take her complaints to our corporate headquarters, even though we explained that our store, being corporately owned, couldn't deviate from SuperPetz official doctrine. Other people have told me that seed diets are incomplete. Alot of other people, infact.

My birds, being purchased from the pet store I worked at, were used to seed when I got them. Worried that they weren't getting enough nutients, I started giving them pellets too. I don't have an exact idea of how much of each they are eating, but I know they are eating both. Is this bad?

Thanks. Alot of you here seem really knowledgable - I really appreciate you taking your time to tell me what you think.

[Hagos]

The vitamins for the water is useless. First of all it "ruins" it more quickly, gives Algie and stuff like that a good start to grow. Wich means you would have to change the water like 5 times a day.

Second of all, the vitamins "dissappear" from the water in about an hour.

Second of all, i never trust any of theese vitamin supplements. With a diet suitable to the species, nothing like that is needed anyways.

As for the birdspray, i spray mine with a mix of water, and Aloe Vera juice. Totally natural, and GREAT for the feathers. I donät know what that other stuff is, but i would go with the "au naturell" if i were you. Either just water, or water woth aloe Juice.

Take care!

[wingnut]

Hi, the greens are probably OK, just make sure no mold grows on the soil or whatever they are growing from. Hagos is sure right on the vitamins. Nekton makes a vitamin powder that one can sprinkle on the food. That is a better idea. The last thing you want is bacterial or algae growth in their water. Don't use the spray, take Hagos' advice. To think about: where did the spray manufacturer get the preen gland oil??? I shudder to think. Pellets are OK as long as that is not their only food. You had previously described the diet you feed your keets, and it sounded good to me. Variety is always best - seed, pellets, whatever fruits and veggies they will eat. Whole wheat bread, pasta, cheerios, and corn flakes are other things to try. You show a lot of concern with doing the best for your birds. I truly admire that!

[wingnut]

Oh yeah - what is preen gland oil? Well, on the bird's rump (the area above the tail, on the top side, between the ends of the wings) there is a tiny thing that looks like a nipple. When they preen, you will often see them reach back there and then continue preening. The preen gland contains an oil that they take with their beak and distribute onto their feathers. So that's why I'm wondering where the spray manufacturer got the preen gland oil...yikes. Come to think of it, you might be able to see the preen gland on those baby keets of yours before they get too many feathers. How are they, anyway? Any more hatch?

[Hagos]

Hi!

About the diet. I personally do not even feed my dogs "dogfood", they get an all fresh diet, more known as "BARF."

I am a vegetarian my self, and i never eat stuff with preservatives, additives, processed foods etc.

When we are talking about most other parrots, i'd say a few pellets a day would be okay, but it should never be the "Major" part of a birds diet. My senegal Gets a few eco-bird pellets as a "snack" in the middle of the day, just because he likes them so much. (All organic pellets with as little additives there can possibly be.)

Look at the dog food for example. A while ago we went trough some problems in our family, and had to swich to ordinary "dog-food." We used the best and most expencive brands there is, the ones vets recommend. AS SOON as we started, the problems we had with them before we started BARF all came back. The problems with their ears, bad tummys, etc etc etc etc..
When they got back to the fresh foods the problems were all gone again.

Many vets here are starting to diss the dog-chow, and recommend the raw diets instead.

Birds, being much more sensitive then a dog, i would not trust pellets. I know far to many birds wich has become allergic to things because of them (and we're talking good brands like Harrissons, and similiar.

Back to topic.
While some people choose to feed their parrots pellets for some reasons, Cockatiels and budgies should not be fed pellets.

They are adapted to living in a harsh environment, and eat very low-nutrision foods, like grasseeds, grass, herbs and stuff like that.

When the rain, and fresh foods come, they start mating and breeding.

To much nutrision to birds wich are adapted to low-nutricion diets can have a reversed effect.

A good diet of about 50% good seed-mixture without additives, pellets etc. About 30% sprouted seeds/soaked seeds, and the rest grass (like the ones you got from your friend, it can also be wheatgrass and stuff like that. Herbs, and some veggies, and grains is a good, adapted diet for a budgie, and or cockatiel. Pellets is not only a cause for fatty-liver, different kidney disorders, etc, but to much pellets, veggies, fruits, and fresh foods is the most common cause for eccessive egglaying, ecpesially in tiels, but also in budgies.

So i think that lady is right. ;)

Take care!

[lovechick]

Well I bought some Vitacraft potting mix and sprouted it, its nice because it comes with a perch and everything, but my birds tend to pull out the sprouts and toss them on the ground, so I wll have to try a different sprouting approach.

I avoid buying anything from 8 in 1, its a crappy company and most of their products are cheap and hazardous to birds health. Please dont use any of it.
Birds dont need vitamins if they are fed a well balanced diet, occasionally they need to be given to older birds with weak immune system, I give my parakeets trace minerals which are usefull because american soils have be stripped off important vitamins and minerals found in the land and its not available even in most natural and raw diets.

I think the opionions differ with the whole seed/ pellet plan. In my opionion, I dont dont mean to fight with anybody here, I just feed my birds based on tons of research that I have done..
They have natural pellets in their food dish at all times( harrisons and roudybush), I also give them seed/dried herb mix every other day in a seperate dish, by a company called Goldenfeast. They get fresh fruits and veggies every day as well, they have sprouts available at all times. I also give them cooked diet(beak appetite) 3-4 times a week , as well as other treats like millet spray, avi-cakes, nutri berries( both by lafeber), healthy human foods like eggs, pasta, rye bread, etc- about once a week.

Keep in mind that variety is the key to a healthy diet, it cant be just seeds, or just pellets, its a combination of everything.

Hope things helps.

[Tirilliel]

A bird that has a proper diet doesn’t need vitamin supplements. I have also heard the "drops" in the water cause bacteria to grow much faster and can cause infections and things of that nature. Plus birds don’t need to drink a whole lot of water, they probably arn't even getting they required intake according to what the products information recomends becasue they don’t drink that often, if one were to add a vitamins supplement its probably better adding a powder to the food.

Do some research on bird diets, specifically budgies since that’s what you have. A good budgie mix should suffice. Some people like to offer pelleted diets because this way the birds can pick out what they like best, But I think their life is more enriched when offered natural seed, a mix with both seed and pellet I find are sifted through anyway and pellets left behind. Offer fresh things like broccoli small pieces of green leaf lettuce, soaked seeds, scrambled egg, millet and I’m sure the list is much longer if you just look it up. My lovebird Houdini gets dehydrated corn and peas from this website BlackBird Food Co. (http://www.blackbirdfood.com/index.htm) Its actually for people, but the mix I get is 100% organic with no additives, sugar or salt.

Houdini also gets cooked broccoli and bean sprouts ,as well as millet offered daily. I don’t add any vitamins to her water and she a nice healthy active bird! However I do have a vitamin block in the cage incase she wants to nibble it and a cuddle bone, I think animals have a way of knowing what their body needs so I decided to offer a little of everything but I don’t force anything into her.

Stay away from Gourmet birdseeds with dried or dehydrated fruits or veggies in it. There are usually additives and preservatives added into these seed mixes and there is allot of controversy with this, most bird lovers I find think it’s unhealthy.

Houdini has a bird bath on her play stand which she can bathe in when she please, or she just bathes in her water dish :P I would stay away from most silly products like special bird sprays, to me water is the most clean and natural and I cant understand why anyone would purchase such silly products, plus you never know if your bird may have an allergy to it, unless the vet prescribes it I say leave it alone. Better safe then sorry I say!

The Vitakraft Sprouting Pot Bird Green sounds all right. But in the future try sprouting bird seed or beans its much cheaper and just as good.