Yes, i am a freak. After Twinkle very very close brush with death, i became paranoid and started looking into their diet. After i got muffin, both of them were like getting seeds and seeds and once in a while long beans and broccoli. I really sucked then, seriously. Twinkle used to have veggies everyday before the addition of the other two.

I searched online to see what other people said about pellets after an arguement with Rane abt seeds Vs pellet. It's really like the battle abt kibbles vs barf. Well, i think about it pellet seem to be like kibble too. But in the bird keeping world, seeds were far worse than 'kibbles' (pellets).
"Since seed mixes do not provide adequate nutrition, any parrots eating primarily seed eventually suffered from nutritional deficiencies that predisposed them to infection and caused other health problem as well. Seed contains a poor calcium/phosphorus ratio, which leads to calcium deficiencies. It also lacks an adequate amount of vitamin A, which is important to the functioning of the immune system. Lastly, seed will not meet the protein requirements of a parrot. Thus, a seed diet ultimately places a parrot’s health in jeopardy, as veterinarians have discovered." (quoted from http://www.parrothouse.com/pamelaclark/feedingcompanion.html) It does tally with Twinkle susceptibility to infection previously and to make things worse he picked seeds.

I also read that pellets has its cons, like make the parrots drink more water as it's dry. There's also a possiblilty of manufacturing contamination, just like the production of kibbles. Those recalls and all. Quite smiliar. So i found out that the best balance diet we can try to give is pellet + fresh food. Fresh food is like barf to parrots. Those live foods contain delicate enzymes, phytonutrients, and combinations of nutrients that no pellet can ever provide. Palema Clark, the author of the website stated above, really shine alot of light to me on their diet. She emphasize ALOT on balancing. But how?
"The answers actually are relatively simple. I will assert that parrots will balance their own diets if (1) we provide them with a large and diverse variety of live, fresh foods, (2) if they are not fed foods which pervert their appetites, (3) if the choices we offer are consistent with the foods they evolved to eat in the wild…and, (4) if we give them a chance to do so."

She also stated the fact that animals actually has the ability to balance their diet over time, just like dog's barf diet. They will actually eat what they required if available. Just like for breeding birds, the need for extra calcium will make them eat more if available. However, we do not know when and what they required. So in order to balance, the only thing we humans can do is to provide a wide variety of live foods for them. It's actually quite hard for busy people like me. The best option available to me is to vary the veggie every week. And the important part to allow them to eat new veggie is never feed food the perverts their appetite.
"The foods which pervert a parrot's appetite are those that (1) contain more fat than that same parrot would encounter in the wild, and (2) sugary foods in excess of what would be encountered in the wild" For my case, Twinkle love only long beans and corn, brocoli becomes his second option. So in order the get him accept and try new stuff like celery and kale, i should offer him veggie mix with minimal or none of those that he extremely love. It may sound like deprivation but it's all for his own good. Anything in abundance is no good.

So in order to carry out the livefood part successfully, i followed what was mentioned in the website. For busy ppl, it is best to prepare batches so that u don't have to chop veggies everyday. In order to keep the veggie fresh up to 6 days, the layered fresh food mix was introduced.

"This diet has several advantages, not the least of which is that I can feed fresh foods to over 40 birds on a daily basis, while only chopping fruits and vegetables once a week. For those of you with only one or two birds, this idea can be modified easily.
Once a week, I layer in plastic storage containers (I use seven 2-gallon containers since I'm feeding so many birds) the following:

Layer 1 (bottom layer) - chopped greens, which are varied each week. One week, I'll use collard greens and parsley and mustard greens, and the next I might use Swiss chard, kale and dandelion greens. (If you have only one parrot, or a few parrots, just choose one type of greens, but vary this weekly.)

Layer 2 - chopped (1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes) green vegetables, including any of the following: Brussels sprouts, zucchini and other summer squash, jicama, red or green peppers, fresh hot peppers, chayote squash, jicama, green beans, fresh peas, cucumber, celery, anise root, etc.

Layer 3 - chopped broccoli and shredded carrots

Layer 4 - a mixture of chopped apples, oranges and whole grapes

Layer 5 - frozen mixed vegetables.

The containers are then placed in the refrigerator (don't freeze).

Issues of freshness: this mix stays fresh in these tubs for up to seven days for three reasons. First, layered salads stay fresher longer. Second, the orange juice from the chopped oranges filters down and slightly acidifies that mix. The frozen mixed vegetables placed on top super-cool the mix immediately (cold air sinks/warm air rises). I do also wash all the fruits, vegetables and greens with Oxyfresh Cleansing Gele, which not only gets them clean but also has some anti-bacterial action. (Any veggie wash will do if you can’t find the Oxyfresh products.)

Use: each morning, I empty out one container into a large mixing bowl. At that point, I add other foods that would not hold up or stay fresh in the layered mix, such as: soft fruits (blueberries, peaches, plums, kiwi fruits, melon, etc), sprouts, cooked grains (amaranth, quinoa, brown rice, barley, etc), uncooked whole wheat pasta, and cooked beans. The addition of a combination of cooked beans and cooked grains provides another source of complete protein in the diet.

Sometimes, in order to generate a little excitement, I'll sneak in a package of pine nuts or walnut pieces. Usually, I feed nuts separately, but I like to use this fresh mix to surprise the parrots as well.

Once everything from the tub is completely mixed together, I add enough of a very clean, high quality seed mix to make up 5% to 10% of this mix. I might also add a scoop of pellets. This is then mixed together and fed to the birds. (Pellets are optional, but their inclusion into this mix at some point can help with their introduction.)

This recipe can be adapted for any number of birds with a little creativity, by reducing either the number or size of the containers used or both. For just one medium-sized parrot, such as an African Grey, you can create three containers, each holding about 4 cups. One container will keep for about two days, even after being opened and mixed up. It may take some playing around to find the right-sized containers, as well as the right amount of veggies and fruits to include, in terms of variety – but it will be well worth it. I promise you!"


I have prepare the 6 doses last night. I used orange as the citrus fruit. The juice of orange will really keep the veggie well intact. I fed them today with it. DaTing has no issue on eating such livefood. She ate EVERYTHING. muahaha happy! But Twinkle picked as usual, i came home and quickly inspect his leftovers. Great to see that celery, carrot, zuuchini has bite marks on it. =) Great improvements. I really think that they prefer livefoods than pellets but they love seeds on top of anything! I do still give them seeds. It will be like once in a blue moon thingy! Hee.... the site is really very useful for parrot nutrition. If you are interested, please go take a look.


The poorly taken pic of their food. Haha!

Nothing beats seeing your own pets loving the food you prepare for them. All efforts will be rewarded by healthy, long-lived pets! I really hoped that what i am doing now is the best for them all.

Labels: Babies, DaTing, Twinkle

Twinkling@
12/01/2007 02:07:00 AM