Nutrition: What's Best For Our Birds?

DOT SCHWARZ discusses the pros and cons of pelleted diets and seed mixtures in the first of three articles on parrot diets. Part Two: April 18.

WHEN Artha grey joined our home in the closing years of the last century, feeding seemed a pushover. All that was offered was parrot mix from the local petshop, a slice of fruit and fresh water changed daily. Then my vet said: “No more than 10 sunflower seeds a day.” I started removing sunflowers from the luxury brand and feeding most of them to the garden birds.

The seed mix that I bought contained plenty of monkey nuts in shells, until I found out that peanuts can be a source of aspergillosis. This respiratory disease can be a killer, so I started to pick out the peanuts, too. I began to read as much as I could. Twenty years later, pelleted (extruded, formulated) diets are gaining in popularity. Must I switch?

Are pellets better for parrots?