The Decision to Convert
© Mary Wilson
I am not as bad of a mom as I may seem. I know that you ate seeds for the first part of your life, even after numerous nutrition articles told me of their ill effects. I chalked it up to money, as if that were such a thing that could impede me. You liked the seeds, as any child likes junk food, so I thought it best not to disturb your diet. You seemed happy, though I could not know the affects of malnutrition upon you.
The letter I wrote above to my "parrot kids" could go on forever, with me apologizing about my lack of attention to their diet and their nutritional needs. You see, I, like so many other parrot owners, saw the fortified seeds and thought, birds eat seeds in the wild, they are healthy enough. Of course, my birds also received bird bread, fruits, vegetables, and any other healthy foods, but seeds comprised the bulk of their diet.
Then, I read an article on Vitamin A deficiency. This final article, one among many, was the article that broke my will, so to speak, about feeding my parrots "natural" foods. The problem with feeding parrots seed is that they will pick out what they like and leave the rest. Fortified seed usually has pellets or other healthy bits in it, but like a child picking around the peas on his supper plate, a parrot will eat around the pellets. So, I decided to convert.
As a staunch advocate of a varied diet, this approach startled my close friends and bird owners. Sure, with pellets my birds still receive the same healthy natural foods that they did before, but with one special difference -- pellets. My birds now have pellets during the day to eat. And they dive right in. My birds eat their Zupreem pellets with relish, and I feel good when I feed them. The fruity aroma of the pellets appeals to the birds, and their bright colors and shapes appeals to their sense of culinary adventure.
Pellets aren't just a fad anymore. They're the right thing to do for your pet bird. Coming next weeks, tips on converting your bird to pellets.
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