I just rescued a QP and they where feeding him "Pretty Bird" pellets. They are fruit flavored and several different shapes and colors. I do feed or try to get each one of my fids to eat Zupreem, all flavors and sizes. I also order the organic pellets from Chet Womack. I've been told that the Pretty Bird pellets have some sugar in them. Any pellet is better than seed. If I cannot get him to eat anything but Pretty Bird Pellets, should I feed him fresh fruits and veggies. At this point in time I can't get him to eat corn, fresh from the garden, just his pellets. I have seen these pellets advertised in "Bird Talk" magazine. Any advice or opions? Thanks
Lee Ellen

A lot of people here use Zupreem fruit blend and the birds seem to do quite well on them. I personally have a bit of concern about the added sugar and the food coloring but maybe that's just me.

I'm convinced from several sources that it doesn't come any better than Roudybush.

Roudybush has a pellet? I've never seen it around.
Lee Ellen

Fresh fruits and veggies are always good as well.. I converted mine to zupreem and he gets tropican natural parrot size ones that he carries around the cage and eats.. more like a foot toy lol but it provides some extra variety...

i know corn and peas as well as sweet potatos are hit with many fids on here so you may want to try some of that.. ours also likes the occasional bit of scrambled egg and whole grain pasta..

I'm sure others will be along shortly to share more advice with you

Oh yes, Willie has been on Roudybush Daily Maintenance (mini) ever since he was weaned. I get them at a local pet store but you can also order them online http://www.roudybush.com/index.cfm?fuseact...p;group=premium .

This is my 4th QP that I've rescued and the first one that I didn't have to covert from seeds to pellets. I'm just wondering about the quality of "Pretty Bird Pellets". In a fromer e-mail I ws told about Roudybush and in my mind I was seeing "Nutri-Berries" by Lafer. I will probably order some Roudybush from a web site. All my other QP's eat anything coming and going. I just was not sure about "Pretty Bird" Pellets.
Lee Ellen

Yeah I'm not too sure about Pretty Bird pellets either. Casey eats the FruitBlend Zupreem and we haven't had any problems with it (other than multicoloured poop! ) Hagens is also a very good pellet.

At one time Pretty Bird was supposed to be the pellet of choice. They were one of the first to ocme out with a pelleted diet or so I've been told and they were the first to come out with pellets with specialized formulas for species specific diets such as African gray diet and Ecclectus diet etc.

I've always used Zupreem as the mainstay and my birds all do well on it, I feel that there are others that aren't as good of quality as Pretty Bird. But I do try to feed either Roudy bush or Hagen once in a while just so they don't freak out over new things too much. Another reason I like Zupreem is that it is pretty much available everywhere

I haven't read the ingredient list of Pretty bird in a long time to know what the sugar content is but I know lots and lots of people who feed it. It could very well be that thats the only food your new ward has ever had and it doesn't assoiciate any of the other things that you offer him as food. You might try showing him that what you're giving him is food, either by eating (or pretending to eat it) in front of him also after he's out of quarantine allow him to see what the other birds are eating and make a big deal out of it as they do. And just keep introducing him to new things,

Also I guess I feel that as long as he's eating it well, his color and feather condition is good and his weight is good then there isn't anything wrong with keeping him on Pretty Bird but if he's not maintaining weight or his feather condition isn't good then converting him to something else might be something you want to do.

I've never hears of Pretty Bird pellets.
I use Zupreem.

Here is a list of places that offer free samples. You just give them a call (please note, some do not offer samples, but have money back guarantees):

Hagen (Tropican pellets/Gourmet mix) **Fantastic samples
-- USA - 1-800-225-2700 or 1-888-294-2436
--Canada - 1-800-554-2436

Harrisons (pellets)
-- 1-800-346-0269

Lafeber (Nutriberries/AviCakes) **Fantastic samples
-- 1-800-842-6445

Pretty Bird International Inc. (pellets)
-- 1-800-356-5020

Roudybush Feed (pellets) **only sends to Canada if you pay shipping fee (aprox. $6.00)
-- 1-800-326-1726

Ziegler Brothers Inc. (pellets)
-- 1-800-841-6800

Kaytee (pellets) **No samples, but will send coupons
-- 1-800-529-8331

ZuPreem (pellets) **doesn't offer free samples but will reimburse you for product
-- 1-800-345-4767

Thanks Carrie~Anne.. I was hoping you'd come along with that.. i used your list before to get free samples

I got on the phone and Roudybush at a pet store 20 miles north of here. The QP's at this house are labled one is a hog, one is a pig, one is a snooty, and the other is, "If you try to feed that to me I'll spit it between your eyes". I'll keep you up on whose eating what.
Lee Ellen

I feed Zupreem origional b/c I don't like the colored poop of the fruit blend. I also use Pretty Bird once in a while for diversity. I havn't had any problems with using either Zupreem or Pretty Bird.

When I worked in pet retail, the most popular pellets purchased by our true parrot enthusiasts were Zupreem and Lafebers. We would special order in big bags of Pretty Bird for a few customers (the Lory diet and Grey diet) but the little bags always seemed to just sit there. We also had Kaytee Exact pellets which sold ok. When I joined this forum, I was really surprised by how few people feed Lafebers pellets as a diet since that was the one I had always heard the best things about and the people who would drop a lot of money on their birds would buy.

Great info!They are sending me some samples for my new 12 wk old Quaker!

Mollie gets regular Lafeber pellets 24/7 and then I alternate Zupreem fruit or garden pellets in the mornings. She gets her fresh foods in the late afternoon.