Volkman Seed Avian Science Super Parrotlet 4lb

Careful of the question and answer section that lists the question regarding the ingredients. The seller who listed the ingredients deceitfully left out "FD&C Orange #6" in their answer. Its beyond me why Volkman would source this single ingredient with an artificial color. According to wikipedia in 2008 the FDA of the UK called on food manufacturers to voluntarily stop using this artificial color among others. In 2010 a regulation in the EU came into effect that requires this label on foods that contain this color: "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". Chemicals are not food and food manufacturing should not exist. I was duped by misinformation.

This is overall a really great food. I love that it's made specifically for the dietary needs of a Parrotlet & that it has very basic ingredients (I can read the label and know exactly what everything is without having to look it up). My only issue with it is that the yellow pellet-like clumps are too big for my birdie; they're the only part that she consistently does not eat and I worry that she's not getting all the nutrition she needs because of that. Today I soaked several of the clumps in water and crushed several other dry clumps to see if she actually liked them but couldn't eat them or if she just didn't like them. She ate both the soaked and the crushed so I'm guessing she won't eat them whole because she physically can't. If Volkman fixes that part, they'll get a full five stars from me :)

To begin, this is one of the only mixes available specifically for parrotlets. Parrotlets can be horribly picky, wasteful eaters, meaning this may be a rather expensive venture into husbandry for such a relatively small amount of feed [4 lb].Parrotlets are unique among hookbills as veterinary discussion and avicultural observation has found that it may be extremely harmful to feed pellets to color mutations of the popular Pacific parrotlet. It is necessary to feed this mix with fresh vegetables and fruit provided because the very small amount of dried vegetables in this mix is not enough for a parrot to be healthy. Often birds will reject fresh food in exchange for seed like that contained in this diet; we call them seed junkies. If your bird exhibits such behavior, it may be necessary to leave safe fruits or vegetables in the dish for several hours in the morning before they spoil and then give the animal this seed mix. It can prove necessary to do this daily for weeks or months until the bird becomes accustomed to and accepting of fresh foods, even if it does take a year for them to finally eat them in addition to this seed mix. An additional tip is to sprout some of these (undamaged, whole) seeds in a bag with moist paper towels after soaking overnight; if they germinate successfully it means the seed is fresh, and mold-free sprouts may be washed in cold water and fed safely to birds as an extremely healthy dietary supplement.The stated daily serving size on the package is one tablespoon for small birds or 1/8 of a cup for small parrots, which I support. Parrotlets eat seed by husking it and most often discard the husks in the dish, in the process covering uneaten food. By placing a small amount in the bowl less is lost among the husks and less food is also wasted if the parrotlet is a picky eater. It will also stop birds from becoming overweight, which poses a risk to organ health if they consume too much seed or eat only the seeds in this diet with the highest fat content.Instructions on the package recommend refrigeration after opening in order to preserve the diet.I would not add any additional high fat foods to this diet, such as sunflower seeds. The ingredient list as provided on the package is as follows:Safflower seed, white proso millet, buckwheat, cracked corn, paddy rice, oat groats, canary grass seed, sunflower chips, black oil sunflower, peanuts, orange oat groats (FD&C Orange #6), hemp seed, kibbled corn, cantaloupe seed, carrot dices, dehydrated green peas, red bell pepper dices, peppers, spinach flakes, soybean oil, orange oil (used as a preservative).The product has a few drawbacks, such as no indication of where the ingredients originate or whether the ingredients were farmed organically and responsibly. The product, like fresh foods, should be organic as it is extra healthful for the body systems of birds. It would be beneficial to reduce the size of the peanuts and further reduce the cracked corn as most parrotlets are unwilling to break these foods into smaller pieces and oftentimes are unable to do so.

My parrotlet is a very picky eater. He won't eat most of the fresh fruits that I've seen other parrotlets go nuts over. I had been feeding him some expensive pellets recommended from the breeder I got him from, but he didn't eat much of it and would rather eat treats instead. I was worried he wasn't getting the nutrition he needs. I couldn't find any bird food specialized for parrotlets in stores, but I'm so glad I found this food. He goes crazy over this food when he eats and lets out many very happy chirps when I feed him. I've been feeding him this food for awhile and he looks very vibrant and healthy. I'll be keeping him on this brand for now on.

I have one parrottlet and he just eats the seeds but leaves the white kernals. I blend it with a small bird pellet and seed mixture now cause he was doing poorly on this diet and just eating the australian blend of fruits and nuts. He is with two finch brothers in a big cage. I started giving him half this mixture with half premium parakeet mixture and he comes right down and busily inspects his cups. He wasnt moulting he just wasnt getting the nutrition he needed from this particular blend. He was raised on cockatiel food from breeder. I did slowly transition to this but it hasnt worked well.

It seems that there are insects living in the bird food (larvae) that hatches First noticed bugs flying in the bird cage and I didn't make the connection until I checked a website that mentions bird seed flying insects. These insects fly around at night in low light and are very annoying. Wind up in coffee and other beverages.

My parrotlet loves this brand a lot, he doesn't eat everything but parrotlets can be picky eaters.Why only 3 stars? Because not all ingredients inside the bag are included in the product description, on the bag nor on the Amazon site. While I haven't found anything which is harmful, it's just a little disconcerting feeding my pet something when the manufacturer either doesn't know everything in their recipe or it's negligence led them to missing some items.