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Post by Adele on Sept 5, 2006 16:04:45 GMT -7
Manzi sometimes has very strong smelling (rather unpleasant) poop. It is definitely more liquidy than normal too. I think that it is his pellets, as I said before. I am going to completely cut them out of his diet for a while and then switch to a different brand. I asked before but never recieved an answer: Can pellets go bad? They look and smell normal though. It also doesn't seem to be consistent. Sometimes his poop smells really bad, but not all the time. I got a bit worried yesterday when it was the worst yet.
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Post by nancyd on Sept 5, 2006 17:08:17 GMT -7
Yes, pellets can go bad. I found this out quite by accident when talking to the lady where I buy my Roudybush from. I was really surprised because I was buying bulk for my tiel, ( before I got my grey ), thinking I would be saving money. I ended up throwing out what I had and started buying smaller quanities. She told me that you should refrigerate it if you plan on storing it which I had never done.
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Post by Jane on Sept 6, 2006 0:19:22 GMT -7
The ones without artificial preservatives such as Harrison's are meant to be used within four to six weeks of opening the bag and it suggests that you should smell the product for freshness before feeding and that "refrigeration after opening may help maintain freshness". It also says to keep the food in the original bag and not put it in plastic bags or food containers.
Zupreem just says to store the bag in a cool dry place once opened.
Maybe it is something else in the pellets causing the problem rather than them being bad as you did say once before that it went back to normal when you stopped the pellets.
Jane
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Preston
Super Talker
NEED HELP? WE WILL ANSWER AS FAST AS WE CAN (Note: Preston passed away in 2012. We hold his memories dearly, he was a great person and super moderator.)
Sisika and Pete
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Post by Preston on Sept 6, 2006 9:28:43 GMT -7
I agree, refigerate or freeze what you are not going to use in a weeks time. I get Andi's pellets in 53oz container which is almost two months worth. I dip out 7 crocks and put them in a gallon ziplock bag and refresh it on sunday. That is more than she eats, but the overage goes to Pete and Romeo whom eat a pinch every day. I really don't understan this rush of smelly poop lately because with 9 birds in as many years I have never smelled the droppings; even when the cages went a little long between changes.
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Post by Adele on Sept 6, 2006 9:40:34 GMT -7
Since yesterday I cut out his pellets and his droppings returned to normal. I bought the huge bag of pellets that lasts around 6 months. It says to store in a cool dry place. I should have left just what I needed for the week outside and placed the rest in the freezer (good idea Preston). I have only had the bag for about a month now so there is still lots of pellets left, but I think I will throw them all out and try a colorless brand like Harrisons. I will keep an update to what happens with the new pellets. Manzi doesn't seem sick at all. He is talking and playing just as much as ever. I do not have a good sense of smell at all, so when I was able to smell his droppings from my desk, I knew it had to be bad. My husband can't handle the smell at all. It was very musky smelling. By the way, when I noticed the smell, it was from fresh droppings, not from old stuff.
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Post by spookyhurst on Sept 6, 2006 15:47:20 GMT -7
I recently bought/got free samples of a whole mess of pellets. Wouldn't you know it that Nikko's favorites are fruity zupreem (with the artificial colors and flavors). Her second favorite is Golden'obles. They give free samples, so maybe you should get some of those for Manzi and see what he thinks. They're all-natural/organic. I just got some Lafebers pellets today to see if Nikko likes the molasses taste they're supposed to have. The only time I've noticed that "musky" poop smell is when I've "re-wet" the poop so I can scrub it off of something. I wonder why that is  ? |
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boomberry
Weaned Todd
Joined: September 2006
Posts: 25
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Post by boomberry on Sept 20, 2006 6:04:24 GMT -7
I feed the Zupreem garden veg and fruity pellets as Monty wont eat the normal plain ones. Are they still ok even with the artificial flavours etc?
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Post by Jane on Sept 21, 2006 2:09:30 GMT -7
It is difficult with pellets because Greys will eat some and not others but the view seems to be that if they are eating pellets then the ones with artificial colours and flavours in are still better than no pellets. There is a trend now towards replacing the artifical preservatives with natural ones so maybe this will eventually extend to the colours/flavours as well. More and more manufacturers of human foods are replacing artificial additives, especially in food for children because of the known links with allergies, hyperactivity etc. As research into avian nutrition is ongoing, the ingredients in pellets do seem to be changing in order to try and provide the best nutrition but it is still early days, especially where the long term effects are concerned.
Jane
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Preston
Super Talker
NEED HELP? WE WILL ANSWER AS FAST AS WE CAN (Note: Preston passed away in 2012. We hold his memories dearly, he was a great person and super moderator.)
Sisika and Pete
Joined: January 2005
Posts: 5,912
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Post by Preston on Sept 21, 2006 8:00:14 GMT -7
SH, I agree that the old droppings will have a smell for obvious reasons, but I have never smelled fresh droppings from any of our birds.
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Post by Adele on Sept 23, 2006 19:15:14 GMT -7
I switched Manzi's pellets to Roudybush. I wanted Harrisons, but it was quite expensive and only had very large or very small pellets sizes. Manzi has always like medium. I think he would waste too much if it was so large.
The main point is that his poop does not smell. The smell went away the day after I stopped feeding him the old pellets. He went a week without pellets and lived off of Fiesta mix. As soon as I gave him new pellets, though they aren't colored like his old ones, he was gobbling them down. I am so glad he is not a picky eater.
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