I am having trouble researching and finding out the diet/food for Shamrock .... and would apreciate some input/advise...

Dry mix...the Small hookbill mix (by sunseed... safflower blend, no sunflower seed) I give the tiels and add some tiel fruit veggie blend to ... and add some of the small mazauri maintenance pellets to.. avaiable 1/4 of day and over night ... pull after breakfast.... and give back after supper is eaten...

Breakfast.. fruit.. this morning small wedge of organic navel orange and some chopped green apple and cantalope.... yesterday was mango, passion fruit and banana..

Lunch... soaked organic seed mix or sprouts... and in seperate dish sometimes a veggie also...planning of giving him a section of a small butternut squash with the seeds today for lunch .. with sprouts on the side...

Supper.. my cooked mix food base (my version of Kitchen sink, 4-6 cooked grains, 6-9 beans[no lima] and peas, collards, carrot and pepper) with whatever veggies handy (broccilo, squash, corn ect) chopped larger for him .. the same mix I feed the tiels..

He is eating all of this well.. except for the seed/pellet mix.. he will sling the smaller seeds out of bowl.. but will pick out and eat the small pellets the same size


He is underweight at present.. but has gained a little in the past 2 1/2 weeks..... and I do not want to start any bad habits here.

I have not been able to find any reference to how much vitamin A he needs. or what will be too much and toxic .....
how often is is save to feed the citrus/orange to him.... some sites/places have said not over 3 times a week to feed citrus to companion birds .. but can find not specific mention of ringnecks of any sort...much less an Alexandrine...

I would like to know if what I have been feeding is the correct /right diet for him.....
and if anyone has any recomendations for a seed mix/size for him...

I finally got his play stand earlier this week.. covered with dust and the price tag still on it and ledgable.. probably has not been used since the original owner died over a year ago..
Shammy recognized it.. and did happy dance..
scrubbed it and disenfected.. and now he is using it during day... for 1/4 of day let him go between cage and stand as he wants, at times he will climb to floor and track me down.. for attention.....
he always goes back to cage to poop... LOL ...
or gives me warning when on shoulder.. by ear nibble and dance.. to let me know he needs to go...

I am getting the loan of a cage this weekend to temp house him in.. and I have a strong avian disenfectant to clean the cage with...Pet Focus...the same I used to clean the playstand with...and the tiel cages...
but worried about his reaction to another cage...

I will have the loan of the cage until I can afford to purchase/get one for him..

I don't believe this, but I just sent a long response and it isn't here! arrgghhh

I would stay away from citrus in his diet, but increase the volume of his food in general. I don't feed any of my birds dry seeds, a seed mix or pellets on a regular basis. Try using only sprouted seeds.
Your dinner meal for him sounds good, but to be honest with you, I don't think he's getting enough food. I don't want to offend you and I know it seems like they waste and/or fling a lot of food, but ample food needs to be available in his bowl to start with.
What you're giving in the morning isn't enough and it's not the type of food that's going to give him much in the way of vitamins and protein, not to mention, it just isn't enough food to hold him until lunch time. I'd be giving him lots of fresh chopped veggies, (at LEAST 2 different varieties, but 3 would be better), some fresh fruit and sprouts. You can put all this stuff together, no need to separate really.
I give my birds sprouts in the morning as a snack while I get their food ready. They have fresh veggies, fruit and sprouts for the entire day. I also add flax seeds, toasted Kashi, and an almond, pistachio, walnut or other small treat.
I lightly spray it with Apple Cider Vinegar and they're good to go for the day.
I give my birds their cooked dinner at night, then they get to play a while before bedtime.
Try giving dark green leafy collard greens or kale and/or weaving them through the bars for interest. Sometimes you have to make food time, fun time! You can also thread chunks of veggies and fruit on a parrot skewer for fun eating.
I'm not totally positive about the Vitamin A, but you can go to most lists for that information so you can add that to his diet. He also needs sunshine every day if possible.
His cooked meal/overall diet, should contain grains, lentils, legumes and veggies. Good grains are amaranth, quinoa, barley and many others. On the site I mentioned below, you can get all the information you need for a healthy diet for him. I don't know how old he is, but my male Alex weighs between 210 and 216, roughly. You sometimes have to use your own common sense in aspects of food because there are so few species specific diets out there. I would suggest you join a free Yahoo group - feedingfeathers@yahoogroups.com They are quite knowledgeable about proper nutrition for most species and can help you tailor what you're feeding him.
Blueberries and other berries offer lots of antioxidants and potassium. Egg white is good for protein and I only use 'naturally fed hen' eggs like Egglands Best, etc. There is 'good' fat in the nuts I listed above and many others.
Keep us posted, ok?
Sky

Hey Suz, sorry I only just wandered across this thread or else I would have replied sooner. Its great to hear the Shamrock is gaining weight I know how scary it is when you don't think a new fid weighs enough ( I constantly feel Nani to see if he is plumping up and weigh him religiously every morning just to be sure he isn't loosing weight). They looove to worry us, these feathery kids of ours.
I'm sure you've had plenty of great advice everywhere about what to give Shammy, but I'll just put my bit in too
My ringies get the same food as what my eckie Lilly gets and they IMHO are thriving on it. Here is their menu:

Breakfast - Bean and veg mix (every second day boiled/scrambled egg)
lunch - fresh veggies and fruit mix and birdie bread
Dinner - fresh veggies and fruit and pellets/seed
most evenings they get a little bit more Bean/mana mash mix warmed and served to them. They really enjoy the warm bean mix.
and sweet potato balls (based of sweet potato for the vitamin A) every second evening for the ringnecks, where Lilly gets it every day. The ringnecks also always have Roudybush maintenance pellets available to them all day long, they love them and ever since they have been converted from seeds (I did this pretty much the first few weeks they came home) I noticed a marked improvement in feathers and in their beak colour. I don't give them much seed at all, and when I do its just what has been added to their birdie bread. They have birdie bread everyday and love it. I mix cooked sweet potato into the bread mix as well as cooked pumpkin.
Like Sky said I would be giving him more volume of food as they are big eaters, my ringnecks are pigs and simply love to eat. They are always active and burn heaps of energy through play so I don't worry about them getting over weight from eating to much.
I make up a big pot of cut up veggies and fruit and stick it in the fridge, it usually lasts around a week (just check it for freshness when you use it). They get a good variety - fresh corn, kale, red apples, grapes (de-seeded), red capsicum, pomegranates (a big favorite), snow peas, cauliflower, snow peas, broccoli,yellow beans (not sure on the proper name for them but their yellow), golden squash, carrots, parsley, sometimes watercress, hot hot peppers, a mango, lots of corn (some to cut up and others to hang and leave in the purse for them to chew through), some weeks a paw paw (am thinking about getting dried paw paw? anyone tried it?) cherries etc. Like I said I cut it all up and mix it into a big bowl and store it in the fridge, I change their bowls about 3 times a day (because I am home all day I can do this) and refill their fruit/veg mix.
Quinoa is great and has lots of great nutrients in it, try cooking it carrot juice, veggie juice etc and adding some sweet fruits like mulberries, black berries (I buy a frozen berry mix and add) apples and diced peppers,you can freeze it in packets and just warm it up in hot water when you want to serve it to him. The tiels will love it too, I know mine do. The kitchen sink recipes (or mikes mana mash) is good to give them too.
Lol sorry if I have waffled on, I just love to talk about what I feed the fids and sometimes forget what I was supposed to be talking about
Would love to see some updated picture on the handsome boy