I have actually fed some of our birds the zupreem colored pellets and have had absolutely no problems with them. Their blood work comes back fine every time tested, they are in wonderful health etc. I also give them toys that have been colored in food grade dyes and that sometimes they even dip in their water and then drink that water before I see it is colored and still no health problems.

That being said. There are some reports that the coloring in the foods are bad for them (although I have only seen them reported secondhand not by actual scientists) and when possible I do try to switch to the naturals. From my understanding (which may be incorrect LOL!) the coloring is not able to be broken down in a birds body and basically passes through them into their feces with little actually absorbed in their bodies, so probably not good for them but again if it is going more or less straight through it may not really be doing anything to them good or bad. So, if you have a choice between a bird that will eat either fatty seeds, healthy but colored pellets or nothing, well...... the choice would be the colored pellets. Keep offering the fresh foods and vegetables in many different ways, shapes, sizes or even slightly warmed. Buy a small bag of naturals and try gradually replacing the colored pellets with the naturals (zupreem also makes a naturals but harrisons and roudybush are quite well recommended by my vets). First maybe substitute a fourth of the colored pellets for the naturals, if they seem to be still eating well then replace a bit more.

If their comes a time when your bird is eating the naturals quite well then do away with the colored ones completely or if your bird is still only picking out the colored ones and never even touching the naturals you can try one of two things. Give up LOL! Or take the colored ones out of the cage for a certain time of day leaving only naturals in the cage, mainly during their main eating times. Then you can replace the colored pellets at night or at a time when they are not usually eating as much. In that way if they only have one option they should eat the naturals but just in case they are not they will be able to wait until the time when the colored ones are in there and not starve themselves. Again you can completely do away with the colored pellets when you see they are actually eating the naturals or if they still refuse to eat them then it would be time to stick with the colored ones and seeds for treats or as a small mix in with the pellets (still trying to add in fresh foods when possible).

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