FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

A: At ParrotsRUs, we stock premium, real whole food, USA-made bird food including Parrotsrus Co-brands /Collaborations with China Prairie, Prairie Plus, Tops Parrot Food in addition to Bird Bites, Aria Bird Products, Beakology, MyParrotopia, Phoenix foraging rolls, Argires Snacks, Bird Street Bistro, True Leaf Market, Finleys Exotics and more all sourced for non-GMO, no cheap fillers, no inflammatory seed oils, no added salt or sugar, no corn syrup, no soy, no peanuts, no menadione or artificial preservatives, vitamins, or dyes, all made in small-batches by knowledgeable experts who care about your birds wellness. You can shop our full selection online at parrotsrus.net, specifically our whole food dry mixes, our fresh sprouting starter kits & combos, our world class freeze dried blends along with our Avian Teas and Avian Supplements and natural Herbs 4 Birds Salad Supreme with fast shipping across the US and Canada. We hand-select every brand we carry to make sure it meets safe, high-quality standards for our companion birds.Please know that when you buy food at parrotsrus it’s all whole real foods not the typical highly processed, mass produced junk food that you typically see or perhaps traditionally be told to feed. Your birds should be eating REAL FOOD ingredients that are unprocessed, bio available and NOT mass produced in a large factory. You can buy premium USA-made unprocessed real whole food bird food primarily through Parrotsrus.net.

A: For most bird parents starting out, we recommend the Ultimate Bundle Box — it includes a diverse dry mix of 80+ unprocessed ingredients plus everything needed for a weekly raw food mash via our sprouting mixes. If you want a smaller first step, start with the Best Bird Box, which includes our diverse dry mix and the only pellet we recommend, TOPs Parrot Food Pellets — USDA organic, unprocessed, with no cheap fillers. You don't have to transition all at once. Increasing the amount and diversity of raw whole foods supports your bird's microbiome, and small consistent steps matter more than doing it perfectly. Progress, not perfection.

A: Raw whole foods deliver nutrients in their bioavailable form — meaning your bird's body can actually absorb and use them, not just consume them. Whole fruits, vegetables, sprouted seeds and nuts, legumes, and flowers contain both the nutrients and the natural compounds that help the body assimilate them — something synthetic vitamin supplements often lack.Processed foods, by contrast, are typically heated at high temperatures, which triggers biochemical changes in seeds and grains — including the formation of inflammatory compounds like acrylamide that have been linked to disease. If you already need to supplement processed pellets with raw whole foods for balanced nutrition, it raises the natural question: why not feed a fully diverse raw whole food diet from the start?This is the philosophy behind everything we build at ParrotsRUs — our bundle boxes and EZ Meal Plan are designed to make sourcing that diversity simple, with 80+ unprocessed ingredients in a single order.

A: No single food — including commercial pellets — can fully replicate the dietary diversity birds evolved to need in the wild. That's why we believe the goal isn't finding one "complete" food, but offering as much raw, whole-food diversity as possible to cover a bird's full range of nutritional needs.That philosophy is exactly why we created the Thrive! Bird Bundle Boxes — bringing together some of the best small businesses in avian nutrition into one box, so you can offer real dietary diversity without having to source it all yourself.Birds need carbohydrates, fats, and protein just like any animal, and the best way to deliver them is through unprocessed, unheated, whole foods — oils for healthy fats, fruits and vegetables for carbohydrates, and legumes or edible insects for protein. What they don't need: added salt, unhealthy fats, soy or soybean oil, fried foods, dairy, synthetic ingredients, or preservatives. We built our bundle boxes around ingredients that meet that standard — nothing added that doesn't need to be there.

A: Yes — our Ultimate Bundle Box is built to provide complete raw whole food diversity, so it can fully replace processed pellets for most birds. Feeding in human care isn't an exact science, no matter how confident a pellet label may sound, so our philosophy is to offer real food bio available diversity rather than rely on any single processed food to meet every nutritional need. Birds need and thrive on choice — and diversity gives them the best chance at getting what they actually need.If your bird has a specific health condition or you're transitioning gradually, we're happy to help you build a plan — just reach out to me (Louann) at c4aworg@gmail.com

A: Easy! Just mix all the ingredients together. Your box includes a pink instruction sheet, and you can also find step-by-step videos in our Video Library and on @parrotsrus on Instagram and @parrotsrus on Facebook.You'll also receive a postcard with storage tips for handling unprocessed, organic ingredients. Here's the breakdown:Storage: Once mixed, keep your Dry Mix in an airtight container in a cool, dry place — your kitchen counter or pantry works well.Insect activity: Rare, but possible with organic, unprocessed ingredients, especially in warmer months. If it happens, it's harmless to your birds — just a minor nuisance for you.Freezing seed/grain/nut mixes (All in One, Napoleons, Oh Mega, Dream, Delight, Milk Thistle, Power Mix, etc.): Freeze for 2–3 days in the sealed bag before mixing. Don't freeze freeze-dried items like Garden Chop or Raw Food Mash.After freezing: Let bags reach room temperature before mixing with other ingredients.TOPs Pellets: Best consumed within 3 months of opening. To extend shelf life to 6 months, keep unused pellets in the original bag, sealed tightly, in the freezer.Don't refrigerate the dry mix or ingredients — moisture buildup is a risk.When you are ready, we recommend considering adding fresh diversity in a separate bowl and we make that easy too with our Easy Sprout Wellness Starter Kit and other fresh options can be found here in our EZ Feeding Guide.

A: Yes — we ship to most countries, including the UK, with the exception of European Union territories and Australia, which have some restrictions (details below).For most international orders: Place your order here, and we'll follow up with an electronic shipping invoice by email.For UK orders: It’s best to use a US package-forwarding service — they give you a US address, we ship to that address for free (on Bundles) or a flat $9.99 (non-Bundle orders), and they forward it to you in the UK. Popular services our customers use: MyUS.com, Stackry.com, Easyship.com, Ship4wd.com, Shipito.com.For EU orders: Customers find it best to use a forwarding service such as: Parcelux.com, Stackry.com, MyUS.com.For Australia: Direct shipping (without a forwarding service) is currently available only for JMK & Aviator harnesses and bird toys, unless you hold an Australian license permitting pet food imports. All other Australian orders should use a forwarding service.Occasionally shipments to certain countries are temporarily restricted due to conflicts, strikes, or severe weather — beyond our control. Questions? Contact Us Here.

A: Not at all — once your baby bird is fully weaned onto solid food, it's never too early to start. In fact, the earlier you introduce a diversity of raw whole foods, the sooner your bird benefits from bioavailable nutrients that support immune function and overall wellness from the start.Ready to begin? Start with our Best Bird Box our Ultimate Diversity Bundle, use the EZ Feeding and Recipe System to make tailored choices that work for you or reach out if you'd like help tailoring a plan for your baby bird.

A: Most bird parents have shared that they successfully transitioned right away using a “cold turkey” method… stop offering the old food and begin offering the new Parrotsrus / C4AW blends. Most birds accept the new food right away yet there are some birds that can take a few days or weeks to accept (this is likely due to the fact they don’t recognize it as food believe it or not!). Oftentimes, its us humans that need to stay consistent and not give in or abort the mission too soon (parrots can be bossy lol and try to train us! when we really need to encourage what we know is best for them. To help transition birds who are slower to accept here’s a few helpful tips: Pretend to eat or eat some of the food in front of your bird so that they see it as good food and “safe” (anything new introduced to their environment instinctually might be seen as threat to them). Birds are instinctually flock animals and tend to enjoy eating with other members of their “flock” ​Once offering the new food to them, try to observe closely what components they are going to first to consume. Having this knowledge can be useful as only if it becomes necessary increasing the amount of those items in the mixes has proved helpful to get the birds to accept the other components over time. Birds are so keen to and like colors/ texture so if you have to, you can take your current seed mixes they are eating and soak them to help jump start the conversion. So giving them some wet seeds will offer their tongue, their eyes and sensory system a chance to adapt to dynamically changing food. This will give them exposure to wet seeds which will help them eventually accept fresh foods such as sprouts, veggies and fruits. This is essentially a method if you will of weaning them away from the essentially dead mass produced perhaps even pesticide treated seed mixes often found on store shelves to this wholesome diversity of raw foods.

A: There’s no exact science to feeding our birds yet we realize having specific guidance can be very helpful especially when it comes to the amount we should feed.Here’s what we recommend and how we feed our own flock: 1 - 3 Tablespoons per bird, per meal, per type of meal (i.e. raw food mash and dry mix). This is a great place to begin where through your observations you can make adjustments as you deem as best. As a helpful feeding reference please see our EZ Meal Plan and Recipe Guide.

A: F10® product F10® “ SC/SCXD Guidelines in small animal practices with isolation facilities” Professional user guidelines for practice in infection control & hygiene in companion animal veterinary clinics/hospitals.

A: The dilutions will vary based on your use. For, General disinfection for hard surfaces; dilute 1:500 (2ml for 1 liter of water) High level of disinfection (such as for hospital-grade); dilute 1:250 (4ml for 1 liter of water) For most resistant: dilute 1:125 (8ml for 1 liter of water) At Viva Pet supply, we use 1:250 dilution for reptile cages. The dilutions mentioned above are based on 1-liter water spray bottles. If you use the common 24-ounce bottle, the concentration is required to be 30% less. 1 liter is equal to 34 ounces. (approximately)

A: Although I have done lots of research and continue to learn, a main source of truth and inspiration for me has come from Dr Karen Becker.

A: At the top of the list are Walnuts, Pecans, Brazil Nuts, Pine Nuts, Filberts (Hazelnuts), Hemp seeds and ...Almonds are okay but not a good source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Soaking these nuts bring out the bio availability of the nutrients making them more digestible.

A: Omega 3 Fatty Acids are going to reduce inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation is known to cause all sorts of disease. They play a role in a lot of things such as nervous system development. Other Fatty Acids that we should be feeding our birds can get from insects such as meal worms.

A: Omega 6's which are part of seeds actually create inflammation which is not a bad thing IF we are also offering omega 3's which reduce excessive inflammation so both are needed for our birds. The source of your food such as tree nuts, hemp and seeds is important! We only offer here human grade foods and ingredients NOT feed grade as there is a big difference.

A: A dry pigeon mix PLUS Soaking and sprouting our mixes are great for them along with adding some dried items such as our avian teas, our herb salad and prairie blossom.

A: This is a MYTH! Tree nuts will help birds balance their weight. They provide healthy fats, healthy fiber and minerals.

A: NO! Fruits have SO many different nutrients that aren't available in other foods. Generally speaking, berries are low in natural sugar and offering a diversity of fruits is beneficial for our birds! Some of our favorite and recommended fruits are (organic whenever possible): Apples, Pears, all Berries, Grapes, Papaya plus it's seeds, Banana, Cantaloupe, Honey Dew, Apricots, Dragon Fruit, plus so many more. The general rule with all foods, offer a diversity and not too much of any one thing.

A: Handmade toys are built by people who understand bird behavior, not assembly lines optimized for speed and cost. At ParrotsRUs, almost every toy is handcrafted in small batches in the USA and Canada by makers who know what materials are safe, what sizes suit different species, and what actually keeps a bird engaged — not just what looks good on a shelf. Small-batch production also means tighter quality control on every single toy, not just a sample from a production run.

A: A safe enrichment toy uses bird-safe materials (no toxic dyes, adhesives, or coatings), is evaluated to limit risk of small parts that can be swallowed or trap toes/beaks, and is sized appropriately for your bird's species and strength. Every toy we carry is evaluated against these standards before it's added to our shop — we don't just source based on what looks fun, we vet for what's actually safe.

A: Toy needs vary a lot by species, size, and personality — a toy sized for a conure can be a hazard for a macaw, and vice versa. We organize our toy collection by bird size (small, medium, large/extra-large, cockatoos & macaws) so you can shop confidently. If you're not sure, reach out — we're happy to help you pick.

A: Small-batch production lets our makers focus on craftsmanship and safety over speed — each toy gets real attention rather than being one of thousands off an assembly line. It also means our limited edition collections (like our Halloween & Fall toys, our Christmas Toys our Spring & Summer Toys our Patriot Toys and Love - Hearts & Valentines Toys) are genuinely limited — once a batch sells out, it's gone, not endlessly restocked from a factory overseas.

A: Enrichment toys give birds an outlet for natural instincts like foraging, shredding, chewing, and problem-solving — behaviors they'd rely on constantly in the wild. Without this outlet, birds can develop stress behaviors like feather plucking or excessive screaming. Rotating a variety of textures, materials, and challenge levels keeps your bird mentally engaged and physically active.

A: Most birds benefit from toy rotation every 1–2 weeks to keep enrichment novel and engaging — birds can lose interest in a toy that's been in the cage too long. Keeping a small rotating stock on hand (rather than one toy at a time) helps maintain consistent enrichment. Our Mystery Toy Boxes are built specifically to make rotation easy and affordable yet you can shop each month or at a frequency that works best for you by your bird size and type. (Extra Small & Small; Medium; Large & Extra Large; Cockatoos & Macaws and for Hyacinth Macaws.

A: Our toys are handmade by small businesses and independent makers across the USA and Canada — many of whom are bird owners themselves, with firsthand knowledge of what birds actually need from a toy. We partner with makers who share our commitment to safety and quality, not manufacturers focused purely on volume. Each maker has strict biosecurity protocols in place as does Parrotsrus.

A: Every seasonal toy we carry, including our Halloween & Fall collection, is built to the same safety and enrichment standards as our year-round toys — bird-safe materials, appropriate sizing, and genuine shred/forage value. They're festive, but never at the expense of function or safety.

A: We don't accept returns on toys, and it's a deliberate biosecurity decision, not a convenience issue. Toys that go into a bird's environment can carry pathogens, feather dust, or other contaminants once they leave our facility — and many large retailers that accept returns simply restock those items without the vetting or quarantine protocols needed to guarantee they're safe for the next bird. We'd rather lose a sale than risk putting your flock at risk.

A: Yes — this is a real and often overlooked risk in the pet industry. A toy returned by one bird owner may have been exposed to that bird's environment, including any pathogens or parasites present, even if it looks unused. Large retailers with high return volumes typically don't have (or can't practically implement) biosecurity protocols to properly assess and disinfect every returned item before reselling it. That's exactly why we don't offer this option — every toy you receive from us has only ever been in our vetted supply chain, never returned from another bird's home.

A: Because we don't accept toy returns for biosecurity reasons, we put extra effort into helping you choose correctly upfront. We organize toys by bird size and species (small, medium, large/extra-large, cockatoos & macaws), describe materials and intended use in every listing, and our team is available to help you pick the right fit — just reach out before you order if you're unsure. We can always send a video or more photos to help you if needed. It's a small extra step that protects both your bird and the flock of every other customer we serve.

Safety is our top priority when it comes to bird toys — not every toy is 100% safe for every bird, especially once it's been chewed down. As parts wear away, toys can develop new hazards like strangulation risk from loose rope or chain, or entanglement from exposed parts that weren't originally accessible. Here's how to reduce those risks:1. Remove tags before giving the toy to your bird. If a tag is attached with a plastic clip, rubber band, or any non-bird-safe material, remove that attachment entirely before offering the toy. Only leave a tag on if it's adhered in a bird-safe way with bird-safe material.2. Manage rope as it wears down. Once your bird has chewed through most of a rope toy's parts, slide the remaining rope as high as possible, tie a secure knot just below it, and cut away any excess below the knot. If the toy has multiple rope strands, trim away any exposed strands the same way as they wear.3. Manage chain carefully — this one takes a couple tools. Many toys include long chain sections. Once the surrounding parts have been chewed away, the exposed chain should be removed if it no longer serves a purpose. If it's part of a larger toy that still has usable play value, here's how to shorten it safely:Using pliers, twist open an O-ring link until it's large enough to slide off the chain.Place it at the bottom to sit below the remaining toy parts.Twist the O-ring closed again so the ends meet securely.Using metal snips, cut the last chain link on each end below the O-ring, and safely dispose of the removed chain.If you don’t have metal snips to cut the extra chain you can slide any remaining toy parts off and use them as foot toys in their foot toy bucket or add to a skewer.  4. Inspect toys frequently. Regular toy checks — not just when something looks obviously worn — are the best way to catch and address hazards before they become a real risk.