This is the wiki version of my bird diets post so I can try to get it into some category things. Nothing is changed.
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Today I am going to tell you the best diets in my oppinion, what I feed when, and what to stay away from!
This only applys to most parrots, not poultry or exceptions like lorrikeets.
Topics
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Pellets
↳Which brands are good?
↳What I feed
↳How to get them to eat
No-No foods
Veggies and fruit
↳How to get them to eat
↳What is "Chop"?
↳What I Feed
Seed
↳Arent They "Bad"?
↳What Kind To Get
↳Sprouting seeds
↳What I Feed
Treats
↳What kind of treats are there?
↳What I Feed
Outro
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Pellets
Which Brands Are Good?
There are many great brands out there, and pellets are quite a controversial topic as well. There are many people that talk about how bad the substance "Menadione" or synthetic Vitimin K is that's found in the pellets Tropican, Zu Preem, and many more. Others fight against that with great points and depth of reaserch. Here is a post by a aivain vet talking about it aswell. I hear Lots of people reccomend TOPs pellets, but dont feel pressured beacause there are many, many great pellets! I also do not reccomend ZuPreem and Kaytee, beacause they have too much added sugar. More High energy food (sugar) + bird= bad hormones. This does not include lorrikeets as they drink nectar.
In NO specific order,
Tops
Roudybush
Harrison’s
Mazuri
Goldenfeast goldn’nobles
Lafebers
Tropican
These are all great brand of pellets and are safe to feed!
What do I feed?
I feed harrisons pellets for multiple reasons. First off, I live in Canada, makeing shipping ever so costly. Second, there are no parrot or bird stores near me othor than PetLand or PetSmart. My aivain vet highly reccomends Harrisons, and feeds it to her own birds. They also sell it and she gives us a deal so it works out great!
How to get them to change
Lots of parrots are on a seed diet, which is un healthy, so Im going to tell you how to get your birds to switch. For pellets, try to add the same amount of seed that you normaly add, and put a few pellets. Each day, you want to add about 5% more pellet, and 5% less seed. If you can see them eating it, you can change it to 10% or even more! You can start off with pellets that are smaller (look more like seed), coloured, or flavored to get your bird more interested and easier to switch! Another thing you can try is soaking them in water, or putting them with treats. Good luck!
No-No foods
It can be hard to make a specific list on the foods parrots can and cannot have since parrot is such a broad category! Anything from a tiny parotlet to a giant macaw can be classified as parrot, so make shure you do your reaserch on your type, but here are the main ones!
IF ANY OF THESE FOODS HAVE BEEN FED, A AVIAN VET ASAP
Avocado
In the bird world, and most pets, avacado is a big no-no. All parts of the avacado produce a toxin that is more "effective" on smaller birds like budgies, but can be deadly to any type. Things like respiratory distress start to happen 12 hours after it has been eaten, and death can occur in 1-2 days.
Grit
Although grit isn't a food, I still want to talk about it. Grit is a thing birds like chickens eat. When they eat it, it goes into their body and the food they eat gets put through there and crushed by the small rocks and sand. These birds tend to peck at the ground in nature and pick this up, so its good for them. Parrots on the othor hand, dont need it. When they end up earing it, it can rip up their insides insted of their food, so its not the best idea!
Salty/Fatty/Sweet Foods
Birds dont need your junk food! In the wild are they going to get 20 gallons of Coca-Cola or 30 bags of chips? NO! When you give a bird one chip, because if their size, its like feeding 30. In the wild, they should get no, or close to no pure fat, salt or sugar. It can majorly impact your birds life in the future, so give them a stick of millet insted... they'll enjoy it more too!
Peanuts
I know peanuts are a popular treat for parrots, especialy the bigger ones, and are featured in cartoons aswell. Trust me, you should stop feeding them now! Just read This Post it will yell you everything you need to know.
Pits and seeds
Both seeds like apple seeds, and the pits to things like cherries can be deadly to your parrot due to a substance called cyanide. It can be deadly, so next time just remove the seeds or dont let them chew on that pit... they thank you later.
Onion and Garlic
There toxic. I mean what did you expect on this list? As you May know, their toxic to cats and dogs too. obviously, when their more concentrated into powders and mixes, there more toxic, so be careful since it has been fatal!
Choclate and Coffee
This includes anything with coca bean or coffee bean in it. The beans have a chemical that has been known to cause hyperactivity, increased heart rate, tremors, seizures, and even death! The stronger it is the more deadly, sorry for all those dark coffee and choclate fans!
Dairy products
Dairy isnt realy toxic, but just bad for birds in general. They cant properly digest lactose sometimes, and its been known to cause diarrhea. Almond milk, soy milk, and othor milks are a good alternative when fed in small amounts and arent choclate, too Fatty, or too sweet!
Veggies and fruit!
This will be a bit shorter than pellets!
How to get them to eat their veg
This can be a struggle as can be pellets! Honestly, just try again and again! Try all diffrent fruit and veg, and give them a few chances each. Also, try cutting them differently. Cubes, slices, tiny bits, mushed, every bird has a preference. Two last tips. First, take brocilie and cut off the tips! They look like seed, birds love it, and its healthy! Finaly, you can sprinkle a bit of seed on the "salad" before serving for a extra appeal, and appetizer!
What is "Chop"?
Chop is something you may want to add to your life! Its when You cut up large amounts of various fruit and veg and freeze it. Each day you can take a small portion and feed it to your bird.
What I feed
I personaly dont use chop, and cut daily, since I can give her more variety and the veg wont go bad as fast. Almost all fruit & veg is safe for birds othor than the ones on the list, but its worth a quick google! I normaly include Snap peas, snow peas, bok choy, pea shoots, romaine Lettus, carrot, bell pepper, celery, celantro, parsley, spinich, kale, arugla, and more! I pick 1-2 fruits, includeing berries, cherries, apple, banana, apricot, peach, and mango! Here are some posts of my past salads.
Here are some chop builders to help you out!
Seed!
Aren't they "bad" for birds?
Although a diet built completely of seeds is terrible, birds need them, As they need a balanced diet. Keep in mind a all pellet diet is almost as bad as a all seed. If you were wondering, seeds cause the liver to become fatty, kind of like earing greasy food all day. It's delicious but terrible for their helth. Birds should be fed 50% vegetables, 30% pellets,10% seed and 10% fruit and treats. This is just a guideline, certain species require a different diet.
Sprouting seeds
I am no expert, but I do know sprouting seeds can be much better than normal seeds if done right. Do not ever sprout your seed mix. It can have a seed (super millet?) that is poisonous when sprouted. Get a sprouting mix. I would highly reccomemd Korun, and his post Here!
What I feed
I personaly feed Pebble some seeds in the morning with her salad, and around a bottle cap at night with training aswell. I feed her a seed mix, as brand doesnt matter much with Seed, just stay away from Kaytee products in general.
Treats
What kind of treats are there?
There are many types of treats! You can use millet spray, nutriberries, Your birds favorite fruits or vegitables, seeds, or even pellets! When your bird is a bit hungry (dont starve them just do it before meal) and the pellets are healthy!
What I feed
I normally use millet, with sunflower seeds occasionally, and pellets for easy stuff.
Outro
Thank you so much for reading all my blabbering. I hope his is helpful to you!
Comments (6)
How often should I feed a Lovebird and overall how much should the whole meal weigh? :)))
I dont nessisarily weigh or measure my food as I know it by eye, and not every bird would eat the same amount. I would try to go for about 45% Vegetables, 25% Sprouts/nuts, 20% Pellets, and 10% fruit/seed if that gives you a idea c:
It doesn't need to be completely exact, so get to know how much your bird eats and try to aim for those amounts. Keep a eye on their health and weight and you should be fine, as long as you are somewhere in that range (not feeding 80% Vegetables or 10% vegetables)
Also keep in mind birds won't always go on the diet you want. Some refuse to eat vegetables or Pellets, so work with them. This is the ideal diet, but it can take loads of effort and time to get them onto it, they won't die if they are on a full seed or full pellet diet for a while as long as you are putting effort to change it.
I would also reccomend this post! It has some information I didn't include here and should be helpful
http://aminoapps.programascracks.com/p/eyg2da
Reply to: 「𝐏𝐞𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞」⁽ᴹᵉᵍᵃ ᴾᵖ⁾
My main problem is I don't quite get the Whole percentages of food. Like how do I know the percentage of certain foods to give if i don't know the whole equal weight of all of it. You're post was super helpful though!!
is zupreem a good brand?
Yes! Normally ZuPreem naturals is a bit better, just because it won't dye their poop, but all forms of ZuPreem have the needed nutrients for a parrot's diet :)