Parrotlet questions!

[Caerus the gcc]

Hello, so I have the chance to adopt 1 or 2 male parrotlets soon. The only thing I know about them is they are about 3/4 years old. I know almost nothing about parrotlets, but have alot of bird experience. I just have a few questions. What kind of diet should they have? I feed my cockatiels and budgies just 3 types of pellets as they won't eat fresh fruit. Do parrotlets need seed in their diet at all? I have heard pellets aren't very good somewhere. Will they be ok with other birds? I have 2 tiels and 2 budgies right now and I don't want them getting hurt. Are they very destructive? I have tons of toys and large cages so I would be quite happy about this lol. Just anything else I should know about them would be appreciated! TIA

 

[Familyof12]

I have two parrotlets. Think Amazon but tiny bodies and they don't know it. They can be territorial. They are like their cousins true Amazons. They love chewing like crazy. They are fun and adorable. They are pretty mellow since they are so little (compared to budgies) and basically believe they are the King and Queen of the whole room. Even Delphine my Lovebird doesn't stand a chance so I'm really really careful to never allow them to sleep together in the same cage.

My parrotlets eat fresh veggies every day. Mine love love kale, broccoli, cauliflower, sunflower seeds, millet and almost all fruit. I give fruit in the afternoon as they'll just eat fruit (lol as will my budgies). My mix is 40% roundybush crumble, 35% fresh dark greens (this includes sprouts every day), veggies and fruit, and the rest is seed and millet. I give nutriberries for the seeds but I'm positive they spit out the pellets. I also give Avicakes which they adore. I give mine some egg, fish, ground beef about once a week for protein per their avian vet for beaks, feet, nails and feathers.

Mine are bonded but I got Carmen first. Diablo and she bonded right away and they've been stuck together ever since. They will fight my dogs and you will be challenged as they act like big birds with tiny bodies. They are fun, adorable and very loving. I do not pet my parrotlets. I believe they would think that it's beneath them. I'm happy that they are happy and I'm not too handsy with them. They step up, down, kiss, and will come when I ask.

There are a few of us who have parrotlets on this forum. Everyone is a little different but with as much experience as you have, I'm sure you'll know what to do. Have fun!

 

[finchly]

They will be ok with pellets - one of mine came here eating ONLY pellets. The other came from the breeder and she was feeding every fresh veggie imaginable, plus pellets and cockatiel mix. So that is what I give them.

They are not really what I'd call destructive, but if you give them shreddies they'll certainly make a mess!

 

[Familyof12]

After I wrote the above letting you know that the parrotlets are bossy as heck and my lovebird and them don't get along, this is what I find.


Delphine has somehow convinced the parrotlets she is their baby. You can see her hiding behind Diablo and Sola. LOL She is twice the size of them. Of course the minute I walked up and took a look at them and this photo, Carman an Diablo pecked her out of their cage. Above the cage is Sola. Remi is at the bottom. Can you believe this? I guess it's like family. You get along when you can and when it gets crowded (these are large flight cages for these small birds). We have one each for each pair of budges and parrotlets. The lovebird has a large cage she uses as home base but likes to be with the rest of the birds. They will, however, kill each other if I allow them to sleep together. They are all kept separate until they are out of their cages and fly free.

Usually when I walk in for bedtime, all four are in the same flight cage. I can get our budgies Sola and Remi to step up and go to their cage. The lovebird Delphine is more challenging and I feel victory when I get her in.

My caique is in quarantine for another week and has his own room right now. He won't let me leave his sight. Delphine got out of the bird room today when I was clean and the first thing she did was attack poor Charlie my Caique. Went right up to Charlie and bit his foot...hard and twice!! Charlie didn't even bite her back but just screamed. Delphine is a very naughty little girl. I love her.

 

[finchly]

Delphine is a very naughty little girl. I love her.

Isn’t that the way with all of them?

 

[Gribouille]

Twitter gets pellets, fresh fruits/veggies freely, pluss parakeet seeds in the evening. He steals budgie seeds when he can get into their cage. Then he will have dinner with us in his little plate and eat whatever we have. Loves meat, egg, rice, noodles, cheese, bread but not yoghurt. Parroltets can eat anything but avocado.

Since we got him in the beginning of October, he has totally destroyed a ball of intertwined twigs (from IKEA) and he likes to try his beak on any branch he can come accross. He would also LOVE to be able to eat the leather cover of my son's iphone, but he is not allowed (I gave him a piece of leather instead, with fisher line on it, and an unused iphone cover in soft plastic, he loves them). Paper is funny to poke holes at. Apart from that I can't complain about destruction.

He has been quite mean to my budgies, took long time for them to get along and he is still a badass with them, landing exactly where they are and walking along the branch to push them away, eating their seeds -especially if they are eating, he HAS to go to their feeder and chase them- and then when he feels for being friendly he is surprised to be met with hacking beaks. Life is hard...

 

[Lizardking]

Paco and Taco get a Seed / pellet mixture 60 % /40% . This is available to them all the time . They get veggies every day which get taken out when they start to look funky ! I have found a bag of frozen mixed veggies to be well liked and easy to work with and have on hand . A few spoonfuls in the microwave for a few seconds , let it cool and you are good to go ! Rice , Beans & sprouts , a lot depends on how much time you have !