Food question

[Jolene Rice]

Is this food I have Ziggy on good and a well balanced diet?

 

[Familyof12]

I'm unsure what type of parrot you have but we don't feed our birds too much seed. We feed our birds roundybush crumble with a little seed mixed in (we use organic flax, sesame, hemp, millet, clover, alfalfa, and some crushed tree nuts, walnut, almond slivers. I do not give them peanuts or pistachios or other super oily types of seeds. We also provide avicakes and nutriberries for foraging (not very much). I would say almost 50-60% of what my birds eat are dark leafy greens, cauliflower, most veggies, and fruit. Mine love figs, apples, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.

50-60% fresh fruits and vegetables (no avocado)
30-40% Roundybush (via crumble, avicake and nutriberries)
10-20% Seeds

The seeds themselves look great and natural for sure. I just would limit it. Seeds are their natural foods but those are birds who fly long distances and need the fat. Our home birds don't do that type of exercise as pets so it creates all types of health issues, just like humans.

 

[Jolene Rice]

I have a budgie. Thanks for the help

 

[Familyof12]

Yes, our budgies eat the same as I stated above. They love love love broccoli! It looks a mess but when they eat the tiny little heads, it's the size of Brussel sprouts in their beaks! lol. Mine do not like mash. They adore avicakes and nutriberries. Our parrotlets love the hottest peppers. We split them in half after cutting off the stem and they go for the seeds first, then they shred the pepper! I have to wear gloves when cleaning after as it burns my skin!

 

[Jolene Rice]

I just got him to try mash carrots! And he’s never tried veggies before

 

[Familyof12]

His colors will become brighter as his nutrition gets better. Also try whole grains (cooked) or some beans for protein. I also give some tuna/egg/chicken twice a month for beaks, nails and feathers. I have two birds who had their feathers clipped before I got them so we want them to grow in better. The uncooked dark greens contain calcium which is really important. Mine love raw broccoli, cauliflower, carrots (but I have to make them into weird stick shapes), and also they love shredding/chewing.

Your love is beautiful! Nice to meet you! I hope we can be friends and do budgie talks! LOL

 

[TikiMyn]

That about the Colors is sooo true! When Fëanor came to me from his previous owners he was fed all seed from what I understand, but since he has been with me I have not found a vegetables or fruit he does not like, he even wants to take sips of my pumpkin soup when he came to me he was blue, and I thought his Colors looked Healthy, but now his Colors are so much brighter and I can see a lot of variations in Colors, it is really cool to see them change for the better

 

[Jolene Rice]

Does anybody have pellets they would recommend?

 

[javi]

Looks like a great seed mix and I know people that use Dr Harveys for their dogs. I agree with above about keeping seed to a minimum though. I am a pellet/ sprout/ fresh food guy with seed a couple of times a week. That does not work for everyone and can be hard with picky eaters. If you can get your budgie to eat some fresh foods in addition to the seed then you will be doing pretty well.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Dr. Harvey's is a great mix! As stated, however, you should add pellets and veggies too. I like Roudybush pellets because they have no sugar. It was easy to convert my tiels to them because they are soft as far as pellets go (at least the crumble size). Other good brands are Harrison's and Zupreem Natural.

 

[taxidermynerd]

In terms of pellets, I feed my budgie Natural Zupreem pellets. He also gets my custom seed mix made with organic, human-grade seed (yellow millet, tricolor quinoa, sesame, and flax) and Higgin's Leafy Greens and Herbs. He'll get millet in his foraging stations (so he has to work for it), and I use it as a treat for special occasions and a reward for interacting with me.

Chirp gets his food as a mash, made by taking a teaspoon each of his pellets, seed mix, and Higgin's leafy greens and mixing them, then adding 1 tablespoon of water and stirring. Chirp loves it, and 9 times out of 10 if he's quiet it's because he's too busy eating to make noise!

Chirp will also take pellets directly from my fingers.

 

[Jolene Rice]

Thanks

 

[Parakeet88]

My keets and my conure love the zupreem pellets. I want to switch them from the fruit ones to the natural ones but they're not into it. I think the zupreem fruit pellets are good for switching from seed to pellets and then if you want to switch to a different kind of pellet that transition may be easier. My parakeets don't like the parakeet sized pellets they only like the tiny canary size ones so try different sizes to see what your keet prefers. Even my conure prefers the cockatiel size instead of the conure size. Let us know if you need help with the transition, I'm sure everyone has a lot of tricks, it can be tough to get them from seed to pellet but it's worth it. It seems like you've gotten him to try some fresh foods so that alone is a great start, at least he's got some healthy stuff in his diet and he's tried something other than seed, great job so far!

 

[TikiMyn]

In terms of pellets, I feed my budgie Natural Zupreem pellets. He also gets my custom seed mix made with organic, human-grade seed (yellow millet, tricolor quinoa, sesame, and flax) and Higgin's Leafy Greens and Herbs. He'll get millet in his foraging stations (so he has to work for it), and I use it as a treat for special occasions and a reward for interacting with me.

Chirp gets his food as a mash, made by taking a teaspoon each of his pellets, seed mix, and Higgin's leafy greens and mixing them, then adding 1 tablespoon of water and stirring. Chirp loves it, and 9 times out of 10 if he's quiet it's because he's too busy eating to make noise!

Chirp will also take pellets directly from my fingers.

What kind of foraging stations do you have for Chirp? Always interested in hearing what other so for foraging!

 

[Jolene Rice]

This is what I ordered, is it good? (It hasn’t shipped so I can cancel it)

 

[Jolene Rice]

I am just noticing that has sea salt in it?

 

[Lady Jane]

I have had budgies for many years now and have been through just about all brands of food except for Kaytee which I would never buy for any living animal. One of the best I have found is Small Beak – Goldn’obles III | Goldenfeast Direct Read the list if ingredients and I think you will be surprised how nutritious they are. I alternate the Goldenfeast brand with Harrisons extra fine. Stopped all Roudybush foods because of the high content of corn.

I also bake birdie bread for my budgies and they go after it like there is no tomorrow. I am baking some today. I find it is more economical to purchase Harrisons basic birdie bread mix that buy the ingredients separately. To the mix I am adding chopped veggies, chopped apple, grated sweet potato, almonds, eggs without shells and pumpkin. The mix is sold on amazon at a reasonable price. I will also add some pellets.

Oh, and I also feed Dr. Harvey's parakeet mix. The ingredients list is good for our budgies.

 

[taxidermynerd]

What kind of foraging stations do you have for Chirp? Always interested in hearing what other so for foraging!

I have a set of drawers that I got from TBBT, I have this Etsy - Sign In from @Mizzely 's store. I have a jolly ball from Blu's that I'll tuck treats into (which Chirp is playing with right now)

He has a set of little plastic mugs with smiley faces on them, he has a plastic cup from MYOBT MakeYourOwnBirdToys.com - Foraging Cup Which I'll put millet in and cover it in small toy parts (tiny spools and beads and such) and he'll tip it over to get the millet. He has a Ferris wheel You & Me Ferris Wheel Bird Toy Value Pack | Petco, that one only gets pellets in it because otherwise, I'd have a very fat birdie!!

He has a stainless steel bowl with some large beads in it. I sprinkle my seed mix over the top, and he pulls at the beads to get at the seed. He has a whiffle ball that I stuff millet into, and he'll roll it around until the millet comes out! I also tuck treats into pod cups from MYOBT, and usually, I'll put in a cupcake liner first.

 

[TikiMyn]

Very good that you do so much foraging for him the most people with budgies, cockatiels and lovebirds I meet in real life don't even know what foraging is! I got Some Nice new ideas thank you o and the drawer is really Nice, I thought it was too big for them!

 

[Jolene Rice]

But why does it have sea salt? Isn’t salt bad for budgies?