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Is this an okay diet?

BirdDad

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Hey there!
I'm the owner of two budgies and a cockatiel. I've had birds for five months now and I'm still a bit ignorant when it comes to their nutritional needs I guess. I understand that an all-seed diet is bad for them. I know that pellets are considerably better and that they require fruits and vegetables in their diet.
I haven't been able to get my birds to eat fresh fruits and veggies yet though I'm hoping one day they'l give it a try.
Right now I'm giving my bird a mixture of different foods and I wanted to know if it's a good idea or if I should just stick to one brand of pellets or whatever. Whatever's healthiest for them.

Right now, this is in the mix that they're eating:
(Ordered from most to least.)

‌• Tropimix.
• Nutri-berries.
‌• Avi-cakes.
‌• A mix of dried fruit, small bits of coconut and nuts.
• Kaytee Healthy Toppings.
‌• A small amount of seeds for a treat.

I was thinking of adding ZuPreem fruit-blend pellets because the budgies seem to like them.

Is that an okay diet for my birds?
 

LunaLovebird

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Budgies and tiels need a higher proportion of seed in their diet than others. 50% of their dry mix is, from what I've read, a good number. What you've mentioned sounds pretty good to me. Personally I would get rid of the Kaytee if they already have other dry fruit. As for pellets, whatever they will eat is fine. If you can get them on non-coloured ones (Zupreem naturals, for example), that might be better, but I wouldn't stress if you can't.

Fresh food can be a battle. Give it to them in the morning, and add seed to it to make it more appetising.
 

Tiel Feathers

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I'm not sure about budgies, but cockatiels should consume 50%pellets and 50% seeds. In addition to this they should get fresh foods. Some good fresh foods that most cockatiels eat are broccoli, leafy greens, and sprouts. They are not big fruit eaters, but mine will occasionally try an apple. My birds eat the Avicakes and Nutriberries for treats, and I think Tropimix is good but I am not too familiar with it. I have never heard of the healthy toppings. I would say don't feed too many nuts or dried fruit, but a little is okay. Millet spray is a great training treat. I think there are other pellets out there that are more natural than the Zupreem fruit blend, but my birds eat that because I've never been successful at changed them over to something else. One of my tiels eats Higgins Intune, which is another colorful pellet without the food coloring and with less sugar.
 

JLcribber

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Its a lot of packaged/processed type food that doesn't include a lot of fresh. There's nothing wrong with any of it but you've got to work on the fresh.
 

Tim

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I got my birds to prefer fresh by giving it to them first thing in the morning--with nothing else in the cage. Chopped veggies, a couple of pieces of fruit, and a few healthy seeds and nuts. They then get their pellet mix a couple of hours later, after I remove the fresh foods.
 

cassiesdad

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Our budgies eat 50/50 mix...high quality seed and Zupreem Fruity pellets.

Tiels are given seed mix and Zupreem pellets...less percentage seed...maybe 20%, 80% pellets.

All get fresh chopped veggies, a small bit of fruit, cooked pasta, and hard boiled egg.

The seed mix is "made" by our pet store...and we've fed the Zupreem Fruit pellets for years. I know that the Zupreem is a controversial choice, but we've had good success with it and will continue with it.
 

rocky'smom

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be warned Zupreem can cause loose droppings with Fruity mix
 

barry collins

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Rice and peas and sweetcorn seems to work for mine...
Hunger definately plays a part in choice of foods so have a good part of the day only healthy fresh foods on offer and just pop some seeds in for teatime and they will naturally eat whatever they can find through the day. Diet seems like a losing battle sometimes but one day it just clicks and they will eat something they ignored for weeks. It seems like your feeding them quite well already just keep pushing the fresh foods.
 

Jaguar

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Sounds like too much fruit and nuts to me. I would at least cut one of the dried fruit items.

I feed more than 50% pellets, but not much. Zupreem Fruity is the only one my guys will consistently eat in large amounts. Though some days they won't eat one color (usually green), for whatever reason. :laugh: They will pick at Harrison's and Lafeber pellets.

Do they actually eat the pellets out of the Tropimix? If so, maybe just buy the Tropican pellets separately so you can easier control how much they eat.

For fresh stuff, my guys really like corn, peas, mashed carrots and yams, broccoli, parsley, cilantro, spinach, peppers, and rice (all kinds). The rest is an uphill struggle. :D
 

Birdbabe

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Careful with corn, alot of starch in it and can cause yeast infection, try parsely and romaine lettuce, Cilantro, carrot tops , celery leaves,,,fun to play with , shred and eat.
 
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