Lovebird Diet Advice

[BlueJay29]

Hi — I’m new to this forum! I have a 7 month old lovebird named captain! Captain is not my first bird, but he is my first lovebird. I’m really looking to improve his diet. Would anyone be able to recommend some good seed mix and pellet brands? How much of each do you give your bird per day? I’m working on giving him fresh fruits/vegetables as well, so any tips on encouraging a bird to eat fruits/vegetables would be appreciated. I find it so hard to shop fresh for just one bird as it goes bad quickly. I really want captain to stay healthy and happy so please let me know any other good lovebird diet info that you can think of. Thanks in advance!

 

[Sunni Tiel]

Harrisons Pellets are good, so are roudybush. I've never had a lovebird so I can't help with the amount. Someone will be along soon to help with that.

 

[TrueBlue]

This is what I do/use. I get all of my pellets and seeds from Petco or Petsmart.

I use Mazuri as the main pellets because I used it to ween them. And I still use it to make pellet mash for them. I also started using Roudybush. I mix the Roudybush into their dry food bowl with the Mazuri and leave it in the cage all day. I don't really measure anything though. From the recommendations I've read, I think Roudybush has the most in nutritional value.

My lovies don't really care for fresh fruits or veggies, but I still make something quick and simple every morning. It's whatever we buy to eat ourselves. I'll either just tear or cut pieces of it, or sometimes I'll make a chop if we have a bunch of different vegetables. I top the veggies with some of the Mazuri pellet mash and a little bit of seeds to encourage them. Sometimes I'll also throw in a small piece of fruit like a grape, blueberry, or strawberry. Again, whatever we buy that we already eat ourselves. If you make a veggie chop, you can always freeze it to keep it longer.

For dinner, it's sort of a buffet for them. I have egg cartons I use to put in the pellets and a seed mix, and also other pellet mixes that I want them to try out. I don't have a favorite for seeds yet but I'm using the Higgens Vita Seed right now. I also use the Zupreem Fruitblend just to add some color.

 

[fluffypoptarts]

I feed mine Higgins InTune now because they eat the colored pellets better.



You can also get the “Harmony” version that has little bits of fruit and things in it:

 

[Zara]

Welcome to the Avenue Kelly!

I feed Hagen Tropican pellets

80520 - Tropican Lifetime Formula Granules for Cockatiels - 820 g (1.8 lb)

Tropican™ Lifetime Formula Granules for Cockatiels is a scientifically formulated, completely balanced and flavourful maintenance diet for all cockati

usa.hagen.com

I have also used psittacus (and use it when having trouble getting Hagen delivered on time)

MINOR | PSITTACUS STORE

www.psittacus.store

For seeds I make my own mix using a budgie seed mix (with no sunflower seeds), canary grass seed, buckwheat, and a mix which contains hemp seed and some other darker seeds)

This looks like it has a lot of sunflower seeds. What I used to do with mixes like this, was to take most of them out and keep in a jar for treats

 

[Zara]

I find it so hard to shop fresh for just one bird as it goes bad quickly.

Buy veggies ¨loose¨, so if you are buying specifically for your bird, you want to buy just ones. One carrot, one small sweet potato, one red pepper, one small kiwi, one small tomato, one small romaine lettuce, one small apricot, you get the idea. Stuff you won´t eat, that you can get small piece of, then just buy one small piece. A fruit/veg shop may even let you pull off 3-4 grapes. Then use what you need, and keep the rest in a container in the fridge.
You could make a chop, or keep the pieces whole and cut it daily.
For the lettuce, chop the whole thing, then line a container with kitchen roll, fill it with what you didn´t use, and put a piece of kitchen paper on top and the lid on tightly. This should last a few days (plus if you make a sandwich, you have chopped lettuce to put on it super quickly )

The problem comes with pumpkin, broccoli, squash, zuchini (cougette), mango etc the larger things. If you won´t eat them, then buy them frozen. We do eat broccoli, but not as often as I´d like to give it to the birds, so we have bags of frozen florettes in the freezer. We also buy diced frozen zucchini and pumpkin. Mango can be found diced/frozen in the smoothie section. Frozen berries can be found there too for when they´re out of season.
Frozen peas, we always have! And I eat the frozen veggies too from time to time, it´s handy to have.

Having the frozen stuff on hand, gives you options and the ability to mix things up, some days offer certain things, other days other things. By not making bulk chop, you can offer variety. (I make chop and freeze it when I go away. I put a days portion in a small container and tell my partner to defrost it and divvy it up for the birds.)

To serve, I sprinkle some sesame seed, poopy seed, sometimes millet, some dried dandelion.

When trying to introduce them to birds who are new to veggies, offer them in the morning.

If you don´t know which veggies are better to choose etc, this is a good guide to figure out what to put in the food;

My Chop "Recipe"

I see a lot of requests in bird groups and forums all over the web asking for a good recipe for chop. It's hard to give a definite or correct answer to that question because there simply isn't any right way to do it. (Chop, for those who don't know, is simply a name for "salad" or "mash" as some...

www.lilmonstersbirdtoys.com

Just remember, those larger foods that you won´t eat the rest of, to buy frozen (or freeze yourself).

The other option would be to buy freeze dried veggies.

Bodacious Birdie Bites-We have permanently closed our business :-(

This business has permanently closed.

bodaciousbirdiebites.com

Organic Freeze Dried Chop Parrot & Bird Food ~ Avian Organics ~ Freeze Dried Fruit and Vegetables for Parrots & Birds ~ All Organic Parrot Boutique

 

[Pat H]

WELCOME to the Avenue!!! LOVE those Lovebirds!!!

I've never heard of the Mazuri brand... can you get that in the United States?

 

[TrueBlue]

This looks like it has a lot of sunflower seeds. What I used to do with mixes like this, was to take most of them out and keep in a jar for treats

Ha ha, that's exactly what I do or else that's all they'll eat. I also use the sunflower seeds as lures for them to go back into their cages. They already expect it and look for the sunflower seeds when I put them into the cage.

 

[TrueBlue]

The other option would be to buy freeze dried veggies.

Bodacious Birdie Bites-We have permanently closed our business :-(

This business has permanently closed.

bodaciousbirdiebites.com

Organic Freeze Dried Chop Parrot & Bird Food ~ Avian Organics ~ Freeze Dried Fruit and Vegetables for Parrots & Birds ~ All Organic Parrot Boutique

I'm going to try the freeze dried stuff soon. The pepper poppers look cool.

 

[TrueBlue]

I've never heard of the Mazuri brand... can you get that in the United States?

Yes, I get it from Petco

Mazuri Small Bird Food, 2.5 lbs. | Petco

www.petco.com

 

[Zara]

I'm going to try the freeze dried stuff soon. The pepper poppers look cool.

Would love to hear how you get on with it!
Wish we had a reputable seller like these two over here in EU. Freeze dried foods are handy for those days you´re heading off out, or to put in foraging activities.

 

[Pat H]

Yes, I get it from Petco

Mazuri Small Bird Food, 2.5 lbs. | Petco

www.petco.com

Thanks, I will look for that next time I'm in Rockford, IL or Dubuque, IA [think there's one there] ... Now I'm curious!

 

[TheBirds]

Oh how I'd love to be able to find the InTune Harmony here in Canada @fluffypoptarts Some great advice here already, so to add to that, I offer two kinds of pellets at all times and then supplement with a Nutriberry in the AM and a foraging mix in the PM which contains a sprinkling of seeds, other pellet brands, hemp and flax seeds, and slivered or flaked nuts (hazelnut and almond). It's not much (or they'd fill up on that and not eat the pellets) but I know Lyric in particular really looks forward to his! Indie was weaned so completely onto his ZuPreem Natural pellets that he's not as bothered about his foraging mix.

And FWIW, here's my experience with pellet brands (we've tried more than what's listed below, but our previous Parrotlet had strong feelings about most of them):

Available in their cages 24/7:

Higgins InTune: Yes (both)
ZuPreem Natural: Yes (both) .. *this one gets eaten the most as I have to refill more often*

----

Included with their PM "foraging mix":

Roudybush Maintenance: Lawdy, no.. what is this doing in my food bowl?! (both)
ZuPreem FruitBlend Flavor: A reluctant yes (only if all the "good" stuff has already been eaten)
Oven Baked Bites by All Living Things (PetSmart): An even more reluctant yes (only if literally everything else has already been eaten)

----

Both of mine are SUPER PICKY about fresh foods and have still not taken to them, despite being given a variety of different things to try (thank goodness they'll eat pellets). They get a small piece off of whatever fresh foods are being prepared for lunch or dinner and I'll compile a little bowl for them - I wouldn't go out and specifically buy special fruits or vegetables for them as I know it'd be a waste of time and money

 

[fluffypoptarts]

@TheBirds I can’t tell you how much produce I’ve wasted trying to get these little monsters to eat right! They are super picky. They’re not big fans of chop, probably because it’s hard to pick anything out of it.

My new plan is going to be picking maybe 3 things (like peppers, carrots, and Granny Smith apples) to lightly process fresh (so it’s more whole and crunchy) to see if they’re game. I also bought some birdy bean/grain mixes to cook - so if they like those, maybe it would be a good carrier for their veggies.

 

[TheBirds]

@TheBirds I can’t tell you how much produce I’ve wasted trying to get these little monsters to eat right! They are super picky. They’re not big fans of chop, probably because it’s hard to pick anything out of it.

My new plan is going to be picking maybe 3 things (like peppers, carrots, and Granny Smith apples) to lightly process fresh (so it’s more whole and crunchy) to see if they’re game. I also bought some birdy bean/grain mixes to cook - so if they like those, maybe it would be a good carrier for their veggies.

Ugh .. YES! These little guys are so stubborn I've been so disappointed at their lack of interest in the fresh food bowls I put together (seriously, it's pathetic how excited I get over delivering them these bowls full of such colourful, interesting things to eat) that they just turn their noses (beaks) up at. I'd forgotten about the birdy grain mixes though .. thanks for the reminder, perhaps I'll give that a try next time I'm in the pet store

 

[TrueBlue]

Thanks, I will look for that next time I'm in Rockford, IL or Dubuque, IA [think there's one there] ... Now I'm curious!

Some closeups of the packaging if it helps

 

[TrueBlue]

Ugh .. YES! These little guys are so stubborn I've been so disappointed at their lack of interest in the fresh food bowls I put together (seriously, it's pathetic how excited I get over delivering them these bowls full of such colourful, interesting things to eat) that they just turn their noses (beaks) up at. I'd forgotten about the birdy grain mixes though .. thanks for the reminder, perhaps I'll give that a try next time I'm in the pet store

You really do have to be patient...and try different things in different ways. This was what I gave them yesterday. It's chop topped with pellet mash and some seeds. I also have some sunflower sprouts in there. The mash and seeds are the lure to get them to eat from the bowl. The asian cabbage leaf is my first time giving it to them and they nibbled on it at least

 

[Pat H]

@TrueBlue -- hey thanks for the packaging pics!

Can't believe they say my Senegal can have up to 1/2 cup of that daily--- he's chunky now, much less when he would turn into a FOOTBALL!
Am surprised at the Lactobacillus...

At present, my birds are getting Zupreem Natural pellets along w/ [about 6pieces] Pretty Bird Species Specific for Amazon & Cockatoo. But I will look for that next time I'm in the big city... Thank you again!