Can you feed a parakeet Naked Juice?

Question

I recently took my parakeet to the vet and was told he needs to eat more vegetables so I kept putting fresh veggies in his cage but he won't touch them. He is almost 5 and has always been on a seed diet so I'm not sure he will since he is used to seed. Anyway, he does like juice so I thought perhaps he could get his vegetables in juice form. I bought a Naked Juice and just wanted to make sure there is nothing in it that parakeets cannot eat (drink). Here is the ingredient list:

Apples

Mango puree

pineapple

banana

kiwi

spirulina

chlorella

broccoli

spinach

barley grass

wheat grass

parsley

ginger root

blue green algae

garlic

Are these all safe for parakeets?

Answer 1

Is it organic? It's important to feed organic items to birds whenever possible--they are more sensitive to the carcinogens in pesticides/herbicides than humans.

Most of those ingredients are safe for parakeets, but I'm not certain about the garlic and blue green algae, and the spinach makes me nervous (in small amounts its usually okay, but it has a chemical in it that can be toxic to birds). The big thing I'd be concerned about is that naked juices are pretty high in sugar--naturally occurring, but still likely to make your bird sugar-crazed, and just as addictive and hard to get them off of as seeds.

Seed diets are hard to get your bird off, but it's important to work at it because birds who eat seed diets usually live about half as long as those on complete diets. But your vet has probably told you all this already. I suggest using something like Harrison's bird bread mix to wean your bird onto healthier food--I've provided a link to an article about it below--I feed my parrot Harrisons and it definitely makes a huge difference in his health (as compared with other birds I've had and fed seed mixes)--also getting birds onto Harrison's is sometimes easier than straight veggies, since it has some nuts blended into the pellets. Another trick that sometimes helps in getting birds to eat new things is to eat the item with obvious enjoyment right in front of your bird--this is how I got my parrot to eat organic broccoli. You can also try hiding/wrapping items the bird likes in items that are healthy for it (like wrapping a tasty bit of fruit inside some kale, or burying it into a broccoli floret). Finally, if your bird likes the sweetness of juice, put some juice onto the new food you want the bird to eat and then slowly reduce the amount you put on it each time until it's adjusted to eating the food without the juice.

Also, there's a great group on yahoo called FeedingFeathers that has a lot of knowledgeable and helpful people on it who can probably help you with these questions and more; I highly recommend it.

Hope this helps--good luck getting your 'keet off seeds and onto a healthier diet

Answer 2

im not sure, sorry. i only know that apples, grapes are ok. some veges give birds daihora

Answer 3

ok i really suggest u ask a vet rather than take answers from people u dont know cos theyre professional and r there to help u and this is a serious matter.

Answer 4

Ah, the trials of feeding new items to a picky bird. Birds can take a long time to try new things but many of them do come around eventually, even old ones that ate seeds all their lives. You can try eating some of what you give him yourself... cut up some veggie, give some to him and stand in front of the cage eating your share, so that he can watch you enjoying it. If he sees you eating it he'll be a lot more likely to try some himself. That's how I was able to coax my two cockatiels into eating new foods; I'd eat some, the female would try some because she saw me eating it, and then the male would try some because he saw her eating it. But do make sure he gets something fresh in him; even though pellets are more nutritious than seed they aren't enough on their own, your bird still needs fresh vegetables.

Apples, mangos, pineapples, bananas, kiwi, broccoli, spinach, parsley, barley grass, wheatgrass and ginger should all be fine. As long as it only has a very small amount of garlic (because large amounts can cause vomiting and diarrhea), and little or--preferably--no added sugar (the sugar that comes in the fruit is fine, after all if he were eating solid fruits he'd still get sugar from them anyway), it should be okay. And as long as you continue to give him water as his primary source of liquids, this can be a good supplement to his diet.

However, I've never heard of giving a bird spirulina, which actually is a kind of blue-green algae (so they listed that twice), or chlorella, also a kind of algae; check with your vet on that just to be safe.