Heathy varied diet for Parakeet...?

Question

Hi,

I'm bringing home a parakeet tomorrow that is a 2 year old male. This will be my first bird. I understand that he will probably never speak and will take a lot of patience and effort on my part to tame him. There is wonderful information out there, but would like to hear from some people about the diet. I don't think a seed based diet only would be good.

Could someone advise the daily diet of your keet and a bit of routine?

Any other helpful info out there about these birds is also very welcome!

Thank you!

Answer 1

An all seed diet is definately not good, you're right about that.  My birds have a mix of pellets, and seed and get fruits and veggies about 3-4 days a week.   Try to get 3-4 different veggies, and 3-4 different fruits in a week.  That way you cover as many different vitamins and nurtrients as possible.

Answer 2

You are right about the seed diet - millet and other seeds should only be given as treats/rewards and not as their full time diet. It will cut their lifespan in half.

Here is a great article on what to feed your bird;

http://jamiesparrothelp.wordpress.com/ca...

Organic pellets are best (there are only 2 brands that I know of on the market and they are http://www.harrisonsbirdfood.com and http://www.feedyourflock.com)

As well as pellets, fruits and veggies are great for birds. Raw is best, steamed is next best and anything after that loses more nutrients in the food.

It really will depend on what your bird likes. I have a lot of birds and they don't all like the same things so I have to put in lots of different stuff to make everyone happy. See what your bird likes the best and provide as much "real" food (fruits and veggies) as he will eat as they are the healthiest. For my keets, they have one water dish, one pellet dish and one random dish that gets real foods. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I fed my bird a diet of parakeet seed entirely, and he lived a full, healthy life.  but I can understand your concerns.

You can feed keets any green vegetable like lettuce, celery, parsley, thyme, etc.  Do not feed avacado--that is lethal to keets and tiels.  Strawberries, grapes, watermelon, and other fruits as such are also good for parakeets.  You can also give them cereal such as cheerios, rice crispies, etc.  Cheese is also tasty to them, but don't feed them milk because they can't digest that.

However, some birds will turn away any food that is foreign to them, any food that is presented to them that they have not encountered before.  My bird rejected all of the above mentioned, except for cheerios and rice crispies.  So don't be alarmed if he does not accept the food you present to him.

Sprouted seed is also very beneficial.  Take maybe a teaspoon of seeds a day, and wrap them in a wet paper towel to help the sprout.  Wash the sprouts once they've grown.  Sprouted seed is proven to unlock the nutrients in them for birds and for humans.  But only soak them for 2-4 days, just enough for the green shoots to expose.  My bird also rejected these, but alot of birds approve of these sprouts.

Because keets only live to 8-10 years, 2 years old is pretty old for them, maybe 20-30 yrs human.  Keets are also not the best talkers around.  My keet only learned how to imitate other birds' whistles, despite my attempts to teach him how to say a simple,"Hello."  Taming him will be easier than teaching him to talk.  But beware--you need to take it slow.  Start by sitting next to him and reading a book or simply talking to him, so he can get used to your presence and your voice.  If you look at him, don't look him in the eye; that will make him anxious.  Instead, look at his wings, his back, and tail.  Over time you can start to look at his neck, and his head, and eventually his eye.  This might take about 5-7 days, depending on if he's already been handled by humans.

After that, put your  hand in the cage and see how he reacts.  If he hisses or starts flapping around, go back to starting it slow by sitting next to the cage and talking.

Over time he will come to accept that you are there to help him.  However, not all birds regard humans as their friends. If he refuses your attempts to tame him and calm him, maybe he just wants to stay in his cage.  I had a bird like that--he wanted nothing to do with us.  After a week, we had to take him back to the breeder, because he bit my friend terribly--and this was a keet!  Despite their size, they can be dangerous if provoked or if you try to force him to come out of the cage.

Best of luck with your new companion,

Phoenix

Answer 4

Seed diets are okay but they need people food also such as lettuce, fruit, nuts, etc. Beware of Chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, sprays and fumes from cigarettes, cooking, and air fresheners as they have a sensitive respiratory system.  You can get a lot of information by reading up on your new bird.  It will help you not only in food matters but learning to read your new bird's body language.  2 years old is still young so your bird may still learn to talk.  Keep you emotions and body language calm and it will respond.  Give it time to adjust to its new home and surroundings and don't be in a hurry for it to leave its cage.

Companion Parrot magazine by Sally Blanchard is a wonderful reference source as is Bird Talk magazine.

Enjoy your new bird.