How much food to give

[Tally]

I worry that I'm either feeding my sweet parakeets too much or not enough. There are 2 birds and I've been giving them 3 tablespoons seed, 1 tablespoon fruit and veggie seed mix, chopped carrots and apples. I never can tell how much seed they've eaten but they always eat the carrots and apples. Should I use two seed cups? They are so cute, one will eat for a little bit then that one hops down and the other one will eat. They continue this for several minutes. So sweet. Also what seed is best. They seem to leave the colored seeds so maybe they don't like them. I would appreciate advice. Thanks.

 

[EllenD]

First of all, they shouldn't eat seed as their staple at all. Seed should be a supplement to their staple food, a high quality pellet, which you should transition them onto immediately. It's very common for budgies to die years earlier than they should from fatty liver disease, which is caused by eating a seed diet. Captive budgies don't get even a fraction of the exercise as wild budgies that can eat mainly seeds. So I'd get them started on a pellet diet ASAP, start mixing it with their seed mix. And I would absolutely have 2 feed cups and 2 water dishes, one for each bird, and each gets their own portions of food. I have 7 budgies in an indoor aviary that I bred and hand-raised, they are extremely tame and hang out with me all day and night, and they each have their own food dish and water dish, and they eat a mix of 70% pellets, 20% fresh veggies (fruit as a treat), and 10% high protein seed mix (Higgins). I mix the seeds with their pellets and then they each get their own serving of veggies and fruits. It doesn't sound like your 2 birds are getting quite enough for the both of them, they should each have their own portions of food and water daily.

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[Tally]

Thank you for the great information. I'll start them on pellets tomorrow.

 

[Terry57]

My budgies get at least 50% of their food in fresh chop, and the seed and pellets are an even mix. They should always have dry food available, and I do agree about using 2 dishes. I had a budgie who would not let the other one eat at all.