In desperate need of help!

[Diesel Taylor]

Hello, I am worried that ive done something wrong with my parrot.

I purchased an eclectus 2 weeks ago and for the last week i have been sprouting chickpeas which i thought was going well. Tonight my neice realised that there were some dead bugs in a few... I was HORRIFIED!!!

Have I been putting my parrot in harm by doing this?

 

[Spiritbird]

Some parrots eat bugs in the wild. In the future you can purchase seeds specifically for sprouting and giving to birds.
Check out avain naturals, that is where I get mine. Just throw them out and consider it a learning event.

http://www.aviannaturals.com/sprouts.html

 

[Aussie Ben]

Hello, welcome to the forum

When you say dead bugs, do you mean in the Chickpeas themselves or in the packaging? Has your bird actually ingested any of them? What sort of bugs are they, weevils or something?

It would depend on what type of bug it is, but I really don't think you need to panic. If your worried, I would ring you vet and ask to be safe. Hopefully someone with more knowledge on this topic will chime in on this thread.

Edit: Good call by SB, Birds do eat bugs (we forget that sometimes keeping them in our nice clean houses). Probably nothing to worry about.

 

[Diesel Taylor]

the bugs where in the actual chickpea. I dont know what type of bug but they looked like flees

 

[Aussie Ben]

Sounds like those little bugs you get when you leave fruit and Veg out too long. Wouldn't be too harmful surely

I remember finding weevils in some seed mix once (I did panic). Haven't seen any side effects though. My birds probably thought it was a delicious treat lol

 

[Diesel Taylor]

Thanks for that... I feel at least a little bit better.
I purchased them from a health food store as well... so they were intended for the sale for humans...
Because i have no experience with sprouting i felt paniced that im harming my parrot that i love dearly. I think ill make a few phone calls in the morning.
Thanks again

 

[caliopi]

A little bit of protien shouldn't do too much harm lol but as others said, they eat bugs in the wild so I wouldn't wory too much but speak to your vet if it will put your mind at rest. Enjoy your ecky, they are wonderful birds.

 

[Spiritbird]

Oh by the way when you do sprout you can put a few drops of grafruit seed extract in the initial soaking water to retard mold growth. I never purchase any foods that are purchased in bulk from a health store. I can actually see the bugs flying and crawling in the bins.

 

[apatrimo94]

Yeah, in the wild, birds naturally eat bugs once in a while. Just be careful as to what kind of bug it is. My keet almost ate a ladybug once which are not healthy for them. I do let her eat ants that we sometimes see in my house, she enjoys them! LOL

 

[antoinette]

Hello there, and welcome
Great forum. with wonderful members always willing to assist, as you have witnessed.
Members gave great advise, I agree with them all
A habit I always make is to buy in smaller quantities, thus always making it's always fresh.
Enjoy yourself here, remember to send pictures

 

[Ratzy]

Little bit of extra protein. I personally don't think it will do much harm but in future buy some other brand. The other day I was watching my budgies when a wasp flew into their cage. They were fascinated and kept trying to eat it while they were flying.

 

[Bobby34231]

As a rule, bugs in a birds food and diet are not a bad thing, as mentioned in other posts they serve as a source of protien and is natural for them in the wild, however DEAD bugs found in food might be something to be concerned about, you didn't mention whether you started your sprouts from seed, or if they where bought already sprouting, if its the latter I would discard the remainder and start over, either from scratch(seeds) or maybe sprouts from an organic food source, something killed the bugs, hopefully it was natural causes and not pesticides, if your not sure, its better to be safe than sorry........Bob.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Bugs are perfectly safe, in fact they are very nutritious - young birds are often fed on a purely insect diet (very young birds).

Also, as Bobby hinted, if there are live bugs it means it's most likely pesticide free - which is good.