Leaving seed/pellets in the cage foodbowl

[alleng8304]

I feed my QP twice daily when I eat. He gets fruit and scrambled eggs for breakfast and he gets veggies, some toast, and sometimes pasta for dinner. In between meals I leave pumpkin seed, nutriberries, peanut, walnut and almonds. The question is should I leave some seed/pellets in the cage at all times, especially over night. I am afraid he is going to get fat like his owner?Thanks

 

[brighterdaysaviary]

Birds don't really eat at night so you can take the food out before bed time.

 

[bill_e]

I think it depends on their eating habits. My Hawkhead is a grazer, only really eats more than one thing if I'm sitting near her. I have food and water at each of her 3 perch positions and the cage. She has remained within 5 grams weight for the 2.5 years I've had her. If she was getting fat I'd rethink it.

In the summer humid months I will replace pellets daily but when it's dry I leave them there for a day or two. My CAV recommends only a tablespoon of seed/nuts a day. She wont eat veggies and gets some fruit and a pasta/bean mix (Crazy Corn) in the AM, pellets the rest of the day and nuts as treats.

 

[Jen5200]

All of mine came to me as seed addicts, so they get fresh food 2x per day and pellets all day to graze on. When I get home from work, they come out and I’ll put Zupreem pure fun or other seeds w/o sunflower in the play stand bowls. They graze on that during the evening while they are racing around the house. I weigh them pretty regularly and everyone holds pretty steady weight-wise (no more than a gram or so either way). Mine are flighted (some are almost flighted) so they do get reasonable exercise.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I leave pellets out all the time.

Patagonians are one of the few semi-nocturnal parrots, so he loves to snack at night. I have photos of wild Patis perching in the moonlight like little vampires.

He's skinny, so I like to encourage snacks. Weighing them really is a great habit. You can spot gains or losses early.

 

[MonicaMc]

I try not to feed my birds so much food that there's still plenty left over for the next day, but not so little than they run out and have no food left over. I do leave food in their cages throughout the entire day though.

Some people feed 2 or 3 meals instead and that works great for them!



I wouldn't recommend feeding eggs more than once, maybe twice a week. That could certainly result in a "fat" bird or at least one with high cholesterol.

 

[ChristaNL]

I would rather leave the birds with pellets all day long than feed them bread & pasta and all those empty calories anytime... (well actually I do).
All nuts have a high fat-content, why not just leave the nutriberries (they are part pellet anyway) all day and save the rest for treats when you are together?

 

[EllenD]

You need to watch what you are feeding him on a regular, daily basis, as some of the things you are feeding him every day are very fatty and can result in not only Fatty Liver Disease over time, but can really put weight on him quickly, even in small quantities. Quakers have a tendency to put weight on quickly too.

He shouldn't have eggs every day, nor should he have nuts, pasta, bread, or any other people-food on a regular, daily basis. The nuts are all loaded with oils and fat, as is the pasta...in fact, pasta (due to the carbs) is often the reason that many birds become Diabetic. I have had many Diabetic birds come to the Avian Rescue I work at, that are actually insulin-dependent, and pasta is usually a part of the problem, along with bread. Fruit is the other thing that he should not be getting every single day. I know it seems like fresh fruit would be a healthy choice for his daily diet, but the problem is that all fruit is just loaded with sugar. And that sugar turns into fat that accumulates in his liver.

His regular, daily diet should consist of a staple of healthy, low-sugar pellets, and then a little healthy, varied, low-fat seed-mix that does not contain sunflower seeds. And in addition to the pellets and the healthy seed-mix, he should get a good variety of fresh veggies every single day. For a treat you can give him a small serving for fresh fruit a few times a week, and reserve things like nuts, sunflower seeds, etc. as occasional, special treats or training treats, but they should not be a part of his regular diet or something he gets every day.

As far as people food goes, like the eggs, the toast, the pasta, etc., you need to do this sparingly, especially the pasta and the toast/bread. These are things that he cannot eat every day, and again, should be only an occasional treat a couple of times a week.

It's perfectly fine to want to eat at the same time as your birds, but make your "mealtimes" with your bird when he gets his fresh veggies and maybe a tiny little bit of egg, a nut or two, a bite of something you're eating, etc. But you need to do this extremely sparingly and not every day, as it will accumulate quickly.

Basically it's not about "when" he eats, but a lot more about "what" he eats. I leave pellets in all of my birds cages all day long, so that they always have something to eat if they want it. I put the pellets inside of their cages first thing each morning, and then take any remaining out at night before bed. I add their seed-mix at dinner time when I'm eating, as well as their fresh veggies/chop mixes. Usually around lunchtime or at night before bed is when they get a snack or treat, and depending on the bird this is either a nut or two, a couple of sunflower seeds, a piece of fresh fruit, or a bite of what I'm eating. But this is only once a day, and is never given to them as a part of their regular diet.

 

[noodles123]

I don't know if it is normal, but my bird (cockatoo- umbrella) DOES eat at night---if she is restless at all, I often hear her eating a bit before going back to sleep...and I am very good about trying to keep things quiet once she is "in bed" lol, but I have heard her in there moving around (usually around 11-12am and 4am, if I am up to notice). Then, she goes back to sleep.


I would always keep wet and dry food in separate dishes and remove any wet food after a few hours. Dry keeps longer and is less of a bacterial hazard.

 

[alleng8304]

Thank you Ellen D very informative. Ok I feed him a seed mix first thing in the Am when he calls me. I will eliminate the other bad stuff-he was getting egg maybe 2x per week, but enjoys a white grape and small piece of banana for breakfast. At night I leave a couple of Walnuts and mostly nutraberries. I tried to convert him to Zupreen all natural pellets but he trows them out of the food bowl. Am I to understand that you do not leave pellets or seed mix in the cage all night. I have heard him eating at 3 am. Can you recommend a good healthy seed mix and pellets. In his current seed mix I remove all of the sunflower seeds. Thanks