Lovebird Diet

[Tonkatiel]

Hi,

I've been feeding my Lovies a diet of pellets and small parrot seed. I've read that smaller birds don't need as much pellets as the bigger birds do? I've pretty much been giving half and half (mixed). Is this right? And I've also read that a budgie seed mix would be better than a small parrot mix - what do you guys use?

They seem pretty willing to give anything new a try, but other than a quick look, I haven't been able to get them to eat much fresh fruit or veg - but tonight I made a 'chop' for the first time.

It was a spur of the minute decision, so only used stuff that we had in the house already, and ended up with...

Kale
Carrots
Yellow, red and green capsicum (bell peppers)
Purple cabbage
Quinoa
Brown rice
Rolled oats
Coconut
Walnuts and cashews

...And they love it! I gave it to them at the same time as there usual pellet/seed mix (in different bowls though), and they've spent just as much time in the chop bowl as there usual one

Please let me know what you think of the ingredients used though as everything I added, I did look up first to make sure they were safe for parrots, but Lovebirds weren't specifically mentioned.

I've only made a weeks worth of chop, but am planning on making more and adding it to there daily diet.

And is this diet suitable for my Cockatiel as well?

Any advice is much appreciated, thanks

 

[DallyTsuka]

the same diet is great for cockatiels, i would lower the pellet amount, but only slightly to more 20-30% of the diet. i feed a budgie seed mix, but i add sunflower seeds separately each day--i add 4 per bird per day an ideal seed mix for the little guys will have a very low amount of sunflower seeds in it, but i dont believe they should be totally eliminated. they do have a LOT of healthy vitamins and minerals in them, but they are fattening.

Sunflower Seeds - Just Cockatiels!

the chop is great very hearty mix of grains, and a decent mix of veggies! i love chop and mash, because its so easy to sneak in new foods and have them more keen on trying it.

the best diet for ANY bird is as much variety as possible, but the little guys can develop kidney problems later on in life if they have too much pellets in the diet. key, everything in a balanced moderation

i'm glad they like it!

 

[Tonkatiel]

Thanks heaps, the percentages was what I was having trouble with - everywhere I looked told me they didn't need too much pellets, but nowhere told me how much I should actually be giving...

I'm a bit excited about the chop idea, been meaning to give it a go for a while but kept putting it off thinking that it would be a waste of time as they wouldn't eat it anyway - hence the reason why I started off with a small batch

Now just to get my 'tiel to eat more than seed :/ I think his problem is more that he doesn't trust me yet and therefore doesn't trust any strange things I give him... Gave the Lovies scrambled egg with shell the other day and they demolished it in minutes, Tonks had a quick look and then ran away as if it was going to eat him lol... Hopefully in time he'll be a bit better with it all though

 

[DallyTsuka]

well, you can mix some seed into the mash and stir it in well. at first start off with more seed than mash in the mix--it might entice him to try it, and slowly reduce the amount of seed in it until your new tiel is used to the concept of eating veggies

my tiels love corn, have you tried it? its the top favourite veggie in the flock here, so when i first tried getting the tiels to eat mash, i added lots of corn. now, not as much corn so they have to dig around and search for what they want, all the while tasting the other bits of the mash and eating some in the process. it took a few months for the tiels, but now they are more open to the idea of mash and chop

 

[MarciaLove]

I give my lovebirds 70%seed-30%pellet, fresh fruits, and chop mix made of
broccoli-chooped finely
red/green bell pepper-sliced
carrots with tops-shredded in food processor
zucchini-shredded in food processor
kale-choped finely
turnips-shredded in food processor
beets-shredded in food processor
red chili peppers-chopped finely
corn-cut right off the cob
quinoa-cooked
barley-cooked
15 bean soup UNFLAVORED-soaked overnight then cooked

Next time I will add nuts like you did I bet they will love that! Also the same diet is good for cokcatiels.

 

[Tonkatiel]

Hmm, haven't tried corn, and I do actually have some in the fridge right now, will give it a go in the morning, thanks

And will definitely try adding seed to the chop (or chop to the seed) and see how that goes - he refused to try millet until I sat a big chunk of it in his seed bowl and now he goes nuts for it lol, so hopefully the chop will be the same Unfortunately that ISN'T working for the pellets, but meh, we'll get there eventually

 

[Tonkatiel]

MarciaLove - Thanks for your list, has given me some more ideas to try I'm still trying to get my head around the idea of adding chilli's etc - does it not burn there tiny little mouths? lol
The nuts I added, I put in the food processor first, and turned them to slightly bigger than dust lol. I've tried giving them very finely sliced and while they did eat them, they didn't seem overly interested and didn't finish them like they have done with the chop they got tonight...

 

[MarciaLove]

it doesnt burn them no I had a hard time with that when i first had birds cause they ad chili pepper dried in their food but i did some research and it doesnt affect them like it does us and they love it! Thanks for the idea of the nuts in yours!

 

[Jtbirds]

The diet you are using sounds great! Like stated Alittle less pellets is all that could be changed... Glad to see people so interested in lovebird diets many just overlook them and give them seed or crude food and expect them to be healthy!

 

[MonicaMc]

My a-vet doesn't recommend more than 50% of the small species diet to be pellets. I usually do a 50/50 of seeds and pellets... either feeding seeds one day and pellets the next, alternating each day throughout the week, or I'll mix 50/50 (by volume) and feed that daily. Doesn't matter how I presented it, the birds still ate it!

And then whatever fresh/cooked foods I give them that they'll eat. Varies each time!


Here's a couple links which may help.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/23367-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/general...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

 

[cdnbirdlover]

My a-vet doesn't recommend more than 50% of the small species diet to be pellets. I usually do a 50/50 of seeds and pellets... either feeding seeds one day and pellets the next, alternating each day throughout the week, or I'll mix 50/50 (by volume) and feed that daily. Doesn't matter how I presented it, the birds still ate it!

And then whatever fresh/cooked foods I give them that they'll eat. Varies each time!


Here's a couple links which may help.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/23367-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/general...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

I've really been thinking about this a lot. I don't want my poor Basil's kidneys compromised from his pellet diet. But if I offer him pellets and seed mixed together, he will only eat seeds. He may never eat pellets again. I try to entice him to eat his fruit and veggies (to no avail) by sprinkling millet seeds in with it and he will throw the produce to the bottom of his cage to get at the millet. He'll eat raw broccoli and cooked peas. I've tried a chop with an assortment of veggies and some fruits but it just get thrown out of the dish. Or ignored and pooped in. What kind of seed mix do you recommend? Currently he gets millet balls for being cute and to lure him to the veggie plate. He gets broken up sunflower seeds as rewards. They are his favourite.

 

[MonicaMc]

I feed my birds Kaylor of Colorado Sweet Harvest Cockatiel/Budgie Seed Mix (No sunflowers) mixed with Goldenfeast Petite Hookbill Legume or Australian Blend. I prefer to feed a variety!

If you are really worried about seeds being an unhealthy part of the diet, you can always buy a sprout blend (or make your own) and feed sprouted seeds instead of dry seeds!


I've also had great luck with a chop/mash mix that had veggies, some fruits, grains and legumes mixed in. I think the birds enjoy the variety of textures and colors. Sometimes I add in sprouts, too!

 

[DallyTsuka]

also to start, you can add dry treats to your birds dish. i often change up exactly what goes into my seed dishes, but i often add dried fruit, almonds, dried herb salad, pumpkin seeds, whole wheat unfortified sugar free cereal, etc.

the seed mix i buy is parakeet mix, but i add in my own limited amount of human grade sunflower seeds (shell removed for personal preference).

some days they get different things, sometimes just the basic mix, etc. always different foods, they are more keen to try new things i find. even if your bird doesnt eat the new stuff, he has to taste it when he moves it around in his dish to reach foods he does want. so it doubles for foraging enrichment

example of today's seed dish for one of my lovebirds. everything but the parakeet seed mix is human grade!





dry treats in his dish would be a stepping stone to fresh. you might be able to get him to try the dried stuff first, and then you can try to go to fresh foods from there as a stepping stone. it's worth a shot. keep trying the fresh veggies at the same time, but it might be a good way to encourage new foods. just start with a few treats, enough where he sees them in the dish (maybe like 2 pieces of dried fruit and slowly add new things into his seed mix)

 

[Katkoota]

Loving this thread too. I'm doing my lovebird learning here
I have a couple of new lovies. They are on mixed seed diet and also eat their baby carrots. I ordered bountiful harvest for small birds for them from MSBS. Just waiting for it to arrive.

 

[Chace]

Whats a good food to use as a positive re-enforcement treat while training?

 

[MonicaMc]

Anything the bird finds rewarding. Seeds, nuts, dried fruits, praise, an item, anything!

It's better to have a multitude of rewards rather than one to keep things interesting!