Parakeets love
- Thread starter Laurasea
- Start date
lplummer52
Member
Parakeets rule!
LeslieA
New member
Bok choy has a lower level of phyto toxins than broccoli. You should not feed broccoli leaves to your budgies even nesting females.
EllenD
New member
- Aug 20, 2016
- 3,979
- 68
- Parrots
- Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Parakeets love bok choy! Thank you forum!!!!! You got me to try a new veggie!! Laurasea tho tried it and found it yucky lol
Budgies love ALL dark green, leafy veggies! I hang them from their cage and the aviary bars using different clips/clothes hangers in large pieces/leaves, and they just love to go at them and eat away like little mice!
Bok Choy and Pak Choy, Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Turnip Greens, Dandelion Greens, Swiss Chard, Kale (small quantities), Spinach (small quantities), Romaine and other dark, leafy lettuces (never any iceberg or "water" lettuces)....They love them all! Luckily these all make-up the base of my Bearded Dragon's salads, so they all share the fresh greens/veggies!
As far as fresh veggies go, try Green Beans, Sweet Pea Pods, Sugar Snap Pea Pods, Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli (they love eating the little tops of the flowers off), Cauliflower, Carrots, any color of Bell Peppers (green, red, orange, yellow, etc.), any type of Squash (Butternut, Acorn, Spaghetti, etc.), Eggplant, Okra, and pretty much any other fresh Veggies EXCEPT Onions, as they are toxic to birds.
- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
- #6
Parakeets love bok choy! Thank you forum!!!!! You got me to try a new veggie!! Laurasea tho tried it and found it yucky lol
Budgies love ALL dark green, leafy veggies! I hang them from their cage and the aviary bars using different clips/clothes hangers in large pieces/leaves, and they just love to go at them and eat away like little mice!
Bok Choy and Pak Choy, Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Turnip Greens, Dandelion Greens, Swiss Chard, Kale (small quantities), Spinach (small quantities), Romaine and other dark, leafy lettuces (never any iceberg or "water" lettuces)....They love them all! Luckily these all make-up the base of my Bearded Dragon's salads, so they all share the fresh greens/veggies!
As far as fresh veggies go, try Green Beans, Sweet Pea Pods, Sugar Snap Pea Pods, Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli (they love eating the little tops of the flowers off), Cauliflower, Carrots, any color of Bell Peppers (green, red, orange, yellow, etc.), any type of Squash (Butternut, Acorn, Spaghetti, etc.), Eggplant, Okra, and pretty much any other fresh Veggies EXCEPT Onions, as they are toxic to birds.
Thank you!!! Great information!!! I'm trying lots of stuff, corn ,broccoli, apples, bok choy, and romaine have been my only success so far. This is a great place to learn. BTW could you see the picture????
EllenD
New member
- Aug 20, 2016
- 3,979
- 68
- Parrots
- Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
No, there wasn't a picture...
Another good FYI, go easy on the fresh fruit. Though it would make sense that both fresh fruits and veggies would be great for birds to eat every day, only fresh veggies should be fed to your birds every single day and in larger quantities. All fruit is loaded with sugars, and though they are natural sugars, they are still sugars nonetheless, and they end-up being turned into fat and stored in their livers exactly the same way that fatty seeds and nuts are. And over time, especially in pet birds who aren't flying miles and miles every day like wild birds do, this accumulated fat takes-over the liver and results in Fatty Liver Disease, just like captive birds develop if they eat an all-seed diet. So you should be giving them fresh veggies every single day, but as far as the fruit goes, they should only get fresh fruits 3-4 days a week at the most, with Budgies I only do 2-3 days a week due to their size and the fact that they usually love fresh veggies so much that they don't even miss the fruit, lol. Same with millet sprays and any of the "treat" seed items, such as Honey Sticks (which they also love). All of these are loaded with either fat or sugar that will be turned into fat. So try to think of fruit as being more of a "treat" than a part of the Budgie's diet. For example, if you've already given your Budgie a small piece of fruit, then that's their treat for the day, and you shouldn't give them any other treats, like the millet sprays, Honey Sticks, etc. Same goes if they've already had a millet spray, then no fruit that day. But be sure to give them lots of different fresh veggies, as they are great for them nutritionally, and they keep them hydrated.
Also, go easy on the corn with them. Corn is the one "veggie" that isn't really good for them to have (not really a veggie either, more of a "starch"). First of all, corn has very little to no nutritional value or advantage to them, so it's much better to feed them one of the dozens of healthy, vitamin and mineral rich and low fat veggies that will benefit them in some way. And secondly, once again, corn contains oils that turn into fat. So I would put corn into the same "treat" category as the fruit, millet sprays, Honey Sticks, etc.
****Just in-case you're not aware, never feed your birds ANY onions or avocados, as they are both toxic to birds; the other thing that many people are not aware of is that birds should not be fed any Citrus Fruits, including oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, tangerines, nectarines, etc. The reason for this is because the Citric Acid in all Citrus Fruits rapidly promotes their absorption of Iron from the food that they eat, and birds are extremely sensitive to having even a slightly elevated level of Iron in their bodies. They can end-up developing something called "Iron Storage Syndrome/Disease", which can be fatal in all birds. So for this reason it's best to just stay away from ALL Citrus Fruit, especially when there are so many other fresh fruits that you can feed your birds, there is absolutely no reason to risk their health just to feed them a piece of Citrus Fruit. You can feed them any other fresh fruit except for Avocados. So that leaves a ton of fruit options, including apples, bananas, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, all of the "tropical" fruits like guavas, mango, passionfruit, starfruit, etc., kiwi, grapes, cherries, etc. So with all of these other completely safe options, there's no reason to risk their health with Citrus Fruits...
Also, try to avoid feeding your birds any pulses that are high in iron, and any people-food that is high in iron. That's how sensitive birds are to iron, and the more they store-up, the more at-risk they are. ******A lot of people like to feed their birds human "Baby-Foods", because there are endless options, they're cheap, and they are for the most-part all-natural, have no sugar added, and are typically made from nothing but real, fresh veggies, fruits, and whole-grains. So how could they be bad for your bird, right? Well, because most-all human Baby-Foods sold commercially are purposely fortified with a ton of Iron, because humans need a lot of Iron, especially babies and toddlers. So if you look at any of the human baby food containers, meaning the baby foods consisting of "pulses", such as the baby cereals, baby oatmeal, and baby "snacks" such as all of the fruit and veggie "puffs" and such, most of them say "Fortified With Iron" right on the front of the packaging. So these must all be avoided.
***In a lot of middle-eastern countries, such as Turkey, Pakistan, etc. there is a really horrible double-whammy that they have going-on with pet birds and their diets. First of all, these are the countries where they bird-trade is out of control, they take wild parrots, mainly Alexandrines and other Ringneck species, out of their natural environments, hundreds of them at a time, and then use these as their breeders, so that they can breed hundreds of baby parrots that are sold at their daily markets, in one of the many, many bird shops, or simply on the side of the road. And these babies are typically sold very young, far before they are anywhere close to being weaned onto solid foods, and actually most of them are purchased at just a week or two old. So obviously they have to be fed "formula", but in these countries commercial baby bird hand-feeding formula is not available like it is here...So what do they feed their newly-hatched baby parrots? Human baby cereals, such as the human baby rice cereals, multi-grain wheat cereals, and most-commonly Cerelac. Now not only are these human baby cereals and formulas not designed to support a newly-hatched baby parrot, but every single one of them is purposely fortified with lots and lots of Iron, and this readily results in baby birds suffering from Iron Storage Syndrome (these are not human baby "formulas" per se, they are cereals, so imagine trying to feed a human baby nothing but rice cereal, it's not going to provide them with any of the vitamins, minerals, and specifically the protein, carbs, fats, etc. that they need to simply survive, so the Iron Storage Syndrome is just added on top of total starvation and emaciation)...So the Iron issue is a much more serious issue with pet birds than people think that it is, and a lot of people don't even believe that Iron Storage Syndrome/Disease is really a problem to begin with. So they laugh it off and say things like "My bird loves oranges, they are the only fruit that he'll eat and I'm not going to stop feeding them to him", and then they keep feeding their birds oranges every single day...and then their bird starts to vomit, becomes very lethargic, starts to stargaze, and eventually dies. Again, with all of the perfectly safe fruits available, there's no reason to bother with Citrus fruits and take the risk...
***Something else to remember is to never feed your bird any fruit with seeds or pits, remove all seeds and pits before giving them the fruit, such as grapes, cherries, etc.
There's absolutely no reason at all that your Budgies can't live to be between 15-20 years old or older; my first Budgie lived to be just shy of 19. So even though a lot of people consider them "throw-away birds" that are only going to live for 4-5 years, they are so very, very wrong. I've actually seen people on this forum respond to posts about a sick Budgies, and their responses say things like "Well, your Budgie is elderly at 7 years old, so it's probably just old-age", and this infuriates me, I have to bite my tongue and respectfully try to explain to them that Budgies should live to be at least into their mid-teens, and that many who are fed healthy, varied, well-rounded diets and who are mentally stimulated on a daily basis live into their late-teens and early twenties, with the oldest Budgies on-record being I believe 29 years old!
Another good FYI, go easy on the fresh fruit. Though it would make sense that both fresh fruits and veggies would be great for birds to eat every day, only fresh veggies should be fed to your birds every single day and in larger quantities. All fruit is loaded with sugars, and though they are natural sugars, they are still sugars nonetheless, and they end-up being turned into fat and stored in their livers exactly the same way that fatty seeds and nuts are. And over time, especially in pet birds who aren't flying miles and miles every day like wild birds do, this accumulated fat takes-over the liver and results in Fatty Liver Disease, just like captive birds develop if they eat an all-seed diet. So you should be giving them fresh veggies every single day, but as far as the fruit goes, they should only get fresh fruits 3-4 days a week at the most, with Budgies I only do 2-3 days a week due to their size and the fact that they usually love fresh veggies so much that they don't even miss the fruit, lol. Same with millet sprays and any of the "treat" seed items, such as Honey Sticks (which they also love). All of these are loaded with either fat or sugar that will be turned into fat. So try to think of fruit as being more of a "treat" than a part of the Budgie's diet. For example, if you've already given your Budgie a small piece of fruit, then that's their treat for the day, and you shouldn't give them any other treats, like the millet sprays, Honey Sticks, etc. Same goes if they've already had a millet spray, then no fruit that day. But be sure to give them lots of different fresh veggies, as they are great for them nutritionally, and they keep them hydrated.
Also, go easy on the corn with them. Corn is the one "veggie" that isn't really good for them to have (not really a veggie either, more of a "starch"). First of all, corn has very little to no nutritional value or advantage to them, so it's much better to feed them one of the dozens of healthy, vitamin and mineral rich and low fat veggies that will benefit them in some way. And secondly, once again, corn contains oils that turn into fat. So I would put corn into the same "treat" category as the fruit, millet sprays, Honey Sticks, etc.
****Just in-case you're not aware, never feed your birds ANY onions or avocados, as they are both toxic to birds; the other thing that many people are not aware of is that birds should not be fed any Citrus Fruits, including oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, tangerines, nectarines, etc. The reason for this is because the Citric Acid in all Citrus Fruits rapidly promotes their absorption of Iron from the food that they eat, and birds are extremely sensitive to having even a slightly elevated level of Iron in their bodies. They can end-up developing something called "Iron Storage Syndrome/Disease", which can be fatal in all birds. So for this reason it's best to just stay away from ALL Citrus Fruit, especially when there are so many other fresh fruits that you can feed your birds, there is absolutely no reason to risk their health just to feed them a piece of Citrus Fruit. You can feed them any other fresh fruit except for Avocados. So that leaves a ton of fruit options, including apples, bananas, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, all of the "tropical" fruits like guavas, mango, passionfruit, starfruit, etc., kiwi, grapes, cherries, etc. So with all of these other completely safe options, there's no reason to risk their health with Citrus Fruits...
Also, try to avoid feeding your birds any pulses that are high in iron, and any people-food that is high in iron. That's how sensitive birds are to iron, and the more they store-up, the more at-risk they are. ******A lot of people like to feed their birds human "Baby-Foods", because there are endless options, they're cheap, and they are for the most-part all-natural, have no sugar added, and are typically made from nothing but real, fresh veggies, fruits, and whole-grains. So how could they be bad for your bird, right? Well, because most-all human Baby-Foods sold commercially are purposely fortified with a ton of Iron, because humans need a lot of Iron, especially babies and toddlers. So if you look at any of the human baby food containers, meaning the baby foods consisting of "pulses", such as the baby cereals, baby oatmeal, and baby "snacks" such as all of the fruit and veggie "puffs" and such, most of them say "Fortified With Iron" right on the front of the packaging. So these must all be avoided.
***In a lot of middle-eastern countries, such as Turkey, Pakistan, etc. there is a really horrible double-whammy that they have going-on with pet birds and their diets. First of all, these are the countries where they bird-trade is out of control, they take wild parrots, mainly Alexandrines and other Ringneck species, out of their natural environments, hundreds of them at a time, and then use these as their breeders, so that they can breed hundreds of baby parrots that are sold at their daily markets, in one of the many, many bird shops, or simply on the side of the road. And these babies are typically sold very young, far before they are anywhere close to being weaned onto solid foods, and actually most of them are purchased at just a week or two old. So obviously they have to be fed "formula", but in these countries commercial baby bird hand-feeding formula is not available like it is here...So what do they feed their newly-hatched baby parrots? Human baby cereals, such as the human baby rice cereals, multi-grain wheat cereals, and most-commonly Cerelac. Now not only are these human baby cereals and formulas not designed to support a newly-hatched baby parrot, but every single one of them is purposely fortified with lots and lots of Iron, and this readily results in baby birds suffering from Iron Storage Syndrome (these are not human baby "formulas" per se, they are cereals, so imagine trying to feed a human baby nothing but rice cereal, it's not going to provide them with any of the vitamins, minerals, and specifically the protein, carbs, fats, etc. that they need to simply survive, so the Iron Storage Syndrome is just added on top of total starvation and emaciation)...So the Iron issue is a much more serious issue with pet birds than people think that it is, and a lot of people don't even believe that Iron Storage Syndrome/Disease is really a problem to begin with. So they laugh it off and say things like "My bird loves oranges, they are the only fruit that he'll eat and I'm not going to stop feeding them to him", and then they keep feeding their birds oranges every single day...and then their bird starts to vomit, becomes very lethargic, starts to stargaze, and eventually dies. Again, with all of the perfectly safe fruits available, there's no reason to bother with Citrus fruits and take the risk...
***Something else to remember is to never feed your bird any fruit with seeds or pits, remove all seeds and pits before giving them the fruit, such as grapes, cherries, etc.
There's absolutely no reason at all that your Budgies can't live to be between 15-20 years old or older; my first Budgie lived to be just shy of 19. So even though a lot of people consider them "throw-away birds" that are only going to live for 4-5 years, they are so very, very wrong. I've actually seen people on this forum respond to posts about a sick Budgies, and their responses say things like "Well, your Budgie is elderly at 7 years old, so it's probably just old-age", and this infuriates me, I have to bite my tongue and respectfully try to explain to them that Budgies should live to be at least into their mid-teens, and that many who are fed healthy, varied, well-rounded diets and who are mentally stimulated on a daily basis live into their late-teens and early twenties, with the oldest Budgies on-record being I believe 29 years old!
- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
- #8
Thank you thank you!! The above can't be said enough!!!! Budgies deserve more respect!!! Better food!! Attention, toys love the budgies! And Dang Dang Dang about pictures!!! Everything I'm posting the pictures are not showing!!!
noodles123
Well-known member
- Jul 11, 2018
- 8,145
- 475
- Parrots
- Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Lol! For humans, it is good with soy sauce etc in a stir-fry OR in soups containing soy sauce, fish sauce etc (HUMANS ONLY!)
- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
- #12
I think you're right my iwn little snow owl
- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
- #13
Noodles this makes me laugh, how to get your Human to try new veggies!!! I'll pretend the parrots are making it for me, and telling me eat your veggies human they're good for you!!!
Most Reactions
-
604 -
260 -
235 -
193 -
179 -
120 -
113 -
72 -
62 -
53 -
O
51
-
51 -
47 -
41 -
40
