Parrot Food

There are several advantages to feeding pellets as the basis of your parrots diet.

The first advantage is that pelleted foods are a homogenous blend, where each pellet provides the same blend of vitamins and nutrients. This way your parrot cannot be a selective eater, choosing only his favorite foods and discarding others.

When birds are fed a mixture of seeds, they often eat only their favorite seeds and throw the rest to the bottom of the cage. This creates an unbalanced diet. Seeds are also a high fat food, sort of the equivalent of us eating a diet of potato chips!

Another advantage is that pellets are 100% edible. Most seeds are 20-70% hulls. This leads to a lot of waste and mess and less than the amount of nutrients that you might think your parrot is consuming.

In addition, if you purchase pellets with no added coloring your birds cannot select a specific color to eat. Colored pellets can change the color of their droppings. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate their droppings for disease and overall health.

Finally, pellets undergo a gentle steaming process which eliminates harmful bacteria, fungus, and insects that can sometimes cause parasites or illness. Many times seeds harbour one or more of these invaders. Steaming also allows the parrot pellets to maintain their vitamin potency.

Beware though, even though parrot pellets are the staple of your parrots diet they still need fresh vegetables fruits, nuts, seeds whole grains and some protein.

I always thought birds were supposed to eat mainly seeds, but I have learned that more than a small amount of seed can cause obesity , lead to disease and cause a greatly shortened lifespan!

Have you ever wondered about the differences in the food you feed your smaller parrot friends as opposed to the food you are feeding your larger parrots? There really aren't a lot of differences.

The most obvious is that your parakeets and cockatiels need smaller pieces of food. While larger birds have no trouble with small pieces , smaller birds definitely have trouble with large pieces!

The percentage of the components that make up their diets generally remain the same. There are a few exceptions, such as hyacinth macaws, who need a higher fat diet, and african grays, who have higher calcium requirements.

Birds that are breeders have higher nutritional requirements as well.

In general you can figure that a parrots diet, including parakeets and cockatiels, should consist of about fifty percent pelleted food, with a good mix of grains, vegetables and fruits to help provide fresh food and variety. Seeds and nuts should be fed sparingly.

Take a good look at the parrots food pyramid and use it as a guideline. The key to a truly balanced diet is variety!

We all know that when we think of treats most of us don't think about healthy foods. The truth is just because something is a treat doesn't mean that it's unhealthy. The word "treat" is defined as "something that gives great enjoyment". What also makes it a treat is that it's somethiung you don't have all the time.

Parrot treats can be educational when they are used for training purposes. They make great rewards for when your parrot gives you a correct response to something you are trying to teach him. Being quite intelligent, the parrot will make the connection very quickly! Just make sure that your bird is a little bit hungry when you begin the training session and that you've chosen a favorite treat.

If you are trying to decide whether or not a treat is healthy, remember that most things are ok as long as they are not fed in too large of quantities. Take a look at the parrot food pyramid above and see what goes into a proper parrots diet so you can keep things well balanced.

As you can see, parrot treats can be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy, in addition to being educational! Your parrot needs the physical exercise, mental stimulation and interaction provided by learning parrots tricks. You can add to your parrot's fun, active life with the right parrot treats!