Dietary Advice Parrots And Parakeets

Dietary Advice Parrots And Parakeets

Nutrition is a very important part of caring for your parrot. It forms the basis of a long, happy and above all healthy

life of these crooked beaks. An optimal diet ensures sufficient fitness and energy, vitamins and minerals for a good condition and resistance.

Many diseases in birds are caused by deficient nutrition. A bird eating incorrect food runs an increased risk of infections (including fungal infections of the lungs), over- or underweight, a deviating beak or plumage, seizures or weakness and behavioral problems such as feather picking.

Curved beaks in the wild

In the wild, the diet of a bird consists of several things that they find in their environment such as nuts, fruits, insects, leaves and tree bark. Seeds only eat in the winter or in periods of drought when other food is scarce. In captivity, however, many parrot-like animals are fed with unilateral seed mixtures throughout the year. This is not a complete diet; it contains too much fat, too little protein and too few vitamins and minerals. Such a one-sided diet is therefore insufficient for the good health of a bird.

The Vets & Pets clinics therefore use the following nutritional advice:

• Pellets are preferred: each pellet contains all nutrients in exactly the right amount. Birds can not select and therefore get everything they need with every piece. In addition to the pellets as main meal, fruit, nuts, etc. can of course also be offered as a snack.

• Nutriberries: special seeds with a food glue containing all the necessary vitamins and minerals. This food is sometimes eaten easier than pellets.

Overriding from seeds to pellets

Parrots are smart and often stubborn birds. It can therefore be difficult to adapt them from seeds to pellets. Yet with a controlled switch and a motivated owner, every bird can be switched to pellets. In this information letter you will find additional information and tips.

The first step in overcoming seeds on pellets is choosing the right kind of pellets. At the Vets & Pets clinics we have Harrisons, Zupreem and Nutribird in the assortment. In general, a parrot can not be expected to eat well from the pellets one day after another. It is possible to try different types but most parrots will still prefer their old familiar seed mix. It is therefore best to make a choice for a suitable type of pellets and then start to conquer with patience and perseverance.

For a bird it is very important that he / she eats every day. If the bird refuses the pellets at first, he / she will eventually have to eat from his / her old food so as not to lose too much weight or become ill. It is important to check the condition, weight and stool of the bird on a daily basis.

Possible steps in the process of conquering

• Slowly overcoming:

o First week: all day pellets available in the cage, only in the morning and in the evening a small bowl of seeds for one hour.

o Second week: half an hour of seeds in the morning and in the evening

o Third week 15 minutes of seeds, fourth week to 10 minutes, fifth week to 5 minutes and in week six no more seed needed. If the bird eats pellet before it can of course be completed faster.

• Make the pellets more attractive by wetting them and / or adding something tasty (a bit of fruit juice, peanut butter, yoghurt or whatever the bird likes). If the bird eats this, the amount of addition can be further reduced until the bird completely eats pellets.

• Pellets finely grind and possibly mix the old food and / or something tasty. If the bird eats this well, it can slowly be reduced to increasingly coarse pellets with fewer additions, until the moment that the pellets can be presented in their original form.

• Provide nutrients at times when eating at home. Birds often find it interesting when people eat something and are more willing to take something they do not know. The owner can pretend that he also eats the pellets so that the bird also wants to try this. In addition, a bird that eats pellets well can act as a role model.

• If the bird persists and refuses to eat from the pellets, this may lead to frustration on the part of the owner. It is sometimes better to stop for a while and to get back to work a few weeks later.

For more tips, visit the following website: www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com. Click on the site to 'using our foods' and in the drop down menu to 'diet conversion'. In addition, our veterinarians and para-veterinary surgeons can advise you on overcoming to pellets.

Toxic to birds

In addition to the main food, parrots and parakeets can have different treats or snacks. Yet there are also things that they can not handle. Avocado, chocolate, coffee and alcohol is poisonous for these birds. In addition, some plants are harmful if they are eaten.

Foraging

Birds are searching for and processing their food for hours in the wild. The current housebird birds are genetically almost identical to their wild species and various studies have shown that they have similar needs. In addition, it has been proven that many parrots choose to 'work' for their food instead of eating it from a container. Together this ensures that we advise you to offer your parrot a challenging environment in which he / she is busy with his / her feed for a longer period of time. This can be achieved by clogging the feed, spreading it through the living environment or by means of feeding toys. Many types of this are commercially available and in addition it is often possible to make such toys yourself.