Parrots, like natural flowers, delight the eye with their beautiful, bright plumage. They almost do not sing, but how interesting it is to communicate with them! All of them, from large cockatoos to small wavy ones, are able to remember melodies, words and even whole expressions. True, in order for the pet to be always healthy and active, you need to know how to feed the parrot and how to properly care for it. Markets and pet stores offer many imported and domestic grain mixtures. Experienced breeders recommend using mixtures only of well-known companies that offer quality grains and seeds that are not treated with chemicals and do not contain pesticides.
When buying any food, you need to be interested in its expiration date. At home, before giving it to your pet, you need to check the feed for the presence of garbage and moldy grains in it. Some advise dubious food to rinse with water, and then dry (but do not fry!). Of course, this treatment is good, but washed and improperly dried food can not be stored.
Large
parrots (macaw, cockatoo) can be added to the seeds of nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, seeds, pine nuts). In the budgerigar menu, nuts and seeds are added only once a month, and even then in scanty amounts, because they heavily load the liver. Coconut and cashew do not give any
breeds of parrots.How to feed a parrot - vegetables or fruits? In nature, birds eat fruits, vegetables, various herbs and leaves. At home, you also need to add these products so that all processes normally proceed in the body of the bird. Parrots are always happy with carrots, which can be given whole, fixing between the twigs, or can be chopped on a grater and mixed with low-fat cottage cheese. Some breeders recommend adding a drop of honey to the carrots. Also, parrots willingly eat pumpkin, cucumbers, cabbage, bell peppers, legumes in pods. In a tomato, they like seeds more than pulp. Turnips and beets need to be given in small quantities, after boiling a little. Vegetables from soups and other “human” dishes should not be given to birds.
Fruits are given to birds fresh, frozen (after defrosting), in the form of sugar-free baby purees and in the form of dried fruits that are pre-soaked in water. Also, parrots, especially large breeds, enjoy eating raisins, dates and dried apricots. Their diet may include all fruits except mango, persimmon, papaya and avocado, which contains deadly Persians for parrots. Many breeders do not recommend giving melons and watermelons to birds, and also advise restricting grapes and pomegranates.
In addition to fruits, parrots love berries. All fruits and berries should be washed thoroughly. From cherries, cherries, plums and apricots, you need to remove the seeds, and remove the peel from citrus fruits.
How to feed a parrot so that it receives fiber? Tree branches are available year round. They are cut off, washed thoroughly and given to pets. In winter, it is better to put twigs in the water before the buds begin to open. This dietary supplement not only provides the birds with fiber and microelements, but also helps to grind off the beak evenly, and also serves them as an entertaining toy.
You can give the birds branches of apple, raspberry, cherry, viburnum, cherry, hawthorn, mountain ash, maple, willow, linden. Branches of oak, bird cherry, poplar, pear, and all conifers are contraindicated. Parrots and sprouted grains of cereals love: they pluck such grass with pleasure.
There are many plants harmful to parrots. Some of them are dangerous due to the smell, while others have toxic leaves or fruits. Experienced breeders are strongly advised to protect parrots from contact with plants such as garlic, onions, bird cherry (twigs and fruits), sorrel, parsley and all spicy plants; lemongrass, juniper, buckthorn, chestnut, barberry, ledum, adonis, calendula, St. John's wort, yarrow, tansy, ranunculus, periwinkle, ruta, peony, horsetail, hops, horseradish, celandine, eleutherococcus, azalea, amaryllis, asparagus, vere hyacinth, fern, nightshade, primrose, tulips. The above list is far from complete.
How to feed a parrot from animal products? These include milk and its derivatives, eggs and meat. Some breeders recommend adding boiled chicken to the diet of large parrots. Others are categorically against this. Dairy products can only be given with a low fat content and sugar free. Parrots like cottage cheese, yogurt, fermented baked milk, kefir. Boiled eggs are mainly given to young birds. In adults, protein causes the activation of hormones that birds living without a couple are poorly tolerated.
To breed parrots successfully, you need to add porridge cooked without salt and oil, corn on the cob, vitamins according to the attached instructions to their menu. You can offer them white chalk and white clay, sold for masks. Various freshly prepared juices, broths of wild rose, chamomile and hawthorn are also very useful. It is forbidden to give fish oil and fresh bread, as it always contains yeast dangerous for parrots. Breeders also warn that saliva is harmful to parrots, therefore, it should not be allowed to get the bird in its beak.