The question of what should be the nutrition of a budgie is relevant for those owners who have just acquired a feathered favorite. A balanced diet plays a significant role in the life of a bird. Her health and longevity depend on him. It is advisable to study all the information on this subject in advance so as not to encounter certain difficulties in the future.
Ready Grain Blend
Various ready-made mixtures are on sale, using which the bird owner saves his time significantly. The main components of the feed should be the following cereals: millet, canary seed, oats, raw sunflower seeds. Feed comes in different brands. Their composition may vary. Each responsible owner has the task of ensuring proper nutrition for his bird, so the question often arises as to what to feed the budgerigar. Ready mixes need to be selected so that they are to the taste of a feathered friend. This usually does not take much time. It is advisable to buy a mixture that the parrot absorbs with appetite.
How to choose a ready-made feed
When buying ready-made feed, it is important to consider the following recommendations:
- You should refrain from acquiring a mixture with mold, dirt and debris. Each packaging must indicate the expiration date of the product. This information must be studied. If you feel a musty smell, you should not buy such food.
- It is advisable to purchase feed in a sealed container, which does not penetrate air and moisture. In such a mixture, rotten grains and insects are rarely found.
- You need to feed the birds after they have eaten the previous portion of food. Care must be taken to ensure that the tasty components of the food are delivered to all parrots in the cage, and not just to the male who selects the best from the food.
- Fresh, high-quality grain that is suitable for feeding birds should cast a natural sheen. A dull surface, the presence of dark spots, an unpleasant odor and a rancid taste indicate that the feed has expired.
- On the day, 2 teaspoons are enough for a budgie. the finished mixture. The nutrition of a budgie when it is at a young age is slightly different. Birds need frequent feeding, but it is important to ensure that they do not overeat.
Wet food
What other products can be included in the daily diet of parrots, except for ready-made food? Even the highest quality dry food does not provide complete nutrition for the bird. This is especially true for chicks. In order for the growing organism to develop correctly, the menu of the bird must be supplemented with vegetables, fruits, herbs, cereals.
Vegetables
Fresh vegetables are a source of vitamins and other beneficial substances. Before you give your feathered pet a slice of sweet carrot, you need to make sure that it is washed. It is advisable to feed pets with eco-vegetables that are not fertilized with chemicals during the growth period. Eating budgies at home should include the following
types of vegetables :
- Carrots, turnips, beets will surely appeal to the feathered. Vegetables can be chopped and mixed with boiled egg yolk. You can treat parrots with carrots in unlimited quantities.
- Zucchini, pumpkin and squash are sources of fiber. The seeds of these vegetables are especially valuable. If the grains are large, before giving them to your pet, you should grind them, as the bird may choke.
- Tomatoes and cucumbers should also be served with seeds. It is unacceptable to feed parrots to immature fruits, as they may contain toxic substances.
- Legumes in the form of beans, corn and green peas contain a large amount of nutrients. Their grains are very soft, so parrots can get carried away with such food. In this case, in order to prevent digestive upsets, portions need to be limited.
- White cabbage will provide the bird with important trace elements. A parrot can be given both leaves and a stump. It is best to serve the chopped cabbage.
- Bell pepper is a storehouse of vitamin C, which a feathered pet also needs.
Proper nutrition of the budgerigar is a balanced menu in which the above vegetables should be present, but there are also plants that are strictly forbidden to give the bird. We are talking about radishes, radishes, garlic, onions and eggplant.
Fruit
In the budgie menu, fresh fruit must be present. In the diet of the bird you need to include:
- Apples and pears. You can spoil the bird with such a treat all year round. Great food for chicks.
- Oranges, tangerines, kiwi. The fruits must be peeled and given to the birds in crushed form.
- Grapes In large quantities, it is not worth giving. Enough will be 1 berry.
- Bananas This fruit can be considered one of the favorite feasts of birds. However, in addition to useful substances, it contains in excess starch and sugar. Banana is a perishable product, so you need to give it to parrots in small portions. As soon as the bird has eaten, the remnants of food must be removed from the feeder.
- Plums, cherries, cherries, apricots. All these fruits also appeal to budgies. You can give them both fresh and dried.
To ensure proper nutrition for budgies, it is necessary to exclude from the diet fruits in the form of persimmons, avocados, mangoes and papaya. It is also not recommended to abuse nuts, as they contain a lot of fat. Birds that live in captivity lead a sedentary lifestyle, so large quantities of nuts can cause obesity.
Grass
Fresh grass is a valuable food for birds, so it is very important that it is included in the diet of the budgerigar. Greens should be given to birds daily. It is preferable that it is fresh.
Useful recommendations:
- You do not need to pluck all the greenery in the yard in armfuls, as poisonous plants can be caught among it.
- Before giving the parrot freshly picked grass, it must be rinsed.
- In the autumn, it is advisable to refrain from collecting some plant species. The thing is that by winter the leaves accumulate toxins in themselves. During this period, the parrot is best fed with cereal seeds. It is not necessary to feed the bird with grass and ears in crushed form. They can be collected in small bunches and suspended in a cage. It is a pleasure for birds to pick out seeds on their own, so they must be given the opportunity to eat this way.
Useful plants for budgies:
- plantain with seeds;
- dandelion flowers, leaves, and seeds;
- wood lice;
- clover;
- wheat grass;
- succession;
- nettle;
- blooming Sally.
In winter, when there is no way to balance the diet of the budgerigar with fresh herbs, indoor plants such as Kalanchoe and chlorophytum can be used as top dressing. Spices in the form of dill, parsley and cilantro are taboo in the menu of feathered favorites.
Twigs and buds
Probably, all owners of budgerigars noticed that their pets love to gnaw anything. As a rule, they with pleasure take up bars of cages, wires, wooden furniture, perches on which they sit. Especially birds like to peck non-rigid bark and kidneys. In order for the parrot to spend time usefully and enjoy his favorite thing, the owner should take care of this and put fresh twigs in the cage.
Breaking branches near the roadway should not be. For them it is better to go to the park or to the country. Before placing the treat in the cage, it must be soaked in cold water. Then the branches need to be doused with boiling water. Such safety measures will protect the bird not only from dirt and dust, but also from various infections, as any infected bird could be on any branch.
Important! To clean the branches it is forbidden to use household cleaning products. Surfactants can accumulate in the cortex, which is very dangerous for the life of a budgerigar. Pichuga can be spoiled with branches of linden, maple, mountain ash, alder, cherry, apple tree, viburnum, berry and fruit bushes. It is not recommended to treat feathered plants with conifers, as they contain resin, which is not harmless to the pet. Branches of lilac, bird cherry, oak and acacia should also be banned.
Kashka for parrots
Eating a budgie, whose balanced diet should consist of diverse and wholesome foods, also includes cereals. If you teach a baby bird to such food from childhood, he will be happy to eat it throughout his life. The pichuga menu should include oat, rice, corn, buckwheat. To prepare such a dish, you can not use milk, salt, sugar. Porridge must be cooked exclusively on water. Finely chopped greens, vegetables or fruits can be used as additives. It is not necessary to cook cereals for long. It is enough to fill it with hot water and let it brew for several hours. If there is no time to wait, you can boil the porridge until half ready.
For those owners who do not have the opportunity to cook porridge for their feathered pets daily, there is one simple option. In one day, you can prepare a supply of food for several weeks at once. To do this, you need to make a mixture of different cereals, mix them, boil and place in the freezer. Thus, you can regularly feed your pet healthy food. It is important that the food is thawed naturally, since when it is warmed up in the microwave, it loses its beneficial properties.
Water for parrots
An essential condition for the care of a budgie is the constant presence of water in its drinking bowl. It is important that it is always fresh, so the owner will have to change it daily. Before pouring water, the drinker must be thoroughly rinsed. It is best to give feathered bottled water intended for children.
Mineral Stone and Sepia
All species of birds need minerals and trace elements. They should be provided and a budgie. Eating a variety of foods is certainly good for birds, but besides this, it’s important to supplement the diet with mineral top dressing. For this, sepia and a mineral stone must always be present in the cell. Such additives help strengthen bones, eggs and normalize the metabolism of birds.
Budgerigar: food, care
Pet owners are required to responsibly approach their maintenance. In order for the bird to grow up healthy and fully develop, the nutrition of the budgerigar should be based on fresh healthy products. Having a great desire to eat their pet, the owners give him harmful products in the form of sweets, sausages, smoked meats and pastries. It is strictly forbidden to feed birds with them, since they are capable of causing irreparable harm to the health of the bird. The body of the bird is not able to absorb this kind of food, so all owners of budgies are simply obliged to study the list of foods that can not be given to their pets.