How and what to feed a parrot? Tips for keeping small, medium and large parrots from a veterinarian ornithologist.
Nutrition. an important point in the maintenance of any animal. Food. fuel for the body. With improper feeding, metabolic disorders occur in the body of the bird, as a result of which various diseases of organs and organ systems can occur. Metabolism is many times faster than in humans. For a bird, one day of malnutrition equals a month or two for a person. Feed your pets, parrots, right!
Eating small parrots. How to feed a budgie?
However, it is important to pay attention to the condition of the feed even in unopened packaging.
In no case should you give food that has become moisture. Unpleasant smell, mold, dirt should stop the owner of the budgerigar. Such food must be thrown into a bucket. The consequences of the consumption of such food are the most deplorable: a parrot may develop diseases that will be difficult to cure. Therefore, the best way out. follow the feed. Choose sealed feed in a plastic bag. such food spoils less often.
When feeding a budgie, pay attention to the fact that the bird should eat all the food, and not choose the components. For high-quality nutrition of your pet. The parrot should completely eat out all the food offered to him, and not select individual components from the grain mixture. Remember that for the normal nutrition of a parrot, millet, as the main nutrient, should be at least half of its diet.
In addition, a green diet, such as:
vegetables
fruits
berries and herbs
leaves of plants.
The cage should always have mineral feeds: sepia (cuttlefish shell), chalk and a mineral mixture, which includes shell rock, coal and river sand.
How to feed Corella, Rosella, Kakarika?
It is generally accepted that medium-sized parrots include corals, rosella, lovebirds, kakariki, Lori, Senegalese and ringed parrots (the most common among ringed ones. Necklace parrot). The composition of the food for medium-sized parrots, as a rule, includes: Millet (Italian, yellow, white and red millet) makes up about 70% of the total grain diet. About 10% of the diet is sunflower seed, the remaining 20% of the diet is oats, buckwheat, flaxseed and other grains. It is also recommended to add various nuts to the feed, but a little, so as not to cause metabolic disorders. Just like other types of parrots, medium ones should not be deprived of fruit and vegetable food.
In feeding large parrots have their own characteristics. For example, these birds in nature consume a minimum of grain feed, that is, at home, the grain mix of all feed per day is about 30%. The remaining 70%. These are germinated grains, fruits, vegetables, herbs, lettuce and other greens. Do not forget about branch feed, it also serves as a source of vitamins and nutrients for birds, especially in the spring.
Despite the apparent similarity of birds, it is impossible to generalize their diets, it is worth composing an individual diet for each species. This is due to the peculiarities of the natural existence of birds and their natural needs. For example, some birds also need to add protein food (rosella at any time of the year, a little, and to the Amazons during the breeding season), and to other species, such a diet, on the contrary, is contraindicated.
Branch feed.
Bird safe trees:
In May, dandelions also begin to bloom, flowers, leaves and rhizomes of which are very loved by the Amazons, but small and medium-sized parrots can only be given leaves. In spring (in May) you can give only dandelion flowers, the leaves of the bird are reluctant to eat. In the summer, when the flowering season is on the decline, and the roots of dandelions have already "matured" and become large – you can give them to the birds. To do this, you need to find a place with softer soil, so that the roots do not break and come out of the ground easily. The method of extracting the roots is very simple – grab your hand around the entire plant (leaves and flowers) and pull it towards you. This method can be compared with the method of collecting carrots.
Do not forget that before feeding branches and flowers must be doused with boiling water.
Feeding with branch feed very well affects the health of birds, plumage, their behavior, in addition to all this, it is also an ideal, natural way to grind beak.
Branches of the trees listed below are not recommended:
oak (contains a large number of tannins) pear (like oak, contains tannins) conifers (the bird may get dirty in resin, but the needles, separated from the branches, can be an excellent source of vitamins) bird cherry (contains a large number of tannins) poplar (bark and wood accumulate harmful substances from the atmosphere to a greater extent than the bark and wood of other trees)
Treats for parrots. How to pamper a parrot?
Of the berries, you can offer almost everything (birds will be happy to eat blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, cherries, strawberries, currants (all varieties), irgu, honeysuckle, etc.) that you eat yourself, except, perhaps, a watermelon . The thing is that quite often various tricks are used to quickly grow and redden the watermelon, including the addition of various fertilizers and the “chipping” of the watermelon. Often people themselves get severe poisoning, but the birds, alas, do not suffer such poisoning and die.
What is good for a parrot?
Fruits, vegetables and herbs that can and should be given to birds:
Apricot
A pineapple
Orange
Banana (do not abuse)
Pear
Figs
Kiwi
Lemon
Mandarin
Nectarine
Peach
Pomelo
Plum
Feijoa (not much)
. for citrus it is recommended to remove all films and white skins before giving the bird, leaving only juicy pulp. Small parrots should not give much.
Broccoli (boil without salt and spices or blanch)
Zucchini, zucchini,
Kohlrabi (blanch)
Corn (in season, milk ripeness),
Carrots (carrot tops are also recommended for birds, but in season),
Cucumber,
Bulgarian sweet pepper (Especially loved by average birds, but you can give to everyone)
Radish (you can also give radish tops)
Turnip (blanch)
Salads: cabbage, leaf and lettuce (Iceberg salad is especially loved by birds, it is sweet)
Beets (you can blanch, you can give it raw if you yourself have grown it, for example; You can also give beet tops)
Celery (Only greens !!)
Tomato (without stems and leaves)
Turnip (blanch, you can greens)
Pumpkin
Cauliflower and Beijing cabbage (blanch)
Dried fruits can only be given homemade in order to avoid poisoning the bird. Before giving the bird, it is recommended to steam.
Potato (due to the high content of herbicide pesticides and starch)
Bow
Garlic
Sorrel
Cilantro
White cabbage
In moderation:
Parsley
Dill
Grape
Garnet
Melon (only in season and a little)
Arugula, spinach (in the absence of renal pathologies).
VII. Feed rate per day per bird:
Small parrots. 20-25 grams of grain (on average, 2 teaspoons) an unlimited amount of green feed,
Medium Parrots. 30-35 grams of grain (1.5 tablespoons) an unlimited amount of green feed,
Large parrots. 40-50gr, i.e. approximately 2 tablespoons of unlimited green feed.
What is the result of improper feeding of a parrot?
Due to violation of the rules and norms of feeding parrots, serious harm can be done to the health of parrots, especially for small birds. It is very detrimental for birds to eat unsuitable foods for them, especially from the master’s table. Typically, such errors are due to the inexperience of the owners and their lack of knowledge about keeping birds at home. Improper feeding, first of all, provokes problems with the liver. Often obesity or vice versa depletion occurs. Poor nutrition also affects the immunity of the parrot, the weakening of which leads to infectious diseases. If the process is running, it is extremely difficult and not always possible to help such a bird.
In addition, errors in nutrition are reflected in the appearance of the pet. As a rule, this is manifested by ruffled plumage, which can lose color and become lethargic. The parrot can sleep more and lose activity, often brush, it has a very long molt, a set of excess weight. In addition, there are changes in the litter: it can increase by 2-3 times, become liquid, change color, acquire an unpleasant odor or even be absent.
Feed your pet correctly and he will delight you with his tweets and beauty for many years!
Bird Hospital Veterinarian "Green parrot" Olga Simonyants
