Tips For Feeding Your Pet Bird

If you ever find yourself interested in having birds as pets, you might get confused about what they should and shouldn’t eat. As pet owners, it’s relatively okay if you are worried about minor details such as this. Since nutrition will always be part of your bird’s growth, let alone any animal. So it would help if you will be searching for answers than experimenting with what you’re feeding them. After all, inappropriate feeding accounts for some bird deaths, so to prevent your bird from being part of unfortunate statistics, let’s get right into it.

Importance of Proper Nutrition

Our first hunch if we a bird as a pet is to feed them pellets or bird seeds. However, if we want to ensure that our pet birds get the proper nutrition, their diets will be more than just pellets and bird seeds. Like other pets, birds require the proper nutrition to have healthier skin, a better attitude, and strength for feather production.

Types of Diets

Naturally, birds rely on what they see and think is food for them; that’s why birds in the wild are also healthy. They can take advantage of the changing fruit season, which equates to getting various nutrients as well. But, since you are now solely responsible for what they eat, what can your pet bird eat?

1. Pellet Diet: If you ever plan to do a pellet diet for your bird, make sure it makes up at least half of their overall food. Meaning, it should be at least 60% of their food is pellets. You should also invest in getting an organic type of pellet. Not only can you prevent your bird from consuming unwanted chemicals, but it’s also much healthier. Choose pellets that provide the maximum nutrients your bird can benefit from; we wouldn’t want any empty carbs to enter their body.

2. Bird Seeds: This could often confuse some since we always thought that birdseed is a staple of their diet. However, suppose we will be using birdseed as their main diet. In that case, it could eventually lead to malnutrition since it just doesn’t have the right amount of nutrition your bird might need. You can still feed them seeds, but only as treats. And if ever you’re planning to give them seeds, it’s better to look for nutritional seeds for birds so that you can provide some nutrition still.

3. Fruits and Veggies: Feeding your pet bird fruits and vegetables can significantly positively affect their overall well-being. As for all we know, fruits and vegetables contain nutrients and vitamins that even we humans benefit from. Fortunately, having it as a staple to your pet’s diet can do the same thing, too. Some suggested diet contains the following:

  • Carrots
  • Kale
  • Yellow Squash
  • Brocolli
  • Cooked Sweet Potato
  • Green Beans
  • Spinach
  • Legumes

Make sure to thoroughly wash the fruits and vegetables before serving them to your bird to avoid any unwanted illness coming from those.

4. Protein Consumption: Did you know birds need protein too? Yes, your read that right. But they don’t need to consume a whole chicken breast just to meet their protein needs adequately. You can feed them small amounts of cooked egg, legumes, tofu, whole-grain bread, cheese, and even peanut butter. But to correctly reiterate, provide them with small amounts only. Try to check which one is better for your pet, and once you identify it, you can eventually feed it to them if needed.

Other Bird Feeding Tips

  • If your bird eats and tends to not finish them, make sure to remove those unfinished feeds to avoid contamination. Letting your bird eat spoiled food is the last thing you want.
  • If you are planning to transition to a new diet for your bird, please don’t let them starve to death if they don’t want to eat the ones you placed inside their cage. Try mixing the new feeds with their old ones to familiarize themselves with the taste and texture.
  • Don’t try to overfeed! If it’s time to feed your bird, don’t just scoop and dump a cup full of pellets for your bird, especially if they are just starting. Always start with smaller amounts, then gradually increase from thereon.

Seek Professional Advice

If you’re ever in doubt of anything you are doing with your pet, make sure to seek help from a professional. In that way, you can get pieces of advice on what you can and can’t do in terms of raising a bird. It’s better that you equip yourself with proper knowledge before taking the responsibility of raising a bird. Remember, they also have precious lives, and it solely depends on you once you own one.