Parakeets or Budgerigars are one of the most popular pet birds around the world. And if you own one, then maybe a question will pop up in your head, “What can I feed my parakeet?”
Well, Parakeets usually don’t have too much preference for their food. Apart from seeds, there are only a few options remains. In such cases, it is more important to know what food you should not serve your adorable pet child.
Considering the health issues, we have enlisted the foods from both categories.
Let’s see what foods you can feed to your parakeets and what not.
What Can I Feed My Parakeet-Food Items
What food should be in the diet list of a parakeet?
Different meals provide different sorts of nutrients. So a proper meal requires a mix up of several dainty aliments.
Now, take a look at what can make a proper meal-
Seeds
Most of the parakeet owners serve the seeds in many ways. Seeds have a lower amount of minerals, vitamins, and amino acids in proper proportion for the pet. So, it automatically takes place at the top of the diet.
There are a whole lot of collections of seeds for your parakeets. Some commonly used seeds are-
- Safflower
- Groats
- Canary seed
- White sunflower
- Millet spray
- Striped sunflower
Seed mixes are undoubtedly important for parakeets. But they are not enough to fulfill the basic nutrients requirements of your pet bird. So, you will need to add some other foods to meet their needs.
Pellets 100
Pellets can be the productive replacement of seeds. They contain more vitamins and minerals than many other alternatives. But parakeets don’t appreciate the changes unless they are trained enough.
You should include pellets on the parakeet’s diet gradually. Switching the diet from seed to pellet will make your parakeet reject the food. So use the chart below to include pellets on a diet.
Fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are the best sources for nutrients. Alongside the nutrient quality they provide to the birds with a variety of taste and choice of food, it makes them love the meal. You can provide vegetables for your parakeet every day.
But in the case of fruits, you will need to be a bit careful as they contain a high amount of sugar. You can feed them fruits twice or thrice a week.
The fruits that can be served are-
- Banana
- Grapefruit
- Blackberry
- Papaya
- Cantaloupe
- Strawberry
- Passion fruit
- Apple
- Apricot
- Mango
- Peach
- Orange
- Blueberry
These fruits aren’t the only options you can feed your parakeet. There are a lot more. But these are some common ones you can dish up.
Vegetables will be a better alternative than fruits for your parakeet. You can feed them the following vegetables as well-
- Tomato
- Parsley
- Kale
- Spinach
- Cabbage
- Squash
- Beans
- Zucchini
- Lettuce
- Beans
- Carrot
- Cucumber
- Chili peppers
- Asparagus
Boil the vegetables to make them more appealing to your parakeet. Avoid using canned vegetables as they contain preservatives. These can be harmful to your bird.
Nuts
This might come in as a shocker, but parakeets can eat some types of nuts. Nuts are suitable for parakeets due to high nutritious quality. But they also contain a high amount of fat. So be sure to provide them nuts in moderation. Maybe two to three times a week will make it fair.
And the nuts are-
- Almond
- Cashew
- Pecan
- Hazelnut
- Walnut
- Pistachios
- Macadamia
- Peanut
Make sure not to feed you parakeet any salted of the flavoured nut at all. Also, in cases of almonds, don’t feed them the roasted one. Avoid feeding roasted nuts ultimately. If your pet isn’t eating the nuts in their base form, just crush them and mix with pellets or seeds.
Snacks
Apart from these basic foods, you can feed your parakeets various kinds of comestibles as well. They aren’t necessary for the diet plan. But they can bring a certain amount of variation on a diet.
Also, your parakeets will probably enjoy a tasty treat now and then. You can use snacks as a reward if you are trying to train your parakeet.
These are the following snacks you can feed your parakeets-
- Oat grass- Can be grown on your own
- Mineral block- Helps trimming your birds’ beak
- Cuttlebone- A natural calcium block, trims the bird’s beak
- Millet spray- Contains fat, don’t use more than 2 inches a day
- Flavored seed sticks- Can be found in pet stores.
Be careful about the number of snacks you feed your parakeet. This is an additional item in the diet plan. So, make sure it is in moderation.
Food items you should avoid
There are some foods you can never feed a parakeet. These can propagate some health issues very seriously.
Following are the avoidable food items-
- Onions and Garlic
- Avocado
- Rhubarb or potato plants
- Foods with caffeine
- Tomato leaves
Apart from all these foods, you will need to be careful about some plants too. These plants have a toxic effect on your bird. So, you should make sure they don’t go near these types of plants at all.
- Lilies
- Tulip
- Daffodil
- Poinsettia
- Azalea
- English Ivy
Conclusion
“What can I feed my parakeet?” Following the above-mentioned diet will be more than enough to make your parakeet live longer. The menu is a balanced one too. It makes sure your bird is healthy and fit all the time.
Alongside a proper diet, you will need to make sure you have got the best parakeet cage to keep your bird safe. Without a proper cage, the bird is always at risk of external dangers as they are very delicate.