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Parakeet Food
Your guide to finding what your parakeet should and should not eat.Parakeets are great pets to have. They are cute, loveable and they are a fun to have as a pet. If this is your first time owning a parakeet you might be wondering what the best things are to feed your bird. Some birds have a very wide variety of foods that they need to stay healthy and happy, and the same goes for a parakeet. A big mistake that most parakeet owners do is feed their parakeet one thing and that is the local pet store bird feed. Although parakeet seed is an essential in their diet, it can be very harmful and actually hurt your bird if that is the only food you are providing for your bird.
Don’t be fooled by the vitamin and nutrient fortifying powder that some parakeet seed comes with. The powder is on the outside of the seeds on the shell and the parakeets pick past that part of the seed because they eat what is inside of the shell. The parakeets do get some nutrients and vitamins from the powder covered seeds but they don’t get the amount that they need from that alone. Purchasing many different types of parakeet food is important to keep your bird feeling its best.
Parakeets are originally from the Australian grasslands. They eat a wide variety of foods in the wild and they should be eating as much of a variety of foods in captivity as well. If you want your parakeet to have a long, healthy life then be sure to feed it a wide range of foods like wild parakeets eat. The parakeet food that the birds eat in the wild should be the same as they are eating in captivity. These foods may consist of:
• Seeds
• Fruits and berries
• Nuts
• Grains
• Vegetables
• Greens
• Sparingly: well cooked fish and eggs (protein)
Parakeets love eating different foods and they usually have a favorite. Just be sure to include all these many different types of foods in your parakeet’s diet. There are many parakeet treats out there that you can find at pet stores but just be aware that some parakeet food can be very high in fat, such as millet, and that can also affect your bird’s health. Just make sure that those treats are not eaten all the time because too much fat can also cause many health issues.
Overall, you should make sure that your parakeet is getting all the different types of food so that it can live longer and not be undernourished. Malnutrition is one of the top reasons that captive parakeets die earlier than wild parakeets do. Parakeets need just as much of a rounded diet as we do to be healthy and happy. Be sure to keep your parakeet food fresh and nutritious, and always make sure your bird has enough to eat so it can have a long, healthy, happy life!