You bought a pet - budgerigar. A beautiful, small, talkative and cheerful bird - this is the first impression of people who saw representatives of this species. But not everyone immediately thinks about their natural needs: where do they live in an apartment, how often do they need to be cleaned in a cage, and, finally, how to feed budgies. Well, the first two points can be answered with a few words - live in a cage, clean at least once a week. But feeding ... This question can even be given a detailed answer. So, we will consider the topic "Feeding budgies".
Birds of this species are omnivores, but this does not mean that you can feed them with any food. First, we will analyze the composition of the diet of the wavy miracle in feathers.
In order for your parrot to be healthy, you need to feed it with dry food and fruits, without detracting from the importance of each component.
Let's start with dry food. In pet stores, the question of how to feed budgies, any seller will categorically answer: "Feed!" - and will point to the whole rack, set by them. The following question arises: "What is high-quality food?" And here you need to look not only at the expiration date, but also at its packaging. It must be sealed in polyethylene and sealed, i.e. protected from external factors: moisture, insect pests. It is better not to take it in a cardboard box, I do not advise you to change the manufacturer. The composition of the feed must be constant. Speaking of the latter. Do not be too lazy to direct your eyes to a part of the package with the item “Composition”. There should be no fruit in dry food! Even if it is fresh in terms of shelf life, then it can be many, many months.
They bought food, and what part should it be in the diet of a budgerigar? Its norm is 70% of the daily diet of the bird. And in grams, the parrot needs to be given about two teaspoons of dry food per day. The rest of the pet’s food consists of berries, fruits, and vegetables. So we got to the juicy feed.
As you already understood, succulent feed makes up 30% of the main diet of the bird. These are vegetables, fruits and berries. Many, having heard the answer to the question of how to feed budgies, that natural food is allowed , immediately exclaim something like: "Yes, it's easy! Now I’m running to the market." But, I hope, you understand that only fresh fruits should be given to feathered fruits, and even that is not all. Some tropical species such as persimmons, mangoes, papaya and avocados should not be given to the budgerigar. It is allowed to feed such fruits as apricots, pears, bananas, oranges.
Separately, I also say that they are contraindicated in nuts and seeds that create a load on the liver of a bird. Now let's talk about berries.
Any parrot berries can be given as long as they are edible. These are plums, grapes, cherries, raspberries, pomegranates, strawberries, sea buckthorn and currants.
Budgie vegetables are also given selectively. For him, there is a taboo for the following: celery, spicy greens, sorrel, potatoes, onions and garlic. Vegetable products such as cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, leaf lettuce, pumpkin, cucumbers, beets, squash, corn, turnips and legumes can be given.
I think it would be superfluous to say that before eating birds and vegetables, the latter need to be thoroughly washed and all the bones removed, if any, are removed.
As an additional source of vitamins, budgies can give twigs of fruit trees and shrubs, aspen, birch, hawthorn, hazel, maple and chestnut. It is best to collect them in relatively environmentally friendly places - away from factories, highways and other air pollutants.
It is forbidden to give them branches of acacia, bird cherry, lilac, pear, poplar, oak and coniferous trees.
Once a week, boiled parrots can be given boiled chicken or quail eggs (about 5 grams per individual), flour worms or grainy low-fat cottage cheese. These foods are a source of protein. During molting and breeding, their number must be increased.
Also, these birds need calcium, the source of which may be chalk or mineral stone.
Many owners of such parrots include porridge in their pets ’diet, giving them up to 2 teaspoons a day. For its preparation, you can use one or more of any cereals. But bird porridge needs a slightly different cooking specificity than that for humans. To make a really healthy porridge for your feathered pet, follow a few rules:
- Before use, cereals should be washed thoroughly.
- Do not add broth, milk, sugar, salt and spices to the porridge, you need to cook it only in water.
- Grain can also not be boiled, but steamed.
When answering the question of what to feed budgies, it should also be borne in mind that they are strictly forbidden fish, meat, bread, dairy products (except for grainy low-fat cottage cheese), as well as any food from your table. You can not add spices, salt and sugar to these birds.
This is the whole full-fledged diet of an adult budgerigar. And if you brought in several heterosexual individuals that gave birth to offspring? The question immediately arises: "How to feed the budgerigar chick ?" And it is not unreasonable, because the diet of an adult is significantly different from the diet of a young one. So, chicks ... What do they eat?
In the first days after hatching, feed their mother better, because at this time they eat goiter milk, which is formed in the female in the muscular stomach. When the chicks of budgies grow up a bit, gradually begin to give them softened grain. And such a diet - mother’s goiter’s milk plus softened grain - will be with the chicks until they get stronger and begin to fly out of the nest. Then they will learn to eat the same food as adults.
That's all for the nutrition of these birds. Now to the questions about how to feed budgies, you can answer accurately and with confidence and also put the existing knowledge into practice.