Thefinchfarmstore Blog What Makes For A Healthy Parrot Diet?

Picky Pet ParrotsJust as if a four-year-old refuses anything for dinner since he has eaten a bag of seed for every meal for most of the week, a parrot will do the exact same. Some parrot species, like the African Grey parrot, can gain the same level of intelligence as a four-year-old. When parrots only eat commercial seed mix, a parrot's favorite "junk" food, they will either get bored or refuse to eat anything that isn't a seed.Wild Parrots Eat Foraged FoodsAs omnivores, a parrot diets like other wild birds, and can eat a variety of food like nuts, flowers, fresh fruit, buds, seeds and insects amongst their foraged foods. When seeds take up the majority of their food intake, with even different types of seeds that have high-fat content, pet birds cannot get all the vitamins and minerals they need to stay healthy. Poor bird nutrition commonly negatively impacts parrot behavior and results in many pet bird early deaths. These birds can be stubborn and may be reluctant or refuse any changes to their diet. What Healthy Diets For Parrots Look LikeCaptive birds do not have the privilege to imitate a wild bird's diet, so it's important to only have seeds make up a small percentage of your pet bird's diet. The rest should be a variety of foods that are nutritious in addition to formulated bird food. Bird food companies have created pelleted diets for parrots made of a variety of food that are strengthened with vitamins and minerals that bird owners can feed to their pet birds. But, as mentioned earlier, picky parrots can get bored of the same food every day so formulated diets cannot be the majority of your pet bird's diet. Ideally, your parrot's complete diet should be a combination of freshly prepared food with bird seeds only taking a small percentage. Different Parrots, Different FoodThere are over 350 different species of parrots and each parrot species has unique dietary needs. As an example, the wild Hyacinth Macaws eat more nuts and Blue-Throated Macaws eat more fresh fruits. As if that's not enough to consider, you must always keep in mind that parrots eat and choose food visually, so more appealing ways of serving food will get your pet parrot to eat new foods. You can do this by hanging food from bars in the cage or into a toy for your bird's necessary entertainment and exercise.Do Your Research!This is all important information to research diets for your pet birds to improve parrot behavior and health so that your pet parrot can enjoy a complete diet to live a long, healthy life. Avian nutrition is a little bit more complex than they show in cartoons with pet birds only eating seed mix. From the amount of food and portion size to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and formulated diets, you can give your pet parrot both a healthy diet and a complete diet. If you're looking for a companion parrot for sale, prepare to be a life-long bonded pair with your pet bird who will fill your life with memories.