How to feed budgerigars: tips for beginners

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

You bought a pet - a budgerigar. A beautiful, small, talkative and cheerful bird - this is the first impression of people who see representatives of this species. But not everyone immediately thinks about their natural needs: where they live in an apartment, how often they need to clean the cage, and, finally, how to feed the budgerigars. Well, the first two points can be answered with a couple of words - live in a cage, clean at least once a week. But feeding … It is possible, even necessary, to give a detailed answer to this question. So, let's look at the topic "Feeding the budgerigars."

Birds of this species are omnivorous, but this does not mean that you can feed them with any food. First, let's analyze the composition of the diet of the wavy miracle in feathers.

For your parrot to be he althy, it must be fed both dry food and fruit, without diminishing the importance of each component.

Let's start with dry food. In pet stores, when asked how to feed budgerigars, any seller will categorically answer: “Feed!” - and point to a whole rack lined with them. The next question arises: “What kind of food is good?” And here you needlook 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: dampness, 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. By the way, about the last one. Do not be too lazy to direct your gaze to the part of the package with the “Ingredients” item. Dry food should not contain fruit! Even if it is fresh by expiration date, it can be many, many months.

Food bought, and what part should it be in the diet of a budgerigar? Its norm is 70% of the bird's daily diet. And in grams, the parrot should 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 succulent feed.

As you already understood, succulent feed makes up 30% of the bird's main diet. These are vegetables, fruits and berries. Many, having heard the answer to the question of how to feed budgerigars, that natural food is allowed, immediately exclaim something like: “Yes, easily! Now I’m running to the market.” But, I hope you understand that only fresh fruits should be given to birds, and even then not all. Some tropical species, such as persimmon, mango, papaya and avocado, should not be given to the budgerigar. It is allowed to feed fruits such as apricots, pears, bananas, oranges.

Separately, I will also say that nuts and seeds are contraindicated for them, creating a load on the bird's liver. Now let's talk about berries.

Berriesyou can give a parrot any, as long as they are edible. These are plum, grape, cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, strawberry, sea buckthorn and currant.

Vegetables are also given to the budgerigar selectively. For him, there is a taboo on the following: celery, spicy herbs, sorrel, potatoes, onions and garlic. Plant foods that can be given include cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce, pumpkin, cucumbers, beets, squash, corn, turnips, and legumes.

I think it would be superfluous to say that before eating vegetables and fruits, the latter must be thoroughly washed and all the bones removed from them, if any.

As an additional source of vitamins, budgerigars can be given branches 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, budgerigars can be given a boiled chicken or quail egg (about 5 grams per individual), mealworms or grainy low-fat cottage cheese. These foods are a source of protein. During molting and breeding, their number must be increased.

These birds also need calcium, the source of which can be chalk or mineral stone.

Many owners of such parrots include porridge in the diet of their pets, giving them up to 2 teaspoons a day.day. For its preparation, you can use one or more of any cereals. But bird porridge needs a slightly different specificity of preparation than that for people. To prepare a really he althy porridge for your feathered pet, follow a few rules:

1. Before using the grits should be thoroughly washed.
2. Do not add broth, milk, sugar, s alt and spices to porridge, boil it only with water.
3. Grout can also not be boiled, but steamed.

When answering the question of what to feed budgerigars, it should also be borne in mind that they are strictly prohibited from 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, s alt and sugar to the food of these birds.

This is the entire diet of an adult budgerigar. And if you brought several individuals of different sexes who gave birth to offspring? The question immediately arises: "How to feed a budgie 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 budgerigar chicks are a little older, gradually begin to give them softened grain. And such a diet - mother's goiter milk plus softened grain - will be in the chicks until they get stronger and start to fly out of the nest. Then they will learn to eat the same food as adults.

That's all there is to feeding these birds. Now you can answer questions about what to feed budgerigars accurately and with confidence, and also put your knowledge into practice.