New Pet Bird Food

On the surface it looks like feeding a bird is easy, just fill their bowl up with seeds, right? Actually, there are many different types of bird food and some of them might even surprise you. Your bird will be much healthier and live longer if he is fed the proper diet and that means feeding him other foods along with his seed.

Years ago, pet birds dined predominately on bird seed, but over time bird lovers have realized that a diet of only seed is not healthy. It’s still OK to give your bird seed, but you must also supplement his diet with other foods. Some seeds are better for your pet bird then others – for example millet and safflower are preferable over sunflower but if you do feed him seeds, make sure that they don’t comprise more than 30% of his diet.

For parrots, you might consider feeding them brown rice and beans. I know it sounds like something you might have on Friday night, but your bird might like to join you if you do. However, keep in mind that this can be a bit messy and don’t leave the food in the cage for more than an hour as it will go bad.

Today, there are pellets that are specially formulated to feed pet birds. These pellets are made to have all the nutrients that your pet needs to be healthy and theoretically could be the perfect bird food, but doesn’t that sound boring? Plus the pellets are processed and no substitute for what a bird might eat in the wild. Just like too much processed food isn’t good for us, it isn’t good for our pets either.

The food you can feed your pet is probably a mixture of everything. Some seeds, some pellets, some fruits, some vegetables. Put a few food cups in the cage so that the fruit goop doesn’t get on the seeds and spoil them. Add in some nuts, beans and brown rice and your bird will have a buffet of food to choose from! Remember, though when adding the fruit, rice, beans and vegetables that you should remove them after an hour so that they don’t spoil.

Getting nutritious bird food for your bird might sound like a lot of work but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, many people feed their birds just what they are eating! Simply prepare your supper and make an extra plate for the bird. Just remember that some “human” foods can make your bird sick or even kill him so never feed your bird junk food, chocolate, avocado, apple seeds, salt, mushrooms, onions, persimmons or anything with alcohol or caffeine.