Parakeet Food
A Quick Guide to Parakeet Food
When deciding on the best parakeet food to feed your pet you will want to take into consideration what the parakeet’s natural habitat is, as well as what their natural food is. Parakeets are native to the grasslands of Australia; they are accustomed to living among the eucalyptus trees.
The Australian grasslands would provide all of the parakeet food needed; they would eat greens, berries, seeds and fruit. When you take into consideration the natural food of the parakeet, it is easy to see that using only seeds, as parakeet food cannot be a very healthy method of feeding your pet parakeet. If you feed your pet only birdseed, chances are they will suffer from malnutrition; this is true even if you use fortified seeds.
To be sure that your pet is getting all the nutrition he or she needs, you will want to feed them a variety of parakeet food. The recommended parakeet food list includes having about half of their diet consist of cooked beans, rice, pasta, as well as seeds; you can also use whole wheat bread too. The other half of the parakeet’s diet can be made up of greens and fruits, such as spinach, broccoli, and dandelion greens. You can also feed your parakeet green and orange fruits. A very small part of the parakeet’s diet should include some cooked meat and eggs.
When planning a parakeet food diet for your pet you will want to keep in mind that parakeets are lactose intolerant so you will not want to feed them dairy products. You will also want to stay away from foods that they are allergic to; with parakeets you cannot feed them any avocados or chocolate. Of course to keep your parakeet healthy you do not want to feed them junk food, so there should be no potato chips, French fries, etc.
There are other foods that you can use for parakeet food, such as certain fruits such as apples or cherries, though you will want to be careful about giving your pet a lot of fruit that has seeds. A parakeet can also eat lettuce, but it is not a good idea to feed him or her too much of this either, as lettuce really does not have much nutritional value to it. If you want to feed your parakeet greens, you would do better by choosing greens that have more nutrition that lettuce.
You do not have to worry about your parakeet overeating as he or she will know when they have had enough food. Most people do not realize that when you feed a parakeet, birdseed, the bowl may look as if it is still full of food, but it really only has the outer part of the seed, which parakeets don’t eat. To be sure that your pet parakeet is getting enough food you will want to refill their birdseed on a daily basis, discarding what is in the bowl. You should also substitute the parakeet food with fresh foods as well.
One way to ensure that your parakeet is getting enough nutrition is to feed them the same processed pellets that are given to cats and dogs; this is known as kibble. This substitute is fortified with all the extra nutrition that your pet needs. In most cases you should have no problem getting your parakeet to eat kibble, but there are some parakeets that refuse to eat it and would prefer the fresh foods.
A lot of people like to feed their parakeets millet, but this is something that a parakeet should only eat on occasion, as it is so high in fat. Think of millet as a treat and not a main food source.
When you feed your pet the right parakeet food for great health, you’ll be rewarded with a bird that lives a very long time.