How To Create A Proper Bird Diet For Your Parrot

How To Create A Proper Bird Diet For Your Parrot

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It is true; the wrong parrot diet can kill your beloved companion parrot. It is also true that the right bird diet can help your parrot live a long, healthy, and happy life. Only in recent years have we learned what foods should and should not be offered to our feather friends.

When a pet bird's diet consists of healthy choices and good foods, the parrot is certain to live longer than if feed a poor diet. Large parrots such as cockatoos can live for a century or even longer. Small parrot species, such as budgies and cockatiels, will live longer than expected if their bird diet is made up of healthy foods.

Deadly Bird Diet Choices

While there are many good things to include in a parrot diet, there are a few items people consume which can actually kill your feathered friend. These foods, known as the "seven deadly foods", are avocado, chocolate, alcohol, seeds of any fruit, raw meat, uncooked eggs, and any food which may have mold or may be spoiled (including bird seed). There is some debate over other foods such as garlic, but most parrots will simply not eat a clove of garlic and the tiny amount used as seasoning in a human food that a parrot might eat is insufficient to cause any hard.

Parrot Diet Items You Should Limit

There are also foods which a parrot may consume which should be limited in quantity. Small amounts will not harm the parrot, yet large amounts can cause serious health problems. You may notice that the foods to limit in a bird diet are those foods that people should limit in their own diets.

Foods that are high in fat must be strictly limited in bird diets. Parrots diets of parrots living in their natural environment contain little fat. Consider these foods in your bird's diet much as you would think of feeding a small child. While you might allow a child to have a high-fat cookie or oily potato chip, no parent concerned for their child's health would allow their offspring to eat unlimited amounts of these foods. While you might allow your bird to taste one bite or two from the edge of a cookie or chip on rare occasions, you do not want the bird diet to involve large amounts. Remember, all things in moderation is always good advice. Some foods which are high in fat include: foods with added butter, ice cream, fried foods, and cake with icing.

It is also important to limit the amount of salty foods in your parrot's diet. A very small amount of salt goes a long way when consumed by a parrot with such a small body. When you are cooking food for the family that you plan to salt, remove some of the veggies before you add seasoning. Many common foods can be found in unsalted versions which are better for people with certain medical conditions such as high blood pressure and are also better for your parrot's diet. Foods in this category include salted potato chips, corn chips, nuts, vegetables with added salt, many prepared foods such as microwave entrees, bacon, ham, and other cured meats, and salted popcorn.

Your parrot diet choices should also limit foods which are high in sugar. Parrots can easily become little junk food junkies and want to gorge on sweets if permitted. While it is perfectly safe to permit a bird's diet to include a taste -- meaning one bite or two -- of a sweet treat, you must limit how much your parrot consumes to very small amounts. Foods in this category include: candy, sugar-sweetened juices, sweetened soft drinks, many sugary cereals, cakes, cookies, and ice cream.

Good Parrot Diet Choices

You may wonder what foods are good to include in your parrot diet. The answer is, basically, everything not listed above! A bird diet should include lots of different foods in order to ensure that a wide range of vitamins and nutrients are consumed. The more choices your parrot diet includes, the better health your parrot will enjoy and the longer life span your companion parrot can expect.

Vegetables and fruits not listed in the deadly foods list are great for bird diet choices. You can serve them cooked or raw, depending on which your parrot prefers. Most parrots also like bits of cheese, pasta, cooked eggs, rice, mashed or boiled potatoes, bits of fish or meat, noodles, and most even enjoy a bone from meat or poultry to chew and eat the marrow.

About the Author:
About the author: Mississippi 'Bird Lady' finally exposes her proven bird diet, biting and feather plucking secrets to easily get a happy, sociable and healthy parrot in your home.
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