E-Paper
Birds need a balanced diet for a healthy life
A balanced diet is a necessity for birds to live a healthy life. An unbalanced diet is the main cause of early death in pet birds.
Chow Time
Feed your new pet bird a pellet mixture that's appropriate for her species. (Ask at the pet-supply store if you're not sure what to buy.) You should also supplement the bird pellets with fresh fruits and vegetables. Small amounts of hard boiled egg make a tasty snack. Put the pellets and fresh foods in separate containers, and remember to remove all leftovers from the cage before they spoil. Pour food and water into special food cups that attach to the sides of the cage.
You think your little brother is bad, but birds can be major messy eaters. They may spit seed shells (called hulls) all around their cage. You can give smaller birds pelleted food, which is a lot less messy. The pellets are high in nutrition, but not all birds may like them right away. To see if your bird likes them, try mixing the pellets in with his seed mixture. Little by little, decrease the amount of seed and increase the amount of pellets. You'll be able to tell if your bird is eating the pellets when there aren't any left in the seed cup.
Head on down to the pet supply store and stock up on cuttlebones, which will supply your bird with calcium.
A balanced diet is a necessity to allow a bird to live a full and healthy life. An unbalanced diet is the main cause of disease and early death in pet birds. Malnutrition is a human-made disease. Fortunately, it is also preventable.
Dietary differences among birds
To provide a proper diet, we must realize that the species of birds we have as companion pets do not all have the same dietary needs. Just as our North American wild birds such as chickadees, woodpeckers, and hummingbirds do not eat the same foods, neither do our companion birds. In general, psittacines can be classified according to their normal diets. Most are florivores, meaning the main portion of their diet is obtained from plants. Among florivores, there are granivores (grain and seed eaters), and frugivores (fruit eaters). Some birds are omnivores, whose diet can consist of both plant and animal components. There is a special class of florivores called nectarivores, who eat mostly nectar.
