Spice Up Your Parrot's Life with a Varied, Nutritional Diet

As a parrot owner, you should give your bird a proper diet. However, you may not know what exactly constitutes a healthy diet. To make it even more difficult, if you ask a variety of people, you'll get numerous answers. Nevertheless, there seems to be common nature that avian companions need a variety of foods to keep them healthy and happy. In this article, we will discuss some great foods that you can give to your parrot.

Cooked Food Mixes

These commercial food mixes are prepared by mixing the ingredients with water and then cooking them on the stove, similar to preparing rice or oatmeal. With this type of food, you can prepare large amounts, put them into single servings and then freeze any leftover servings. These mixtures typically include rice, pasta, beans, dried veggies, etc. In addition, these mixtures are thought to contain a good balance of basic nutrients however you may need to supplement them with some fresh fruits and vegetables for texture and even more variety.

Pellets

These are commercially produced, just like rabbit or gerbil pellets, and are made to provide as many nutrients as possible for your parrot. The danger is that some are made with artificial ingredients that make them look more appealing to the owners (colors, scents) but aren't really good for your parrot. My advice is to avoid the artificially colored pellets and choose organic pellets instead as these are less likely to cause problems. If you choose this food type, keep in mind that some enzymes and natural nutrients will still be missing from your parrot's diet and that you'll need to supplement with fresh vegetables and fruit.

Seeds

Never, ever give your parrot seed mixes of any kind as a total diet. This is an old habit that has died hard for some people (and some parrots too). Parrots in the wild don't eat seeds predominantly, and if you give your parrot a diet that consists mostly of seeds, he may become so finicky he'll reject everything except seeds, leading to a fat, unhealthy bird. Seeds are a great treat, but they have few nutrients and high fat content. Therefore, always limit your parrot's seed intake.

"People Food"