What Do Parrots Eat?

What Do Parrots Eat? 

If you want to keep parrots as pets, this may be your first question. Before you check the pet store for parrot supplies, here are some useful tips to make a balanced parrot food. 

Parrots need healthy and nutritious diet to help them live long and healthy life. A healthy diet also affects your parrots' behavior and their response to training. The good news is, preparing the right diet for your pet parrots are not so difficult.

Not just feed your parrots, bird seed, thinking that they are hardy birds and can live on just that. Yes, parrots, such as Macaw and Cockatoo are hardy birds, but bird seed does not contain enough vitamin A and calcium as they need. Indeed, bird seed is high in fat, as we know it is not healthy. In any case, bird seed just represent only 10 percent of your parrots' diet. If you have other species of parrots, which are major seed eaters such as Budgies and cockatiels, than the bird seed will constitute 25 percent of their total diet. 

Another popular choice among parrot owners are pellet foods they have a good source of nutrients. Pellets contain vegetables, cereals, fruit, vitamins and minerals and is a convenient all-in-one parrot food. But, just feeding pellet food each day can drill your parrots. Pellet foods just make up some 50 to 60 percent of your daily intake of parrots. 

Fresh fruits and vegetables are important food items for your parrots. Depending on the size of your parrots, cut fruit and vegetables for chewable tablets size for easy consumption. Hanging fruit on the side of the birdcage is also a good idea because it's easier for birds to eat them from there than from a plate or bowl. Examples of ideal fruits for parrots are papaya, kiwi, pineapple, mango and pomegranate. These are tropical fruits found in their natural habitat, and of course best fits their diet. Ideal vegetables are carrots, green beans, corn, cauliflower, cucumber and eggplant. To add variety, you may want to include softer fruits such as oranges, bananas, peaches and apples to their diet. Do not give them avocado, guacamole, and fungi, as these are toxic and can harm the birds.

Keep the diet with natural foods and avoid giving your parrots processed foods that we humans eat, such as chocolate, candy and caffeine. Make sure that when children are around parrots, they are not feeding the birds with kid's food such as marshmallows and Jellybean.

Condition of your parrot's health has little to do with diet and nutrition they receive. It is the parrot owner's responsibility to create a balanced diet for the birds. However, feeding your parrots and watch them enjoy delicious food is fun and satisfying, and is one of the reasons that people keep parrots as pets.