Parrots require a healthy diet that comprises a wide range of different types of food. It is important to understand what are the various nutritional values of food you should select for your parrots so as to reduce or prevent complicated medical problems in pet parrots.
One of the questions often asked, "Can I just feed my parrot on seeds alone?"
Sunflower seed is totally unsuitable as the main constituent of a parrot's diet, as these are far too high in fat and lacking in important vitamins and minerals.
Parrots in the wild prefer to eat foods that are high in either fats or sugars which contain more calories to provide them the high-energy, high-fat food as fuel for long distance flying. However, in captivity parrots do not need such a high intake of rich food since they only fly short distances in their cages and cannot burn off the excess calories.
So, the best healthy diet should be mainly carbohydrates (about 70-80%) with around 15% vegetable protein and only 5-8% fat. Cereal grains such as wheat, oats, millet, rice and maize are low in fats but high in carbohydrates and protein.
Typical fat content are contained in these food and should be fed sparingly:
o Sunflower seeds: 48%
o Pine nuts: 68%
o Peanuts 50%
Conversely, legumes such as peas and beans contain very little or no fat, with around 80% carbohydrates and 10-20% protein. Vegetables and fresh fruits such as bananas, pomegranates, celery, carrots and broccoli should also be fed to be part of a balanced and healthy diet.
Legumes cannot be eaten as a dry food and have to be soaked in warm water (about 12 hours) before given to your bird. On soaking, this amount will increase in weight as the seed absorbs water.
On the other hand, you could also allow the mixture to sprout and germinate for another 12 hours which has better benefits. Make sure you keep the food moist at room temperature (not soaking in water) and rinse it thoroughly several times in cold water to prevent any bacterial contamination of the food. In this way, their vitamin content is further increased.
Offer your parrot a mixture of different legumes such as chickpeas, mung beans, black-eyed peas, aduki beans and pinto beans and observe which of these your parrot likes best.
A balance healthy diet is recommended for most parrots would be about
o 35% soaked/sprouted beans or mixed beans (chickpeas, black-eyed peas, aduki beans and pinto beans, etc.)
o 25% soaked/sprouted seeds and cereal grains (sunflower, safflower, wheat, oats, rice, hemp, millet, maize, etc.)
o 40% fresh fruit and vegetables such as apples, grapes, pomegranates, bananas, sprouts, broccoli, green beans, peas in the pod, corn on the cob, sweet potato, etc.
The following foods are toxic and dangerous to birds and must be avoided: avocado (dangerous), alcohol, chocolate, coffee and tea. Avoid salty food such as chips and fatty food such as cookies, cheese and even meat which can cause a bird to be chronically sick with liver and kidney problems.
Birds cannot digest milk with high lactose (fat) and so many dairy products are inaccessible to birds. Instead, feed them with fermented dairy products in small quantities, such as yogurt and cheese, where the lactose has been broken down so as not minimize the salt intake as part of the healthy diet.
I hope you find these simple tips on nutritional and healthy diet for your parrots useful.
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