Suggested diet for an African Ringneck

[Benjamin]

I have an African Ringneck. She's my first parrot and I've only had her for about 3-4 months. After posting in the behaviour section I've realised how terrible her diet is and I'd like to rectify this as soon as possible.

Could I please get suggestions on what I need to be feeding her and at what times (if that matters at all)?

I feel responsible for her (Lizzie) becoming aggressive because she was so sweet and loving when we got her.

[ParrotsForLife]

I have a Plum headed Parakeet they are related to the African Ringneck and both species are also related to the Indian ringneck.Im guessing your African Ringneck is not a picky eater since thats normal for Indian ringneck and my Plum head will eat anything in his bowl.So ill tell you what Mango (Plum headed Parakeet) eats each day.

In the Morning Mango gets fresh seed a good mix with different types of seeds (He mainly gets seed in the morning on weekdays because I get up for school and try to give them something to eat quickly before I leave.
When I come home from school he sometimes gets some fruit and he gets his veg and I also feed him a lentils sprout mix and another grassy type one that has Broccoli.
I also started mixing some pellets in with his seed (He was eating the pellets from the cockatiels cage so I decided to let him try them).Before they go to bed they get more seed or pellets.

Mango's favourite fruits are Mango's lol,Cranberries,Blueberries,Apple,Watermelons,Melon,Pomegranates and Strawberries.And he loves his Lentils sprout mix.Sometimes instead of getting seed or pellets before bed he would get maybe something we are having for dinner like maybe some Pasta and chicken.

[Pajarita]

Well, actually, it's never recommended to give the high protein food in the morning because, if you do, you have to ration it (and the bird will have to be hungry for hours before it gets its dinner) or end up with a bird that eats too much protein (real bad for them! it causes aggression, fatty liver, obesity, high cholesterol, cardiovascular problems, etc). It's also not conducive to good nutrition because birds that are fed high protein in the morning will not eat enough produce.

I feed my parrots gloop (a dish of cooked grains and pulses mixed with vegetables - there are several recipes in the diet section) and raw produce for breakfast and all day picking. The benefit of gloop is that because it's very high in water (something that all parrots require in their diet) and in fiber (it's all whole grains, beans and veggies so it's naturally high in different kinds of fiber), they can eat as much as they want and will not gain weight (while, if you feed high protein food like seeds or pellets, you would need to restrict the intake and the bird will end up hungry). The produce is different every day but it always consists of one fruit, one veggie and one leafy green. For dinner, they get a measured amount of a seed mix (the kind of mix and whether it has nuts added to it depends on the species itself). This amount is enough for the bird to fill his crop completely so it goes to sleep feeling full. And, because the body takes longer to digest protein, it's also an advantage to feed it at night as it's the longest period of time the bird will be without eating.

[ParrotsForLife]

How exactly is seed high in protein for a Breakfast? None of my birds get too much protein I watch what I feed them.

[Wolf]

Seeds are high in protein and lacking in many nutrients such as essential fatty acids regardless of when they are fed, The nutritional values of a food does not change based on when it is fed.

[Benjamin]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

@Pajarita
Do you perhaps have a link to the recipe. I can't seem to find it in the diet section.

[Pajarita]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

@Pajarita
Do you perhaps have a link to the recipe. I can't seem to find it in the diet section.

Here is a semi-complicated recipe:

"I experimented with a gloop recipe made with ingredients found in a single, inexpensive supermarket (Shoprite, to be more precise) and came up with this (mind you, it makes for a VERY large amount of gloop so you might want to make half of it):

- One 24 oz bag of kamut (the Shoprite site did not have a picture of it so I am using another link to show you but it costs $3.79 in Shoprite: http://www.iherb.com/Bob-s-Red-Mill-Org ... productads)

- One 32 oz of wheat (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 9978003362)

- One 26 oz of hull-less barley (again, no picture but it was $2.89 in Shoprite: http://www.iherb.com/Bob-s-Red-Mill-Bar ... 37-g/35551)

- I couldn't find any oat groats so I got steel-cut oats which I just added after the grains and rice were cooked (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1518010423)

- One 21 oz of Rice Select Royal Blend (you need to rinse very thoroughly under running warm water first: https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 4401760412)

Put everything in a stock pot and cook (bring to a boil and then reduce heat but keep the water bubbling softly) in lots of water for 35 to 40 minutes- Once it's cooked and drained, split into two halves, freezing one half for later use and preparing the other half with the following:

- Four cans of small white beans (you need to rinse under running warm water first: https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1331123358)

- Three cans of white hominy (rinse well under running water and drain thoroughly before adding: https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F3954#/search/goya white hominy?queries=sort%3DRelevance)

- Four 20 oz bags of frozen chopped broccoli (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1190402724)

- One 24 oz bag of frozen peas and carrots (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1190400263)

- One 20 oz bag of frozen butternut squash cubes (I couldn't get a picture but the brand is Seabrook Farms and it costs $2.49 https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1206644803)

- One 40 oz bag of frozen corn (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1190402632)

- 4 lbs of yams or sweet potatoes (nuked in a Potato Express bag -4 minutes twice and four at a time)

- Half a 24 oz bag of flax seeds (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 9978024206)

Once everything is mixed, split into individual daily portion into baggies and freeze them.

This will give you a SUPER LARGE amount of gloop and you would still have the other half of the grains for the next batch and, as you can see, it's much, much cheaper than any pellet out there and, in my opinion, much, much healthier!

Unquote

This one is easier because you get all the grains in one package which you can cook in the microwave:

Quote
Get a box of Kashi 7 Whole Grains Pilaf (http://www.amazon.com/Kashi-Whole-Grain ... Kashi+pilaf) and cook all three packages in microwave according to the package instructions.

Once it's done, freeze half and prepare the other half by adding:
frozen chopped broccoli (http://www.shoprite.com/pd/ShopRite/Bro ... 190400188/)
frozen corn (http://www.shoprite.com/pd/ShopRite/Cor ... 190402632/)
frozen peas and carrots (http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Frozen-Pe ... B008H6EKDW)
frozen kale - I get the blue curly one from Whole Foods but any organic kale works(http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/product ... ganic-kale)
canned hominy - you need to rinse thoroughly: (http://www.shoprite.com/pd/Allens/White ... 700754109/)
frozen artichoke hearts -you need to chop them (http://www.shoprite.com/pd/Birds-Eye/Ar ... 500003973/)
frozen butternut squash (http://www.shoprite.com/pd/Earthbound-F ... 601025120/)
frozen beans - I use these whole but you can buy the regular ones and chop them(http://www.shoprite.com/pd/Hanover/Gree ... 800291008/
sweet potatoes -you can also cook some yourself (http://www.shoprite.com/pd/Hanover/Froz ... 800130260/)
beans (http://www.shoprite.com/pd/ShopRite/Sma ... 190015412/)
lentils (http://www.shoprite.com/pd/Goya/Lentils ... 331124560/)

You can add everything still frozen, just make sure there are no 'lumps' of many stuck together, and then freeze in individual baggies with a daily portion (it should be about 1/2 cup). The final product should be 50% grains and beans and 50% veggies but, like I told you before, at the beginning, you need to start with only grains and corn, then add the peas and carrots, etc. until he gets used to eating everything."
Unquote

Did that help?

[ParrotsForLife]

Seeds are high in protein and lacking in many nutrients such as essential fatty acids regardless of when they are fed, The nutritional values of a food does not change based on when it is fed.

I never knew seeds had protein it would depend on what seed it is though to be feeding high protein.And there is nothing wrong with feeding seed for breakfast.

[Wolf]

And there is nothing wrong with ice cream for breakfast either, but it is not recommended either.

[ParrotsForLife]

And there is nothing wrong with ice cream for breakfast either, but it is not recommended either.

Thats different ice cream isn't healthy and I assume you think seed is.It really does not matter what they have for breakfast as long as its what they are supposed to eat and they have to have seed as part of their diet so if you think its unhealthy why do u feed it? Your clearly giving wrong facts about seed yes it may lack in some nutrients but its not entirely bad for birds to eat for breakfast its not bad at all and all seed brands are different.