FEEDING ADVICE PLEASE!

[Army.Wifey1990]

I am a new bird owner. I have a 8 month old jenday conure and a 3 month old parotlet. I was told by the store i got them from that this is the diet they should be on. The store makes there own mixture of bird food so please let me know if this is good or bad for my babies.

Parotlets food mixture:
barley
buckwheat
cuttlebone
millet
oats
sunflowers
dehydrated coconut
dehydrated papaya
dehydratedpineapple
dehyrdrated raisins
hemp
alfalfa pellets

Conures food mixture:
melon seeds
alfala pellets
dog food???? (it says for protein)
corn variety
peanuts in shell
pasta
pine nuts
peas
peppers
sunflower seeds
cuttlebone
buckwheat
barley
dehydrated pineapple
dehydrated coconut
dehydrated raisins
dehydrated papaya
hemp
almonds
walnuts



I also have mineral blocks in there cages as well as i give them millet.With my conure i do add a little roudy bush pellets into his food.

[HungryBird]

No dog food!!! I'm about to take my own dog out for a walk but I had to write this before leaving. Dog food is not good for birds. Don't even get me started on how bad most dog food is anyway...

Right back soon to write more. Beans are good sources of protein by the way.

[GlassOnion]

I second, NO dog food!!! The kind of stuff that goes into dry dog food, is atrocious. Birds are not made to digest that.

[HungryBird]

Okay I read through the list and here are the only things that jump out at me. Peanuts can make parrots sick and corn is not supposed to be a huge part of the diet. It doesn't sound like corn makes up too much of your diet though. Peanuts in the shell are not advised. Here is a link about it, I'm sure there are many more.

http://www.avianweb.com/aspergillosis.html

I would just keep adding in a variety of fresh veggies and you can also cook some food for them if you like. Sprouts are really good for them too. My birds love quinoa too and I frequently cook a small portion for them in the morning and throw in whatever else I have at hand. Some great food brands to try are Avian Organics, Crazy Corn, Bird Street Bistro, and Volkman. Many more as well. I give my birds cuttlebones and Manu mineral blocks.

I think variety is key so I try to offer different things. Every time I see a new fruit or vegetable my first thought is "I wonder if birds can eat this?"!

[Army.Wifey1990]

Okay I read through the list and here are the only things that jump out at me. Peanuts can make parrots sick and corn is not supposed to be a huge part of the diet. It doesn't sound like corn makes up too much of your diet though. Peanuts in the shell are not advised. Here is a link about it, I'm sure there are many more.

http://www.avianweb.com/aspergillosis.html

I would just keep adding in a variety of fresh veggies and you can also cook some food for them if you like. Sprouts are really good for them too. My birds love quinoa too and I frequently cook a small portion for them in the morning and throw in whatever else I have at hand. Some great food brands to try are Avian Organics, Crazy Corn, Bird Street Bistro, and Volkman. Many more as well. I give my birds cuttlebones and Manu mineral blocks.

I think variety is key so I try to offer different things. Every time I see a new fruit or vegetable my first thought is "I wonder if birds can eat this?"!

My birds are verry picky eaters. However ive been just trying more and more trying to see which fruits and veggies they will eat. My conure does not like hamburger or apples or nectarines but he loves bananas. corn does not make up verry much at all, in his food he will maybe have 2 pieces? as for the peanuts in shell he gets like one peanut in shell every other day? I really want whatever is best for them my birds are my children too ( i have a 3 year old and 1 year old) and i wouldnt want to feed my bird children anything bad for them.

On another note what is best for bathing? my parolet will bathe in a bowl of water my conure freaks out if he gets wet.

[liz]

I give all my birds Roudy Bush according to their size. They get 3-D mixed seed. likes almonds. likes peanuts. can bite walnuts that are shelled but I have to crush the other nuts. I cut fruit and veggies for the in the morning. They all like green veggies, celery, shredded carrot, apples and grapes.

Then they snack on whatever they see me eat. When I make breakfast they get scrabbled egg and toast. If I eat a cookie they want their share.

As long as they have Roudy Bush and veggies, I am happy with their intake.