wondering about grit.

[mpgo4th]

Is grit needed for a parakeet. Mine is pretty old and I cant remimber him aver having it. He eats store brand parakeet seed with a mallet treat here and there. I guess he trims his beak on his cement perch because its in good shape. Any advise on keeping an old bird healthy would be great. Thanks

[GlassOnion]

..Have you ever offered him fresh vegetables or fruits? It's absolutely mandatory as it is for humans.

[mpgo4th]

No sadly just treats and seed over the years. Well maybe some lettuce but I have no idea what he ate in the earlier years. What fruits do they like?

[GlassOnion]

Well, pretty much any fruit really. But more important than fruits, is vegetables. Birds really need their dark greens and other colorful vegetation.

I would suggest googling converting a seed junkie to veggies, as there are many articles and methods online.

[laducockatiel]

With parrots and parakeets, grit is not required. Chickens need grit because when they eat seeds, they eat the shell as well, so they consume grit to break the shell down in their stomachs. Whereas, a parakeet will not need grit, as they shell the seeds with their beaks.

To answer your fruit question, they eat pretty much every fruit as long as it's not rhubarb or avocado (as rhubarb and avocado are toxic). Check what fruits they can eat on cockatiel cottage.com (it is the same for parakeets). Fruit is very healthy for them so feed it regularly.

[HungryBird]

I have heard that grit is very bad for parrots. You can try giving him a Manu mineral block for extra nutrition and you can also get something called a Beak Buffer that he can use to clean and polish his beak.