What works for us

We (actually from here on out, we is Sharon) only buy seed mix from a pet store that we trust. If the bird won't eat from a batch, we go somewhere else and get a new batch. Birds have favorite foods and others they don't want. We keep the seeds in the refrigerator to prevent bug infestation. We always have strands of fresh Millet available to Birdie for a change. Birdie loves Millet, Herbie ( a loved predecessor) never would eat it. All the birds we've had liked seed sticks with honey but that obviously didn't do it for Herbie.

Birdie loves fresh pieces of apple, cantaloupe, carrots, string beans. I've seen recommendations to give budgies grated carrots. Sure, spoil the fun. When Birdie sees me eating a "baby" carrot or string bean, he dives for the vegetable and shreds it himself. The force per unit area that the bird can exert with his beak is mind boggling.

If feeding a budgie vegetables or fruit, a real good idea, it is important to watch the "poop" for diarrhea. Strangely enough too much of a good thing leads to diarrhea and ultimately dehydration. If Birdie develops diarrhea, we limit him to seed for a day or two and all is well. Many people recommend feeding budgies Romaine lettuce also. We've never tried it since we don't like it. Iceberg lettuce is a big no! no!
The grit we give him is fortified with calcium.
We have never given him vitamins. We gave Herbie and others vitamins. I don't know if it helped. People who sell it recommend it, but no one else seems to.

What Veterinarians Recently Told Us

Birdie has a history of recurring crop infections. In November of 2000 we had a medical emergency and the opportunity to discuss what might be causing the crop infections with two vets from two different facilities. What we learned was:

Seed is not a normal diet for Budgies. Fruits and vegetables are. Vets tend to feed budgies almost anything including dog food. Both Vets felt a more normal diet may improve his auto-immune system. I forgot to ask about Iceberg lettuce, a previous no! no!

I've noticed, Birdie goes nuts over mixed nuts. I can't sneak them into my room without having the bird literally pushing his head through my fingers to get at them. I have no idea how he detects them but he does. I tend to limit his success much to his frustration because it seems to me they are covered with salt. Under other conditions, we can't get a finger any where near his head.
Green vegetables are best. Birdie loves string beans and carrots (yes I know they are not green). He can't figure out what to do with broccoli. He also eats cucumber.
Fruit is ok but has little nutritional value. We've noticed it can easily precipitate Diarrhea which can lead to dehydration. We used to feed him apples every day which he loves but have changed this schedule to only a couple of times a week. He also loves grapes but we've stopped giving him any.
Nutri-berries or equivalent are suppose to be vastly superior to straight seed. Birdie loves the stuff but I really don't think he can open the seed in the Nutri-berries nor does he eat the pellets. The pellets are suppose to be great but I've never had a bird that liked them. We do give him lots of Nutri-berries and he does prefer it to seed.
The crop infection bacteria may be coming in on the coins he plays with. We now clean the coins he plays with.

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Jerold H Feinstein saftyrma@yahoo.com
Copyright Jerold H. Feinstein, PE 1997-01 All rights reserved; contact for permission to use
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