Parrots and bugs

[ParkersMom]

so I have read several places that parrots in the wild eat bugs...I was wondering If anyone has feed their parrots bugs?

 

[weco]

My nanday & my Patagonian will both snatch up the occasional ant & will eat meal worms (excellent natural protein source).

Good for you too, if you're so inclined.....best eaten fried with some garlic.....

 

[ann]

My nanday & my Patagonian will both snatch up the occasional ant & will eat meal worms (excellent natural protein source).

Good for you too, if you're so inclined.....best eaten fried with some garlic.....

i heard of a store that sells roasted salted crickets, i almost bought some to scare my dad :54:

 

[Jtbirds]

Eclectus are big bug eaters if I remember correctly. I do not feed any of my parrots bugs As I really don't like them myself. this is why I don't own a lizard lol can't stand meal worms.

 

[weco]

Ann, there are a lot of upscale grocery stores that sell chocolate covered ants & grasshoppers and you can usually find broiled sparrows, canned like sardines, as well as other delicacies.....

The only problem with the ants, grasshoppers & crickets is that you have to be sure and keep some tooth picks handy when serving them as the legs, antennae & wings tend to get stuck in your teeth.....

I'm not interested in reptiles either JT, but I have had 3 squirrel monkeys over the years.....

 

[Jtbirds]

Hmm I could probably do it for a monkey though. That would be one of my favorite pets ever lol!

 

[ann]

Ann, there are a lot of upscale grocery stores that sell chocolate covered ants & grasshoppers and you can usually find broiled sparrows, canned like sardines, as well as other delicacies.....

The only problem with the ants, grasshoppers & crickets is that you have to be sure and keep some tooth picks handy when serving them as the legs, antennae & wings tend to get stuck in your teeth.....

I'm not interested in reptiles either JT, but I have had 3 squirrel monkeys over the years.....

thats really cool, it would be fun to visit a store like that and have a look around. i better pick up some tooth picks while I'm there, but the sparrows i love sparrows, i would faint if i saw that lol.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Personally I LOVE the Madagascar Hissing Roaches. YUMMY!!! Forget the chocolate or the salt. They MUST be alive though.

At this time of year I buy live mealworms to attract Eastern Blue Birds, and yes, my Amazons and Macaws have given them a try.

They did NOT come anywhere near my mouth for a long while after that, as I OBVIOUSLY do not eat bugs, nor will I ever...whether dead or alive, so my first sentence is just a (bad) joke.

 

[MikeyTN]

When I used to breed full time I raised meal worms to feed my birds. I had to teach them its ok to eat them. When one eats it, the rest follows. Its highly nutritious and high in protein so its great when they're raising chicks. But I tell you the meal worm tank stinks!!!! LoL....

 

[weco]

Don't know how old you are JT, but when I was a kid, the 4th cover (back) of a lot of comic books advertised "teacup monkeys" or "teacup Chihuahuas" for $19.95. My parents would never let me get one, but when I was living in Ann Arbor, MI, I found a 4yo for $60. A number of years later I got the bug again & started looking & found another young one, but they'd gone up in price a bit, he was $400 & I found a couple of zoo/exotic animal suppliers & got Jocko a mate (I thought) also for the same price. I checked a couple of years ago & squirrel monkeys were in the $4,000-$6,000 price range.....

 

[Jtbirds]

Monkeys are also illegal in my state so can't happen...

 

[ParkersMom]

I don't mind bugs at all...my question was more geared towards safety and health aspects of feeding bugs... also nutritional value ie fat content

 

[ParkersMom]

Wendy my brother and I use to have pet hissing roaches...they were actually kinda neat

 

[BillsBirds]

Birds like Mynahs & Toucans should be fed insects. Parrots don't need them, but, will eat them in the wild. When I had my Wildlife Rehab Permit, I raised mealworms & crickets for various animals, and would occasionally give them to my parrots. Some ate them immediately, others just watched them squirm around. My Mynah ate them everyday.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Wendy my brother and I use to have pet hissing roaches...they were actually kinda neat

They are beautiful critters! When I had a room full of tarantulas, I had a few Hissers. The husband never noticed them, lol. HE would have had a stroke had he seen them.

 

[Brodie]

Personally I LOVE the Madagascar Hissing Roaches. YUMMY!!! Forget the chocolate or the salt. They MUST be alive though.

At this time of year I buy live mealworms to attract Eastern Blue Birds, and yes, my Amazons and Macaws have given them a try.

They did NOT come anywhere near my mouth for a long while after that, as I OBVIOUSLY do not eat bugs, nor will I ever...whether dead or alive, so my first sentence is just a (bad) joke.

This post worried me quite a bit there.. Was kind of like.. is she serious wow!!!?? Haha!

 

[Brodie]

I have 4 bearded dragons, so I'm always touching crickets an meal worms.. But I hate them, I hate them so much. And they always touch me.
And even my scorpion, I love it, but I hate when he walks up my arm, it feels like a cross between a stick insect and a spider crawling up my arm! Could NOT imagine eating any big ever! Haha
Never thought about giving the birds meal world though.. Maybe ill try it one day!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Never thought about giving the birds meal world though.. Maybe ill try it one day!

I bet your birds will have a field day with the meal worms!!

And you didn't really think I'd bite into a hisser, having that goo run out of my mouth, did you? LMBO!!!

 

[ann]

i used to have fire belly toads and a whites tree frog, so i fed them crickets and kept the "cricket keeper" in my room. one night it was late and i had school the next day, but i was feeding everyone. then i accidentally dropped the crickets in my bed . i was flipping out and nearly had a panic attack lol.
also, sometimes feeding fiches live food encourages breeding, so i guess i'll start offering my finches meal worms. but i heard that if you don't take off the heads before feeding them to reptiles, they can eat their way out???