Best food for a Galah.

[Ginkai]

So I've been reading up on galah diets and i know they should be mainly fruits nuts, seeds and veges. But I keep hearing that buying a bag of seeds isn't good for them? Should I look into finding suitable pellets for my new baby or is a parrot mix of seeds and fresh fruits and veges ok to feed?

 

[Enjru]

Ask your breeder what foods Suki Lala is being weaned on. Start off with some of these same foods so that she is familiar with them. If she has been fed on a seed diet, I'd try to change her over to pellets sooner rather than later. You might find that if she had seed available for her to eat, that she may like the seed too much and therefore not touch any of her vegies and fruit. An all-seed diet is too high in fat and too low in vitamins and other nutrients, and will result in obesity, Vitamin A deficiency and other nutritional deficiencies, and internal gout, eventually leading to liver and kidney failure. Apart from pellets, aim for more vegies than fruit, especially vegies that are rich in Vitamin A.

 

[Enjru]

Nuts are even higher in fat than seed. Try to keep nuts as treats or rewards for training.

 

[Pedro]

So I've been reading up on galah diets and i know they should be mainly fruits nuts, seeds and veges. But I keep hearing that buying a bag of seeds isn't good for them? Should I look into finding suitable pellets for my new baby or is a parrot mix of seeds and fresh fruits and veges ok to feed?

Galahs should be offered a selection of fresh greens & vegetables as part of the daily diet. These can include foods such as celery, parsley, endive, silver beet, spinach, beans, peas, grated carrot, broccoli, cabbage, seeding grasses in season such as winter grass, summer grass, kikuyu, couch, wild oats, oats, wheat, barley, sorghum, niger, millets thistles, dandelion, chickweed, almonds, pecan, macadamia, acacia seeds, orange, mandarine, banana, pumpkin seeds, capsicum seeds, mellon seeds, gum nuts, casuarina nuts & pine nuts. They can also be offered a variety of fruits & berries but they usually prefer fresh grasses & herbs. Pellets can also make up part of their diet. They will enjoy sprouted seed mix as well. Sprouted seed mixes are far better for your baby than the dry parrot mixes.

You can also give your baby cuttlebone, cooked bones, shellgrit & some clean course river sand

Sunflower seeds should only be offered for training & only 10 per day.

 

[Ginkai]

Thanks guys. As I'm new with large birds your probably going to see a lot of questions! I hooe you don't mind.

Thanks for sorting that out for me and I'm going to refer to that list often Pedro thanks!

Also are their any fruits/veges/nuts/seeds that galahs shouldn't eat at all? I know now to go easy on the seed and nut and not too much fruit but anything else I should know?

 

[Enjru]

Avocado can be toxic for parrots, so do not feed that. Be careful about removing peach stones, cherry stones, apple seeds, pear seeds, etc, as these have cyanide in them. Avoid rhubarb as this has a lot of oxalic acid which interferes with calcium and non-haem iron absorption. When feeding pumpkin and red capsicum, leave the seeds in as these are their favorite bits! Parrots love chillies, eg, bird's eye chillies - the hotter the chillies, the better! Parrots don't find chillies hot like we do. Organic vegies and fruits are better because of less chemicals.

 

[Ginkai]

Thanks Enjru!

I'll be printing out that list and sticking it on the fridge! Along with the list of ok stuff from Pedro's post!

I swear I'll be stuck to this forum like glue I've learned so much from everyone so quick!

 

[MikeyTN]

Just about everything is covered pretty much....Just a word of caution, a lot of house planets are toxic to birds, do your research on what type of house plants you have, if you have any....I have some toxic plants in my house that I keep away from my birds, but my animals, including birds like to go after my prized African Violets...It actually makes me mad when they go after them. They're not toxic of course, my cat eats them like all you can eat salad bar that I had to keep my plants away from everyone and it's not easy to do when you have 20+ varieties around and they like to be near windows....

 

[Pedro]

Thanks Enjru!

I'll be printing out that list and sticking it on the fridge! Along with the list of ok stuff from Pedro's post!

I swear I'll be stuck to this forum like glue I've learned so much from everyone so quick!

Seeing you are from Brisbane this link will help. You can also purchase products & TOYS.LOL.


Parrot Rescue Centre | Caring for Parrots in Australia

There is heaps of information in the link. Good idea to print out what you find useful.

 

[Joeyx]

for dry food, i'd give your baby pellets mainly.. and a seed mix once a week maybe.

 

[lene1949]

Be careful with kisses after you parrot has eaten chillies... It burns... lol