- Apr 19, 2021
- 766
- 2,666
- Parrots
- ✻Csillam the rescued budgie
✻Pascal the Emma's (Venezuelan) Conure
Previous owned:
✻Archibald the cockatiel (fostered 6 months)
✻RIP - 28 YO Zeleni the mischievous IRN
✻RIP -Sunny the budgie
Pascal loves Nutriberries. It's his favourite treat. And mine as well - best treat to lure him back in the cage, buy me 5 minutes of peace and quiet, or simply seeing my dear feathery friend enjoy his treat.
But my problem is - it is really expensive for someone from Eastern Europe.
I tried once or twice making my own Nutriberries, or at least something similar, and best thing is that it's all natural inside, and there's no added sugar to it. I couldn't find what is the binding agent for Nutriberry, I guessed some syrup of a sort, and many people suggested mashed fruit for homemade birdie treats.
For me I found the best thing that works is a mashed banana. It is really sweet on it's own, and because it has this pasty texture, mixing with seeds and pellets, works wonderfully for me.
So here's Pascal's "I was a good boy" treat:
-1 mashed banana (apple/appricot/pear puré would work really well too! Think baby food!)
-small Pellets (I used Roudybush nibbles, but I guess you can use whatever your bird likes and what you have)
-seed mix (I used few types of bird seeds, millet, safflower, here and there a sunflower.. generaly whatever your bird really likes! )
Optional: finely diced fruit like apple or similar - I didn't even try as Pascal hates dry fruit, only fresh. You can try doing the same with adding dry fruits, finely diced but keep it at a very low %.
Mash the banana, add pellets, add seeds, mix. Pellet crumbles are also excelletent as they suck up the extra moisture. Keep adding either of the two until you see you can start forming little balls. Mine was still bit soft so I used tiny spoons to shape. Put on a baking paper, let it bake at 110-120 °C for around 20-30 minutes. My oven has the hot air function which was perfect, idea is to more like dry the fresh treats. Bonus for those who have fruit drying machines, that'd be perfect.
The new treats should be firm and almost "crunchy" when cooled down. I had issue before where it was still soft, and I worked with "mashed" apple juice instead of a nice thick apple sauce (should've just bought apple sauce...). Shelf them in an air tight container (I keep mine in a jar), should last you for weeks if not months! Keep in mind if dried well, there is very little chance for mold to grow.
Let me know what you think! I'd love you guys to share your own recipes and creations!!
Bonus: some pics of the homemade berries and Pascal enjoying the goodies as much as the real thing!
But my problem is - it is really expensive for someone from Eastern Europe.
I tried once or twice making my own Nutriberries, or at least something similar, and best thing is that it's all natural inside, and there's no added sugar to it. I couldn't find what is the binding agent for Nutriberry, I guessed some syrup of a sort, and many people suggested mashed fruit for homemade birdie treats.
For me I found the best thing that works is a mashed banana. It is really sweet on it's own, and because it has this pasty texture, mixing with seeds and pellets, works wonderfully for me.
So here's Pascal's "I was a good boy" treat:
-1 mashed banana (apple/appricot/pear puré would work really well too! Think baby food!)
-small Pellets (I used Roudybush nibbles, but I guess you can use whatever your bird likes and what you have)
-seed mix (I used few types of bird seeds, millet, safflower, here and there a sunflower.. generaly whatever your bird really likes! )
Optional: finely diced fruit like apple or similar - I didn't even try as Pascal hates dry fruit, only fresh. You can try doing the same with adding dry fruits, finely diced but keep it at a very low %.
Mash the banana, add pellets, add seeds, mix. Pellet crumbles are also excelletent as they suck up the extra moisture. Keep adding either of the two until you see you can start forming little balls. Mine was still bit soft so I used tiny spoons to shape. Put on a baking paper, let it bake at 110-120 °C for around 20-30 minutes. My oven has the hot air function which was perfect, idea is to more like dry the fresh treats. Bonus for those who have fruit drying machines, that'd be perfect.
The new treats should be firm and almost "crunchy" when cooled down. I had issue before where it was still soft, and I worked with "mashed" apple juice instead of a nice thick apple sauce (should've just bought apple sauce...). Shelf them in an air tight container (I keep mine in a jar), should last you for weeks if not months! Keep in mind if dried well, there is very little chance for mold to grow.
Let me know what you think! I'd love you guys to share your own recipes and creations!!
Bonus: some pics of the homemade berries and Pascal enjoying the goodies as much as the real thing!
