General GCC Questions!

[Cheekas caretaker]

Hey guys i am a new member to these forum, as a poster, but i have been reading all the forums for about 2 to 3 weeks now. I have a 5 month old GCC named Cheeka, who is one nergetic, funny, and pretty clumsy bird. but i love her. she eats very well and loves to dance! ill have pictures soon but i just have some questions. One: She eats Zupreem tropical pellets, extreme fruit and nut cockatiel mix, and fresh veggies and fruits.(and the occasional Nutriberry). the lady i bought her from also gave me a seed mix that comes with sunflower seeds white millet canary grass seed and some other sees which is made for cockatiels. she likes it bu im not sure if it is safe for her to have it on a daily basis. how often should i give her this seed mix since i would like a balanced diet? Two: She has a little rope toy with a tennis ball that we got from the dollar store and uses it as a swing, and loves it, and how we put it on is with a zip tie. She likes to scratch herself with the ziptie, and it is a dull end, is it safe for her? if it isnt ill just end up cutting off that part but she doesnt hurt herself with it and i think she likes it. Thanks in advance.

 

[jew1187]

I am no expert, but from everything I have read, I don't think its really healthy for any bird to eat a seed diet on a regular basis. All of my books say that feeding them a snack of some type of seed maybe once a week is alright. But I am still learning myself. As far as the ziptie goes... I cannot tell you much about that. I used to ziptie millet in my parakeets cage, but I cut it short and made sure the piece I cut off was on the outside of the cage. Good luck.

 

[birdiemomma]

I talked to my vet for a good amount of time about this. I feed Bella a pellet diet and I have a separate dish that I keep a tiny bit of seed in (about a tablespoon or so) as a treat. I also feed fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the day with a warm meal also being fed around 5pm. The vet was very pleased with how she was being fed and he said she is one of the healthiest birds he has ever seen. We have to remember that our birds are extremely active (well at least Bella is) and that they do need lots of fuel to keep going. Bella is so active that I have to put her down for "naptime" for an hour a day so that she can gain weight (per vets suggestion) That is just what I have learned from my experience.