Teddscau
Active member
- Sep 25, 2015
- 640
- Media
- 2
- 123
- Parrots
- Budgies: Sunshine, Blanco, Azure; Peach-faced lovebirds: Rosie and Jaybird; YSA: Jasper (♀)
- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
- #21
Man, I can only hide the pellets so well when it comes to the budgies. They'll only eat raw veggies, seeds, and sprouts. And said veggies have to be in decent sized pieces. I've just been mixing pellets and ground pellets into their sprouts, since that's about as sneaky as we can get with the budgies. And they get so upset if I try to put fruits or veggies in their dishes. It is impossible to clip blueberries to mesh and branches.
Oh! But I witnessed something exciting a few minutes ago! Ju and Alice went over to this yellow plastic dish that I decided to fill with just Goldn'obles a couple of days ago, and they were eating the pellets! Or maybe they were just rolling them around in their beaks. Either way, they deliberately put pellets in their mouths with the intention of eating them! I think the trick was that I measured out only 15 grams or so of sprouts, and put maybe 15 grams of pellets in with the sprouts. Budgies typically eat 7 grams of food each, meaning they had to get the other two thirds of their meal from elsewhere (veggies, birdie bread, and pellets).
Call me a cheat again, Jennifer, I dare ya . I actually only started giving them pellets two months ago. The thing I like about the Goldenfeast pellets is that it has a bunch of different ingredients. I don't just mean seeds and grains, but fruits and veggies, too. A lot of fruits and veggies. And no added vitamins or minerals, either. They also taste good (you don't want to know how many I ate in front of the budgies). They also soften up nicely when you mix in a little water. It basically has all the variety you'd want in a diet, but in a pellet.
Man, boy do they push the Harrison's and Hills, eh? Our vet told us to buy the Hills dental kibble because Teddy and Abby's teeth suck (the shapes of their mouths promote tartar). Well, there were nasty little feathers sticking out of it. And, yeah, I know dry food doesn't actually help their teeth, but my parents insist.
Anyways, I'm actually going to be taking wildlife rehabilitation courses online which include enrichment, behaviour, and nutrition. I also want to take some courses in avian nutrition, biology, etc. It ticks me off that avian vets who know virtually nothing about diet and nutrition act like they do. It's definitely questionable that everything the average vet knows about diet is taught by the brands they sell.
I've actually been slacking when it comes to giving Noah fruits and veggies. I'm actually thinking of making baby food for him and mixing it in with his pellets. Except, unlike most baby foods, I'm going to have more than two ingredients in it. I'm sorry, but how is two-ingredient baby food a balanced diet for human infants? I mean, at least put half a dozen different fruits or veggies in the stuff. Okay, I guess I'm getting a little off topic.
Luckily for me, Noah will try new foods, even when I'm clearly faking it. I could probably just pretend to eat the pellets in front of the budgies, but I actually sort of like the pellets :x. I couldn't imagine eating Nutriberries, though. I have enough trouble keeping it together when I test their sprouts for freshness. Honestly I'd never even heard of Patagonians before I saw a picture of your boy. They're definitely huge! Not to mention that thing they have going on with their foreheads.
But yeah, I'm basically just going to treat pellets like protein shakes or an Ensure (those nutrition drinks for seniors). I'll use baked foods like that super nutritious birdie bread I made to make sure they're getting proper nutrition, and the sprouts and veggies will be partially for nutrition, but mainly for foraging, variety, and happy tummies.
So, you're one of the crazies who also eats their birds' food, eh CherylCali? I also spray some water in my mouth before misting them just to make sure it's water and not bleach or something. Better us than them, eh? With stuff like sprouts, I like to smell and taste to see if they're safe for the kids. I think I may have given the budgies food poisoning more than once (oops). Either that, or individual budgies vomit once in a while for no reason. Seriously, I've caught Ju, Charlie, and Samantha vomiting (not at the same time or even the same month) for no apparent reason. And no, they didn't have an impacted crop, bacterial infections, viruses, or anything else. And only a single individual would be affected. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that they'd just been regurgitating (it definitely wasn't regurgitation. It was completely involuntary and they were upset from the experience). It just looked like hulled, odorless, slightly moist seed. I think their poop was fine too.
Oh! But I witnessed something exciting a few minutes ago! Ju and Alice went over to this yellow plastic dish that I decided to fill with just Goldn'obles a couple of days ago, and they were eating the pellets! Or maybe they were just rolling them around in their beaks. Either way, they deliberately put pellets in their mouths with the intention of eating them! I think the trick was that I measured out only 15 grams or so of sprouts, and put maybe 15 grams of pellets in with the sprouts. Budgies typically eat 7 grams of food each, meaning they had to get the other two thirds of their meal from elsewhere (veggies, birdie bread, and pellets).
Call me a cheat again, Jennifer, I dare ya . I actually only started giving them pellets two months ago. The thing I like about the Goldenfeast pellets is that it has a bunch of different ingredients. I don't just mean seeds and grains, but fruits and veggies, too. A lot of fruits and veggies. And no added vitamins or minerals, either. They also taste good (you don't want to know how many I ate in front of the budgies). They also soften up nicely when you mix in a little water. It basically has all the variety you'd want in a diet, but in a pellet.
Man, boy do they push the Harrison's and Hills, eh? Our vet told us to buy the Hills dental kibble because Teddy and Abby's teeth suck (the shapes of their mouths promote tartar). Well, there were nasty little feathers sticking out of it. And, yeah, I know dry food doesn't actually help their teeth, but my parents insist.
Anyways, I'm actually going to be taking wildlife rehabilitation courses online which include enrichment, behaviour, and nutrition. I also want to take some courses in avian nutrition, biology, etc. It ticks me off that avian vets who know virtually nothing about diet and nutrition act like they do. It's definitely questionable that everything the average vet knows about diet is taught by the brands they sell.
I've actually been slacking when it comes to giving Noah fruits and veggies. I'm actually thinking of making baby food for him and mixing it in with his pellets. Except, unlike most baby foods, I'm going to have more than two ingredients in it. I'm sorry, but how is two-ingredient baby food a balanced diet for human infants? I mean, at least put half a dozen different fruits or veggies in the stuff. Okay, I guess I'm getting a little off topic.
Luckily for me, Noah will try new foods, even when I'm clearly faking it. I could probably just pretend to eat the pellets in front of the budgies, but I actually sort of like the pellets :x. I couldn't imagine eating Nutriberries, though. I have enough trouble keeping it together when I test their sprouts for freshness. Honestly I'd never even heard of Patagonians before I saw a picture of your boy. They're definitely huge! Not to mention that thing they have going on with their foreheads.
But yeah, I'm basically just going to treat pellets like protein shakes or an Ensure (those nutrition drinks for seniors). I'll use baked foods like that super nutritious birdie bread I made to make sure they're getting proper nutrition, and the sprouts and veggies will be partially for nutrition, but mainly for foraging, variety, and happy tummies.
So, you're one of the crazies who also eats their birds' food, eh CherylCali? I also spray some water in my mouth before misting them just to make sure it's water and not bleach or something. Better us than them, eh? With stuff like sprouts, I like to smell and taste to see if they're safe for the kids. I think I may have given the budgies food poisoning more than once (oops). Either that, or individual budgies vomit once in a while for no reason. Seriously, I've caught Ju, Charlie, and Samantha vomiting (not at the same time or even the same month) for no apparent reason. And no, they didn't have an impacted crop, bacterial infections, viruses, or anything else. And only a single individual would be affected. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that they'd just been regurgitating (it definitely wasn't regurgitation. It was completely involuntary and they were upset from the experience). It just looked like hulled, odorless, slightly moist seed. I think their poop was fine too.
Last edited: