Giving your parrot the wrong bird diet can result in the death of your feathered friend. Yes, this is a fact. Feeding your parrot the right bird diet, however, can help ensure health and longevity for your beloved bird. Only in the last few decades has research revealed which foods are deadly to parrots and which are the best choices for them.
The main benefit of making sure your parrots diet contains the right foods is longevity. Just as people can live longer when eating a healthy diet, so can your companion parrot. It was only come to light in recent decades that parrots can live long lives if properly fed a wide variety of foods.
Deadly Bird Diet Choices
While there are many parrot diet choices which humans consume that are healthy for the parrot, there are a few which are absolutely deadly! The "seven deadly parrot diet foods" include: spoiled or moldy foods, raw meat, eggs that haven't been cooked thoroughly, seeds or pits from fruits, avocado, alcohol, and chocolate. There are a few other foods over which there is controversy as to whether they are safe for bird diets or not, but most of those foods are not items parrots relish. Examples of those questionable foods include garlic and onions.
Parrot Diet Items You Should Limit
There are also foods which a parrot may consume which should be limited in quantity. Small amounts will not harm the parrot, yet large amounts can cause serious health problems. You may notice that the foods to limit in a bird diet are those foods that people should limit in their own diets.
Foods that are high in fat must be strictly limited in bird diets. Parrots diets of parrots living in their natural environment contain little fat. Consider these foods in your bird's diet much as you would think of feeding a small child. While you might allow a child to have a high-fat cookie or oily potato chip, no parent concerned for their child's health would allow their offspring to eat unlimited amounts of these foods. While you might allow your bird to taste one bite or two from the edge of a cookie or chip on rare occasions, you do not want the bird diet to involve large amounts. Remember, all things in moderation is always good advice. Some foods which are high in fat include: foods with added butter, ice cream, fried foods, and cake with icing.
It is also important to limit the amount of salty foods in your parrot's diet. A very small amount of salt goes a long way when consumed by a parrot with such a small body. When you are cooking food for the family that you plan to salt, remove some of the veggies before you add seasoning. Many common foods can be found in unsalted versions which are better for people with certain medical conditions such as high blood pressure and are also better for your parrot's diet. Foods in this category include salted potato chips, corn chips, nuts, vegetables with added salt, many prepared foods such as microwave entrees, bacon, ham, and other cured meats, and salted popcorn.
Foods with high sugar are also poor choices for parrots. Diet choices can include very small quantities of added sugar, but use prudence, limiting the parrot to only a bite or two. These foods include items such as: soft drinks with sugar, sweetened cereals, fruit juice with added sugar, cookies, cakes, ice cream, and sugar-coated cereals.
Good Choices for your Bird Diet
If you want to make a quick list of what is good to feed parrots, diet items would include everything not listed on the restrictions above. The wider the variety included in a bird's diet, the more nutrients, minerals, and vitamins the parrot will consume. A healthy bird is a happy companion, and you certainly want to enjoy many, many years with your pet.
Some of the good foods for parrots' diets that are really great for parrots are also the foods which are great for health-conscious humans. Vegetables, either raw or lightly cooked are healthy choices. Bits of pasta, cheese, rice, mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes, well-cooked eggs, and bits of well-done meats, poultry, or fish add variety to a bird diet. In fact, many parrots love to chew on a bone from cooked meat and even dig the marrow from the inside of the bone. Let your parrot's diet include lots of healthy foods.
About the author: Mississippi 'Bird Lady' finally exposes her tested bird diet, screaming and feather plucking secrets to easily get an amazing sociable and healthy parrot in your home.
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