Fruit and Vegetables for your Parrots

Fruit and Vegetables are a vital part of every parrots diet. Many loving owners love to give their birds fresh fruit and vegetables, but sometimes make costly mistakes. Here are the do's and don'ts to feeding your bird fruit and vegetables. Follow this advice and your parrot will a long happy and healthy life!

Fruits:

Apple, Apricot, Banana, Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Cantaloupe melon, Cherry, Cranberry, Dried dates, Figs (fresh), Gooseberries, Grape, Guava, Honeydew melon, Kiwifruit, Mandarin, Mango, Melon, Nectarine, Papaya, Peach, Pear, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Plum, Quince, Raspberry, Red Currants, Strawberry, and Tangerine.

Vegetables:

Artichoke, Beans (cooked only) , Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celery stalks, Corn (best when milky), Cucumber, Eggplant (fruit only), Endive, Fennel, Green Beans, Hot Peppers, Kale, Lettuce, Parsley, Peas, Potato, Pumpkin Red, Beet (fresh), Radicchio, Romain Lettuce, Spinach, Sprouts, Sweet Potato, Turnips, Watercress, Yams, and Zucchini.

Thing to Avoid:

All kinds of cabbage,raw and green potatoes, ice burg lettuce, avocados (its oils are extremely harmful to all birds), lemons, grapefruit, and most citrus fruits since its acid is quite strong on their stomach, rhubarb, olives, onions, tomatoes, beans (dried, kidney, and lima), eggplant, raw peanuts, and most seeds and pits including; apple seeds, cherry, peach, plum, and nectarine pits.

Please Note:  

You should never feed parrots anything that has been sprayed with pesticides. Feed your parrot nothing directly from the refrigerator; all of the food should be at room temperature and have been washed and peeled. Not every type of fruit is listed since there are much to many to list. If you are not entirely positive that a specific fruit or vegetable is safe, it is best not to feed it to your bird. Please Contact Me if you have any inquires. 

Hand Taming Your Parrot

Taming your parrot can be a frustrating experience, but the time is well spent, and with these tips and tricks, you can end up with life long friend, and will never regret it!
Here are the tips and tricks to hand taming your parrot:
1. NEVER chase your parrot for this will make him even more frightened, you also shouldn't wave things at him for he will loose your trust completely. Most parrots don't like to be held completely for the feeling of being trapped and may hyperventilate possibly resulting in a heart attack. So I do not recommended it. There are many other safer ways to get your bird.
2. Wing clipping is a harmless way to keep your bird grounded and can be a very good idea. If your bird is not good flier, he could injure himself very seriously if were ever to fly into a window, wall, mirror, ect. Plus they will still be able to fly just not gain altitude, it will make your life much easier as for hand taming your bird. But if you think this is unnecessary there are many other ways to gain your parrot's trust.
3. A good way to get your parrot to trust you is to lure him to come on your hand with his own free will. To do this you can hold your hand near him with his favourite treat in it(spray millet works the best for Budgies). Your bird should eventually come to you. After this you should teach your bird the command 'step up.' Say these words while putting a little pressure on the birds abdomen (right above his feet) so he will eventually step onto your finger.
I have trained many parrots, they are wonderful pets, but take a great amount of effort and patience, but your time is well-rewarded and will result in a great new friend.

Parrot Help!

Chosen Best Question:

"Hi,

I am having some trouble with my budgie....

1. there is a hole in the back of her neck.... what is this caused bye? and all her chest is featherless

2. how do i get them too eat fruits?!?" 


-Anonymous


Answer:

1. As for your bird, from the symptoms you have told me it looks like your bird may have mites.
This is definitely not good. If my assumption is correct you should see some splayed sick-looking feathers. Mites would account for the blackness on her neck and the loss of feathers, to fight this disease you could purchase a mite-killer these are pretty reasonable, but you have to make sure it is parrot\budgie friendly. If the situation worsens a call to an avian vet may be needed.


2. The key to getting your bird to eat fruit is being persistent, put it in his\her cage everyday, and offer it it to the bird every time it comes out of its cage, the bird should eventually at lest try it. But some parrots adore fruit whereas others hate it. You could sprinkle spray millet or put some honey on the fruit to make it more appetizing. You may also want to try changing what type of fruit you are giving to your bird, some birds are attracted to different kinds of fruits. Also, make sure you are preparing the fruit correctly and the right kinds that are "budgie friendly." Fruit and vegetables are very important to a budgies health and you need to make it assessable to a budgie.


-Melinda
Port Paradise Parrots
Owner\Operator
http://sites.google.com/site/portparadiseparrots/