A cockatiel needs a variety of parrot food to stay healthy. Feeding cockatiels bird seed and nothing else can cause nutritional deficiencies and shorten their lifespan. The bird seed and "all-in-one" pellets sold at your local pet store aren't enough to keep a cockatiel happy.
Cockatiels in the Wild
A cockatiel flock in the wild eats a wide range of food depending on the season. Some months grass seeds are readily available. Other months fruit is in season. Wild cockatiels also eat berries, sprouted seeds, and insects. It's doubtful you'll be providing insects to a cockatiel, but the other food choices are definite possibilities.
Sprouted Bird Seed
Sprouted bird seed is much more nutritious than dry bird seed. Sprinkle some pet store bird seed between two damp paper towels. Keep the towels damp. In a few days the seeds should sprout. If they don't, replace your bird seed at a different pet store. Bird seed that doesn't sprout is much too old to feed a cockatiel!
Fresh Fruit and Veggies
Fresh fruit and vegetables are excellent sources of nutrition for cockatiels. The difficulty is getting the cockatiel to accept new food. Many pet store cockatiels are raised on a bird seed or pellet diet, and are very suspicious of new food.
The key to success is persistent. Introduce one new food at a time, and don't switch to a different type of food until at least a month. It may take this long for the cockatiel to figure out that this strange green stuff is actually food. During this time, of course, continue to feed the cockatiel bird seed or pellets.
Fruits and vegetables that can be fed to cockatiels include:
· apple
· berries
· broccoli
· cauliflower
· corn
· fresh Coconut
· guava
· hot peppers
· kiwi
· mango
· pea pods
· peach
· pear
· pineapple
Dark green lettuce can be offered, but avoid iceberg lettuce, which has no real nutritional value. Cockatiels can also be fed uncooked pasta, whole wheat toast, and small amounts of millet. Some people offer small amounts hard-boiled egg. This is not a normal part of a cockatiel diet, so if you chose to feed a cockatiel egg do so sparingly.
Dry Bird Seed
Feeding cockatiels some dry bird seed is perfectly acceptable, as long as other foods are offered and, more importantly, eaten.
Be aware that cockatiel bird seed sold in pet stores contains many high fat seeds. Cockatiels love high fat seeds such as sunflowers, and often eat them to the exclusion of other foods. Bird seed and parrot food mixes sold in pet stores tend to have large amounts of sunflower seeds. Pick the sunflower seeds out and reserve them as special treats.
What Not to Feed a Cockatiel
Some foods should never be fed to cockatiels, or any other parrot species. Avocado, alcohol, and caffeine are all toxic to parrots. Diary products, chocolate, spouted lima beans, and soda can also make a cockatiel very sick, or even kill it.
Vitamins and Cockatiels
Pet store bird seed sometimes claims to be vitamin enriched. Trouble is, the vitamins are dusted over the seed husks. Cockatiels don't eat seed husks, and their mouths are so dry only a tiny part of the vitamins will reach the bird. You can buy vitamin supplements to sprinkle over cockatiel food, and a cuttlebone for calcium is recommended.
Resources
Letstalkbirds.com. (nd). Cockatiel Information. Retrieved 30 October 2007 from the Lets Talk Birds website at http://www.letstalkbirds.com/cockatiels.htm#five.
McCaffery, E. (nd). Types of Diets for Cockatiels. Retrieved 30 October 2007 from the Cockatiel Cottage website at http://www.cockatielcottage.net/diet2.html.
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