budgie meal plan

[blumuffin]

Hello!
I am yet to find some pellets and seeds but this will be my meal plan for my budgies.


docs.google.com/document/d/1z7hBp15cioJGS62UoGzzTTw1mkTtO2hH5g24hl-sBuc/edit?usp=sharing

Please tell me if it looks good!

[Hezz]

Budgies do not need pellets, in fact there is great debate as to whether pellets are not actively bad for budgies. Pellets are very much encouraged in different parts of the world, but in my opinion the best diet for your budgies is a good quality budgie (or finch) seed mix with little or no oats, and less than 5% oil seeds (sesame,flax, nyjer etc).

More importantly, give your birds fresh veggies every day, removing them after a few hours before they start to spoil. Feed all veggies raw and limit the amount of fruit you give - fruit contains more sugar than veggies do and the birds don't need the extra. Read through the thread below to get some ideas of what appeals to most budgies. Mix it up as much as possible - the bigger variety, the better for your birds.

budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/509/fresh-foods-offer-budgie

[blumuffin]

I'm glad I didn't order those pellets then.
I think I need a bigger food bowl for all these lovely veggies and seeds lol because if I clip it onto the cage they won't touch it
Once they come out of the cage i'm planning on growing some budgie-safe greens on my windowsill (that was my mum's idea, she's a big gardener and even said we should grow stuff for them in our allotment.)

[Hezz]

It's great that your mum is prepared to help you grow things that are healthy for your birds! It is an easy way to provide good food for them. You may need to experiment on how to present fresh food to the birds. Some like chunks strung up onto a skewer, others like small dainty pieces of multiple veggies mixed up together. Mine have always preferred larger chunks so that they can throw bits around, but you will have to try all options and possibly do so numerous times.

[blumuffin]

A few times I have mixed chunks of apples and slices of carrots, bits of lettuce into the food bowl. Mine do like throwing them on the floor (which makes me worry a bit in case they don't eat them.)

So far I have yet to find a seed brand I can be loyal to, but I think that this one could be good. I can't get it in more than 900g though, because the 1.7kg ones are for large parrots

From what I know, my budgies aren't so picky. They like the mineral block and Muffin has no idea how to use a cuttlebone but Mango is showing him. I've moved them around on some seeds (one packet that I picked up in Portugal and flew back!) and they seem to be alright about it.

Thanks again for the pellet info. I'll be telling that to my friend who also has two budgies (they are like 9 so they wouldn't really look this stuff up.)

[Hezz]

Can you take a photo of the back of the packet, in particular the list of ingredients? That will help determine whether the mix is a good one, has too few varieties of seed, or has too many additives.

[blumuffin]

I asked my dad who used to be a scientist, and he says there's no artificial colouring or anything.
And I haven't ordered it yet. I'll link you to the product if you'd like.

[Hezz]

It is quite a fatty mix, but no ratio for any of the foods given. Usually these are listed in the largest amounts first down to smallest, so possibly it is okay. Oil seeds - canola, flax, hemp, niger, sunflower, and then they have added peanuts as well (fatty). It would be okay for young active birds, but you might want to look long term at getting them onto something with less oil seeds and oats. Finch mixes are usually pretty good, usually contain all the usual millet and canary seeds, but with fewer oats and less oil seeds.

[blumuffin]

Sounds good. My budgies do jump around a lot but will NOT come out of the cage