The Dangers of Poor Parrot Diet

The main cause of any number of parrot problems stems from poor nutrition. A poor diet can drastically reduce a parrot’s life span. Some of these birds can live to be over 60 years old. But a bad diet can force to live of pain and misery with health problems including liver disease, respiratory problems, feather and skin disorders and other issues.

Something that is often over looked by pet owners is the quality of the water you give them every day. Tap water is in most cases not the best choice. It’s probably not that good for you either. I always recommend using only filtered or bottled water. Make sure you keep the water bowl clean and change the water regularly.

For food, remember that a diet exclusively made up of seed is not the best for your parrot. In the wild, parrots eat whatever is available during any given season. This results in them getting a natural variety of foods in their diet. Parrots need a mixture of fresh leafy greens and fruits as well as seed.

A common problem among parrots is vitamin A deficiency. The biggest reason for this is a diet that is probably made up primarily of either seed or commercially available pellet food. Neither of these have sufficient vitamin A for your bird. The solution – start them on a diet of leafy greens, green vegetables and most orange fruits and vegetables.

Although commercially available pellet food has become quite popular, I would only use this as a supplement to a more broadly nutritional diet. There is nothing wrong with pellet food as long as it is not your parrot’s long term diet staple.

The cooked food based diet is a particularly good way to go. Most people will say that it sounds like a lot of work – that’s because it is. The diet consists of a cooked mixture of beans, brown or whole-grain rice, quinoa, amaranth, couscous and other grains. Add some whole-grain pasta, seeds, nuts and pellets along with fruits, dried vegetables and herbs and you have a really good nutritional base.

Related posts:

1. Stop Parrot Feather Plucking
2. Some Questions to Ask Your Parrot Breeder Before Buying

Tagged with: Birds • parrot care • parrot care tips • Parrot diet • parrot food • parrot foods • parrot nutrition • parrots • pets

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