How much broccoli to feed a budgie

Question
Hi, I have a 4 month old budgie who absoloutely LOVES fresh broccoli. I'll set out a few little pieces for him and then he'll eat for like 45 minutes before stopping. Is this too much? Are birds like some dogs who don't know when to stop eating? (My mom has a dog like that.) Anyway, I don't know if I should let him eat until he's finished or take the broccoli away. Will that much make him sick? I know you're supposed to feed them fresh veggies sometimes, but how often? And how much should they eat at a time? I'm so clueless about this (my first bird). Could you please help me out? Thank you much. -Krisi  

Answer
Dear Krisi,
thank you for your question.

Budgies will eat more than they need, but I really wouldn't worry about him eating too much broccoli unless you feed it to him every day. Try other fruits and vegetables, too. Chickweed is usually a huge treat for budgies, as well as carrot. You can find a list of other vegetables and fruits that can be fed to budgies here:
http://www.birds-online.de/nahrung/nahrung_en.htm
Offer him some every day to provide him with vitamins. Also, the birds have fun shredding the food and playing with it (I think that's why your budgie takes so long to eat the broccoli).

Do you keep the budgie alone? Budgies, as all parrots, are very social birds and should be kept at least in pairs. Two males usually work very well, or a male and a female (they won't breed unless you offer a nesting box, which I don't recommend without learning about genetics first). Females often fight. A human partner cannot replace another bird, no one really has that much time and you just cannot speak to the bird in his own language.

If you are worried that two birds won't get tame: that's a myth. It just takes a bit more time and patience. You can also tame your budgie first and then get another one, the new bird will learn the tame behaviour from the first.
Here are some pictures of people with up to fifty budgies that are almost all tame:
http://www.vwfd.de/gegeneinzel/zahmschwarm.php
Okay, I'll step off the soap box now, I hope you don't mind my little digression and I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer