Top Budgie Diet Mistakes

In this day and age we all know how important it is to eat healthily, but many budgie owners give their budgies a poor diet through ignorance. Unfortunately, this means that many budgies die before their time, and their owners have to suffer a heart ache which could have been easily prevented.

Let's take a look at some of the most common budgie diet mistakes, so you can avoid them and keep your bird healthy, so they have a long and happy life with you.

Mistake 1: All Seed Diet

It's an easy mistake to make to think that all your budgie needs is seed. After all it's sold in the pet shop as bird food, and everyone knows that birds eat seed. But feeding a budgie only on seed is like you or I eating only potatoes, or rice. That might been fine for the occasional meal, but you certainly don't expect to get the nutrients you need from it.

The truth is that your budgie needs a balanced diet, just like you do, in order to stay healthy. Unless your budgie gets all the vitamins and minerals it needs, along with the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, its body will stop working properly.

Sadly, that's what happens to many pet budgies. A simple lack of vitamins causes their body to break down. Perhaps the central nervous system stops working, perhaps their kidneys or liver break down. And there's no doubt this bad diet contributes to the average budgie lifespan of 5 years, when they're easily able to live 10-15 years in captivity.

You can avoid this by making sure your budgie gets a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, as part of its diet. You see, by the time the bird seed gets to your budgie it's lost most of its nutritional value, so we need to feed them vegetables, even though they wouldn't really eat them in the wild.

It can be quite a challenge to get your budgie started on fruits and vegetables, but the effort is well worth it when you enjoy your budgie's company for ten or more years.

 

Mistake 2: All Pellet Diet

Many people rave about pellets as the ideal replacement to seed. It's certainly true that they're a much healthier option, since they're designed to have the same mix of nutrients that your budgie would get in the wild.

The problem is that many people believe the marketing hype, and don't bother to give their budgie a balanced diet anymore. Breakfast cereal manufacturers add many vitamins and minerals to their products, to convince parents to buy them for their children, but I've yet to hear a doctor recommend a diet of only cheerios.

Even if your budgie's on pellets instead of seeds, they still need a good variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, to ensure they're getting all the nutrients they need.

Mistake 3: Bad Hygiene

It's amazing how people would refuse point blank to accept an unhygienic situation in their own life, but then assume it's just fine for their pet.

Food and water dishes need to be washed daily, with warm soapy water, just like you wash your own dishes. You wouldn't eat dinner off the same plate for a week without washing it, but it's bizarre how many people think that's okay for their budgie.

Without regular cleaning, food and water dishes are ideal places for germs and bacteria to spread, and be ingested by your bird. You can save them a lot of suffering, and yourself some large veterinary bills, if you take a few moments to wash the dishes each day, when you change their food.