Balanced Diet for Cockatiels
Food is an essential aspect of a bird's life because it can determine the length of its life. Giving a cockatiel a diet that does not satisfy its needs of vitamins, minerals and healthy fats can lead to illness, disease, and premature death. Having a balanced diet for
your cockatiel will make a profound difference to its life.
Most of the bagged premixed food for cockatiels is filled with millet, safflower, and sunflower seeds, which are loaded with fat and lack healthy nutrients. Giving this food to your bird everyday will
make them deficient in Vitamins A and C as well as many other important nutrients. A seed diet will shorten the cockatiel's life span drastically and could lead to complications with the kidneys, livers and immune system to name only a few.
In order to have a
balance diet, you will have to prepare and mix different kinds of seed, pellets, and fresh foods every day. A cockatiel's diet should not consist of more than 10% seed. Seed should only be a treat for your bird and does not have a place in its food dish every day.
Pellets should be the staple of your bird's diet. Pellets are manufactured in such a way that it gives your birds all the needed carbohydrates, proteins, and minerals. These can be purchased at any pet store either in bulk or packaged. Some of these pellets are colored
and shaped to spark interest in your bird. The other portion of a bird's diet should consist of healthy vegetables and fruits. It is best to give these to your bird in raw form, so that the nutrients are not boiled or cooked out of the foods. Whenever you give fresh
foods to your bird, make sure you keep an eye on the food. They will become spoiled and start to wilt very quickly in their cage.
It may take some time to convert your bird from an all seed diet to a pellet and fresh food diet. Most birds will love
vegetables and fruits right away. However, pellets will take some convincing for your bird to eat. Remember that it is worth your bird's well being and health, to take the initiative to place them on a balanced diet. Even though, it will take several weeks to convert
your bird to a full pellet diet, your bird will thank you.
Your cockatiel will become more active and have healthier looking eyes, toes, beak, and feathers. Keeping your bird on this diet will help to increase its life span to keep you company for many years to come.
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