Parakeets (more specifically known as budgerigars) are like most other birds, they enjoy a varied diet rather than just the same old seed day after day. So what do you feed your little feathered friends? Budgies are vegetarians, so they enjoy a nice, balanced diet of seeds, vegetables, and fruit!
What kind of fruits do we give our budgies? Budgies are known to love a wide variety of fruits, including tangerines, apples, and pears. If you really want to get adventurous, you can also try some tropical fruits! Fruit is an important part of a budgie’s diet, so make sure you’re considering your little parakeet’s dietary needs and include a slice of apple in his cage every now and then.
Different fruits in different places can add a little excitement and valuable nutrients to your budgie’s life! Use feeding time as another moment to bond with your parakeet, share an apple, hand-feed tangerines, or even prepare a wet lettuce leaf for your budgie to eat and bathe!
You can also mix your budgie diet with a variety of green vegetables. Your parakeet will enjoy things like broccoli and/or cauliflower leaves, bok choi, cabbage leaves, dandelion leaves, mustard leaves, and even kelp! However, you need to be a little careful as some vegetables can have negative effects on your budgie, including calcium deficiency and liver problems.
Good nutrition can be crucial during budgie breeding and can mean the difference between healthy and unhealthy chicks! For these reasons it is very important to have a piece of cuttlefish and also a mineral block for your budgie in your breeding cage.
Budgies love to eat different seeds, but people are often surprised to find that they also enjoy eating different nuts and grains! Budgies will also eat things like lentils, beans, almonds, tofu, and even sesame seeds.
As you can see, budgies eat a wide variety of different fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and seeds, so you can easily add some entertainment and variety to their lives by giving them more than the standard budgie seed mix. Like any higher intelligence animal, budgies need some stimulation and excitement! Ideally you keep a few budgies together to entertain each other, but even then, a mixed diet can really mean the difference between a sad and unhealthy budgie and a happy and playful budgie.
Thanks to Timothy Augst
