How To Give Your Cockatiel A Balanced Diet

Cockatiels are meant to be cared for. As an owner of a pet you know you should give the health of your Cockatiel top priority. Your pet's health depends on its diet. In the wild, birds make do with whatever they find. For this reason, you should include a variety of things in their diet, to stay as close to their natural diet as possible

On the other hand, your Cockatiel can eat most of the things that you eat. Cockatiels mainly feed on seeds, berries, fruits, nuts and flowers. Sometimes, they can thrive on the basic diet of seeds and pellets alone. They don't require any particular food but need "particular nutrients". You should add more vegetables and fruits to your Cockatiel's diet. These are sources of additional nutrition.

The growth of your Cockatiel depends on nutrition. Apart from growth, reproduction, temperament and longevity also depend on nutrition. So, a good balanced diet becomes very essential to mould a lovable, healthy and life-long companion.

To put it briefly, a "Cockatiel balanced diet" should have equal shares of pellets, seeds and vegetables, with a small quantity of fruits, nuts, proteins, cooked rice, bean mixture, and table food like cheese, corn, cereal, pasta, meat, etc. The diet should have it all (that's why I said they can eat most of the things that you eat!).

Pellets

Pellets can make as much as 60% of your Cockatiel's food. In fact, some Cockatiels thrive on a pellet diet. You should keep pellets in their food-dish, all day and night. Pellets are a must as they provide your bird a balanced diet.

Seeds

Most Cockatiels favor seeds like bulk canary seed, oats, mixed Sunflower seeds, Hemp and Panicum Millets. If you provide your bird with only a seed diet on a daily basis, it 

will lead to deficiency in vitamins. So, a supplement of vitamins may be necessary in that case.

A Healthy mixed diet

A healthy mixed diet has it all...25% vitamin enriched seed mix, 25% pellets, 25% vegetables, dark leafy greens and fruits, 15% cooked rice, corn, and bean mixture, 10% table food, cereal, bread, pasta, cheese, meat etc.

Vegetables

Vegetables to be fed can be green, dark green, orange, yellow or meaty. Fresh vegetables provide the additional nutrition for your Cockatiel. So, encourage your Cockatiel to eat vegetables. Some of those that fall under this category are: carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, broccoli, greens, green peppers, asparagus, ripe tomatoes, spinach etc.

Fruits

Some of the Cockatiel owners have this general query. 'How to make my bird eat fruits?' Fruits provide the natural supplements to your Cockatiel. So, it would be a good idea 

to introduce fruits to your pet. Initially, it may reject it, but later it will start eating fruits. Some of the favored fruits are apples, pears, peaches, pomegranate, bananas, berries, plums, oranges, kiwi, citrus, grapes, raisins etc.

Nuts

A Cockatiel prefers nuts to fruits. Because of this, some nuts make ideal treats. They can crack hard nuts and you should encourage them to do so. You can give them whole nuts 

as they love to crack open the shell to extract the seed. Their beaks are specially adapted for this function which could also be a form of entertainment.

Water

Water is equally important, as food. Make sure your bird drinks water on a daily basis. Don't forget to leave fresh water in the cage at all times.

Proteins

As I said earlier, it's important that your bird gets all the necessary nutrients. And proteins are an important supplement that aid growth. You can also give your bird, food high in proteins, such as legumes, cooked eggs and grated cheese. Sprouts, ripe tomatoes, cooked beans, spinach are some of the other sources. You can also feed them freshly cooked lean beef, chicken or fish in small quantities. Occasionally, you can give your Cockatiel cooked meat bones.

Vitamins and Minerals

If your bird's diet has a variety of all the nutrients, then supplement of vitamins and minerals is not required. As a matter of fact, it is better to consult an avian vet before 

giving your bird vitamin supplements because an overdose of vitamins and minerals will do more harm than good.

Now, having known all that you can give your Cockatiel; let's also know as to what should be avoided.

AVOID

Don't feed your Cockatiel alcohol, parsley and avocados (as they are toxic to Cockatiels). Seeds high in sunflower and safflower, should be avoided as these are very fatty. Keep 

your bird away from chocolates and caffeine. Iceberg lettuce and cabbage can cause diarrhea in your pet. Other foods to be avoided are seasoned meat or fatty processed meats. All these can cause your pet serious health problems.

Other important tips

Keep in mind that just providing them the food isn't sufficient but you have to make sure that they're eating what is given to them.

Do not include too much milk in their diet as some birds are lactose-intolerant and could get diarrhea. You can give them tofu, low-fat cottage and hard cheeses and non-fat yogurt in small quantities.

If you aren't including pellets/ vitamins/ mineral supplements in their diet, you should sprinkle a powdered bird vitamin/ mineral supplement to their food once a week. This would avoid deficiencies. Although a calcium block and a mineral block should normally serve this purpose, these birds are known to destroy the blocks.

Don't let fruits and vegetables stay in the cage, for more than two hours.

Do not give them nuts and peanuts often, as these are very high in fat and can make your pet obese, if overfed. Dry food can be left for no more than a day.

Always store nuts in a secure bin that will keep the contents dry and safe from rodents. Rodent excreta can transmit diseases like Salmonellosis.

Clean the food and water bowls kept inside the cage, thoroughly every day. Disinfect them with bleach (and wash off thoroughly) every week.

Some Cockatiels have the tendency to become overweight; so you need to monitor their food and diet properly. Stick to a low fat diet and include a variety of greens. Don't increase the volume, as overfeeding will make them picky and they will also waste the food.

Cockatiels are prone to tipping over their bowls. Usage of heavy bottomed feed and water bowls serve the purpose just fine.

With all these tips, I believe you would be able to provide your Cockatiel with the best diet.