I was wondering if anyone has a specific budgie food that they know their birds prefer? I give mine a different one every month but I've yet to find the one they truly prefer. Does anyone have any good suggestions?
10-22-2012, 09:58 AM, (This post was last modified: 10-22-2012, 10:01 AM by Ram.)
Sometimes it takes time for the birds to get used to one type of food. They might not like it at first because that might not be what they've been eating at the breeders, but they will eat it when they are hungry, and they will like it after they get used to it.
I tried a regular seed mix for them at first and I noticed they weren't too fond of it because they weren't eating regularly and Angel started doing this thing where he pushes the food off the tray and onto the bottom of the cage - like he doesn't want it there. I tried a different one where he did it less often but after a while he began to do it again. My dog does the same with food he doesn't like so I assumed it to mean the same thing. I've recently started with a different kind of food - something colourful and with variety in the package and they seem to be enjoying it more.
I have millet and veggies for them everyday too - though lately, I've been concerned about their millet intake. I'm not too sure if there's a limit as to how much they should have.
When I had my birds, they were making a mess of the food too. I had to regularly clean not only the bottom of the cage, but I also had to clean the floor outside their cage. It didn't mean they do not prefer the food when the food is everywhere. The only thing it prove is that these birds = messy eaters. You also can't use the behavior of dog to judge your birds. They are different creatures. Even different individuals of the same species can do the same thing while not for the same purpose.
For the question of "limit",
I am not expert on birds even though I have had them for years. The way I did was to provide enough food for them all the time. They would stop eating when they are full. I know that's not the way with dog, cat, or fish, but birds are different since they are small creatures with a lot of surface area to body mass ratio, and they have to keep really high body temperature, they do need to eat all the time. Since I was feeding them millet and veggie, they can't get fat from those food.
It has been almost two decades since the last time I had my birds, so I can't remember exactly. I used to fill their little bowl twice a day with millet. They seemed to be very hungry every time, since they were so eager when I was able to add more millet.