Nutrition of Psittacines (Parrot Family)
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Nutrition of Psittacines (Parrot Family)

Nutrition of Psittacines (Parrot Family) Client Information Series™
This information is designed as a means of communication between veterinarians and clients who are concerned about their pet bird’s nutritional needs. Diet, nutrient requirements, and feeding are discussed. If you have any questions, be sure to ask your veterinarian to answer them for you.

Birds are divided into 27 orders, varying from high-flying Falconiformes, such as the bald eagle, to the Struthioniformes, such as the ostrich, that does not fly at all. Most pet birds are found among the Psittaciformes (psittacines: parrotsfamily), Passeriformes (perching birds), Columbiformes (pigeon family), and Galliformes (chicken-like birds).

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Feeding Conversion – Scenic Bird Food Pellets
Saint Lucia Parrot, amazona versicolor, Adult eating Grass

Feeding Conversion – Scenic Bird Food Pellets

How to improve your bird’s health with Scenic Bird Food and good fruit &
vegetable selections!

• Place Scenic Bird Food in a separate cup from your bird’s normal food and leave it there all day and night.
• Replace with fresh food daily.
• Keep the cup full.
• Only after your bird is eating Scenic Bird Food should you place it in the normal food cup.

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Bird Chop Vs Commercial Bird Food Blends – What’s Best for My Bird?
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Bird Chop Vs Commercial Bird Food Blends – What’s Best for My Bird?

I talk a lot about avian digestive systems and respiratory systems but it’s been a while since we talked about feathers. Generally, the birds that we keep as pets have anywhere from 5000 to 7000 feathers. Waterfowl like certain species of ducks can have more than 11,000. Yes, scientists have actually counted them.

From Wikipedia we learn:

Feathers are among the most complex integumentary system appendages found in vertebrates and are formed in tiny follicles in the epidermis, or outer skin layer, that produces keratin proteins.

The β-keratins in feathers, beaks, and the claws, scales, and shells of reptiles — are composed of protein strands hydrogen-bonded into β-pleated sheets, which are then further twisted and crosslinked by disulfide bridges into structures even tougher than the α-keratins of mammalian hair, horns, and hoof.

β-keratin or beta-keratin is a protein in the keratin family. β-keratin is rich in stacked β pleated sheets. Keratin is one of a family of fibrous structural proteins. Keratin is the protein that protects epithelial cells from damage or stress.

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Hagen’s (HARI) Alternative Formula Pellets Offer Better Nutrition for Mature Birds
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Hagen’s (HARI) Alternative Formula Pellets Offer Better Nutrition for Mature Birds

December 10th of last year I sprained my ankle. I finally got my boot on that foot for the first time last week on 1/24/17. In less than a month Medicare will be paying all my medical expenses (in conjunction with a supplemental plan F policy). I can relate to getting old. I look old. I have a long gray beard. Look at me and you know that I’m old.

Not so much with birds

For those of you that have stuck with your birds through the screaming biting and destruction – kudos! You’ll learn how much life bird’s can bring into a home.

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Wondering if You Can Guide Me on Care of my Umbrella Cockatoo.
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Wondering if You Can Guide Me on Care of my Umbrella Cockatoo.

Wondering if you can guide me with the care of my umbrella. Her vet is away on sick leave for a few months. I am her third owner.

I live in a two-room 35 ft camper trailer with six dogs and the bird. She likes to be around them – in her cage – and when they get treats she expects ( and gets) her own. They are her flock.

She has been a feather shredder since long before she came to me, about three years ago. She is also very indifferent to food. Her owner before me cared for her well and tried her hardest to get her to fresh fruit and veg. Her primary diet is Zupreem fruit blend, though her specific preference are the pink pieces. But she isn’t even very interested in eating.

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Does the Size of Food Matter to My Bird?
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Does the Size of Food Matter to My Bird?

Short answer – yes you can feed all size birds the same foods BUT – you have to understand how they eat. Our cockatiel would eat everything from a plate including picking from a steak bigger than her.

 

Peaches our Senegal likes to hold food in her zygodactyl foot thus she requires manageable chunks of “parrot size” food with larger pieces and larger pellets. We feed her Higgins Safflower Gold. A healthy blend of seeds, nuts, fruits, and pellets. All Higgins products include Intune Pellets sized accordingly to the species of parrot.

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My Bird Won’t Play With Toys or Eat New Foods Are Two Problems That Solve Each Other
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My Bird Won’t Play With Toys or Eat New Foods Are Two Problems That Solve Each Other

A clear theme that emerges after reading endless threads on Facebook bird groups is “my bird won’t play with toys” – “my bird doesn’t play with toys” “my bird only wants to chew the keys off my notebook computer”

From Wikipedia we learn Ho·lis·tic – hōˈlistik – adjective – characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.

Another way of putting it is “we are not connecting the dots” Bird food is connected to bird toys which are connected to bird cages and bird stands and everything has to work together.

There is a large overlap of caged bird keepers who claim the birds will eat nothing new nor with a play with toys – which is the problem and the solution – we need to combine the toys with the food – for starters.

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Canaries – Nature’s IPods – Why They Sing
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Canaries – Nature’s IPods – Why They Sing

Before iPods there were boomboxes. Before boomboxes, there were stereo radios. Precursors to phonographs were Victrolas.

But the way to get tunes in your home long before there was electricity was the natural sound of bird songs.

For years people would place a Canary or other singing finches in a small cage on either side of the room and whoever did that first can take credit for inventing stereo sound.

Canaries are small songbirds coming from the Finch family and were initially found in places like the Azores and believe it or not the Canary Islands.

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How Can I Get My Parakeets to Eat Something Other Than Seed?
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How Can I Get My Parakeets to Eat Something Other Than Seed?

Birds that have been only given one food for all their lives are harder to convert to a better diet but it can be done with time and patience.

A wide flat dish with chopped veggies, mashed carrots, squash, and a big hunk of green romaine lettuce placed on the center of the bottom of their cage every day for a month should get them rolling. Sprinkle the plate with some sed, and take out their main dish for a few hours after placing the fresh food dish in the cage.

Here is just one option using bird bread to get them to eat pellets.

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