Last Updated on by Mitch Rezman
Catherine Mc. related,
Hello and thank you both, Mitch & Catherine, for your Birdie Brunch each Sunday.
I just lost my beloved Fred (a parakeet) and not sure what happened. I was very close to him, as was my other parakeet, Eddie.
I have been giving them millet spray pretty much every day. Is this bad? I have gotten lazy and not provided them with fresh veggies & fruit and now feel awful.
Also, how soon should I get another friend for Eddie? He is lonely, looking for Freddy. I did put his deceased body on the table for him to see his lifeless body, to help Ed understand.
Thank you for your help. It is so damn hard to lose a friend.
Catherine replied,
We are very sorry for your loss, and the loss of Eddie’s buddy.
Yes, allowing Eddie to see the body of his friend although seemingly morbid to us, does help Eddie understand that Fred is not coming back.
Millet spray is not bad in itself.
Budgies do eat a mainly millet diet in captivity. However, spray millet is very tasty, likely sweeter than the larger millet in a basic budgies seed mix, and if given the option, they will eat nothing but the spray millet. This can contribute to obesity and fatty liver disease.
In the wild parakeets prefer seed, mainly grass seed, (which is a staple of commercial canary seed mixes).
However, they also eat green seeds, some vegetation, and some fruit.
They also are always on the go, flying around and burning off a lot of the fat they get from the seeds.
In our homes, unless they are free-flying or have a huge aviary, they just don’t get the exercise that their wild relatives do.
Captive budgies are also very likely inbred due to color breeding and or the limited availability of fresh genes.
So even though a wild green budgie can live 25 years, an inbred white budgie might be lucky to reach 7-12 years in captivity. Most likely 5-10 at most as they are little tumor factories.
So, don’t beat yourself up about the loss of Fred, and instead, look to Eddie’s needs.
Can you make his life better? Do you want another parakeet for Eddie? If not, you may be fine with a small mirror to keep him company.
As far as the spray millet consumption. A 2″ chunk of spray millet as a bedtime snack (1/2 hour before lights out) would be a valued snack for him to look forward to.
Besides his daily dish of a quality Budgie Seed mix, a morning dish with some chopped veggies and/or a slice of apple adds a lot to a healthy diet.
If you need help with an order, please let me know.
Catherine
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