Last Updated on by Mitch Rezman
Hi I’m looking for a dietary regimen for an Amazon Blue Front parrot.
He is used to a seed diet and I’m looking to provide him with a healthier diet.
Do you have any recommendations?
Also, I need a healthy diet for a sun conure. A dietary regimen for parakeets and also for finches of various varieties.
I’m looking to save money considering I have 27 different birds.
In order to complete your request please let us know what you are feeding the birds now and the sex of the birds (don’t worry about the finches’ sex)
Please confirm your parakeets are budgies and how many keets and finches.
Are any or all of the birds flighted or clipped
Have any of the birds laid eggs?
Are you aware most BFA’s have a vitamin A deficiency?
best
mitchr
The Blue Front Amazon seems to not know how to fly I only got him in March.
He is 24 years old.
The male sun conure is one and a half years old has a splayed leg and flies very short distances only when he wants, which is rare.
My finches range from owl finches Lady Gouldians, golden breasted waxbills, Society finches and zebra finches.
The zebra finches have laid eggs but none of them have been good.
In order to complete your request please let us know what you are feeding the birds now and the sex of the birds (don’t worry about the finches sex)
Please confirm your parakeets are budgies and how many keets and finches .
Are any or all of the birds flighted or clipped?
Have any of the birds laid eggs?
Are you aware most BFA’s have a vitamin A deficiency?
best
Mitchr
Bret S
The BFA and male sun conure are not clipped. They eat a seed mix from the bulk bins at Pet Supplies Plus and treats from millet from Higgins and a bag of tree nuts from a vendor at a bird expo.
I have a breeding pair and 6-month-old babies and a nest of 5 babies just getting feathers.
They eat parakeet premium bulk seed from Pet Supplies Plus and I mix in pretty bird Tutti Frutti pellets with the seed.
I will attach a photo of the breeding pair.
Hi Brett,
The first thing I always talk about with Blue Front Amazons is they are known to usually suffer from a vitamin A deficiency which can only be determined by a blood workup done at the veterinary clinic or hospital.
I try not to knock competitors as I don’t want anyone talking bad about us but conceptually I have a big problem with bulk bird food in bins.
I write about the problems with bulk bird food here
My issue is I’ve never seen anybody – ever – empty a bulk bird food bin be it the plastic ones on the wall or the barrels on the floor.
Then wash them and disinfect them prior to refilling them.
You have no idea of what the “best used by” date is.
I’ve also come to find in many cases that the bulk bird food is actually more expensive on a part-time basis than the prepackaged name brand foods.
Keep in mind that normally they are refilled by simply adding more food to the vessel meaning the food on the bottom can potentially get moldy triggering diseases like Aspergillus.
It’s a risk that you take, you’ve been warned.
You’ve also indicated on the birds are on seed mixtures.
Seed mixtures by themselves will not provide a complete nutritional regimen for any pet bird in your household.
The fact that the zebra finches have laid eggs but none of them are fertile is also another sign that the birds may be malnourished.
It’s my understanding that zebra finches are relatively easy to breed.
To simplify your life I would advocate that you pick a line of food that is more complete and versatile for your 27 birds.
Two of our favorite and most popular bird food lines are Higgins Safflower Gold and Hagen Tropimix
We like them because they are full-body and well-rounded.
They contain seeds, nuts fruits and pellets.
Both make great foraging foods and are available in food sizes that are appropriate for all of your 27 birds.
Hagen actually sucks the air out of their bags and fills them with nitrogen ensuring the lack of any growing live larva.
Kudos on keeping your birds flighted.
My guess is your male sun conure with a splayed leg doesn’t fly a lot not so much because of flying itself but landing.
The bird has to land on a perch grabbing it with a single foot which can be a bit of a challenge.
You may consider landing zones on the top of the cage that is flat so there’s room for error when the bird lands
I like to point out that the entire Hagen line changes relative to the bird size.
In other words rather than just including larger pieces of food and nuts for the bigger birds they actually of engineered the food to have higher protein for the larger birds because they will definitely burn more calories.
This is also one of the reasons that I asked if your birds are flighted.
Your BFA may not be flying now but I think with some gentle prodding he may be entice to add flight to his repertoire.
Flighted birds have greater caloric expenditures.
We also like to look at the sex and the birds knowing that a brooding hen requires more calories than a hen who is no interest in making babies.
Birds that are in a molt burn more calories because they need to the replace the thousands of feathers that they shed over period of time.
A brooding hen in a molt is a perfect storm for a bird that is malnourished.
Ask any veterinarian and they will tell you the single biggest cause of death in pet birds is malnutrition.
Personally, I also change my bird’s water (we have seven; six budgies and a Senegal parrot) at least twice a day in the morning and the evening.
I freshen up the two birdcages food dishes when I freshen the water in the evening.
Everything gets totally replaced every morning, food and water.
Millet is a treat.
Our six budgies split a millet spray every couple of days.
I cut a millet into six pieces so everybody has an equal opportunity to enjoy this tasty morsel.
Keep in mind that millet to birds is the equivalent of McDonald’s French fries to humans.
Really tasty but really fattening and must be kept in perspective.
Wrapping things up, we like to introduce cucumber slices to the budgies cage on a regular basis.
Peaches our Senegal will have nothing to do with the fresh vegetable but will eat other veggies with us at the kitchen table.
We also offer the budgies baths almost daily and place lettuce within the small bathtubs that they enjoy chewing on as well as bathing on it.
I hope some of this helps.
Best of luck.
mitchr
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