Budgerigar food health week: day 2

Important nutritional supplements

A daily supply of vegetables is necessary in a balanced diet. You don't have to go further than in your own garden to get them, because budgies are quite fond of certain herbs. One example is the green leaves of dandelions. Budgies absolutely love this!
As for fruit, you have a wide variety of choices from which to choose as well. Select from oranges, apples, kiwi, guava, strawberries and mango. For vegetables, pick lettuce, carrots, broccoli and sweet corn. I just read in another source that they like spinach as well. Organic fruits and vegetables are always preferred, as they don't contain harmful pesticides. Later on, I will post a complete list of which fruits and vegetables budgies are allowed to eat - and I'll mark their favourites.

Fresh fruit. Image © dinostock from Fotolia.com

Vitamins

It's also important to give your budgies vitamin preparations. You can buy this at the pet store. Vitamins in vegetables lose their value over time, after the harvest. Most food doesn't contain enough necessary minerals either. The best way to be sure your budgies don't run short on vitamins, is to give them supplies on a regular basis, about twice a week (especially during the Winter). You can for example add it to their drinking water.

Limestone

All budgies get limestone cravings. Not a big surprise, because limestone contains all the elements that are needed for the shape of your budgie's skeleton and the feathers. You may sometimes find your budgies looking for small pieces of limestone in bird sand. They pick it up and eat it because it improves their digestion. Limestone pieces break down the seeds and corn pieces in the gizzard.

Grit and bird sand

Grit consists of minerals, small broken shells and coal. Just like limestone, this helps to break down the seed shells in your budgie's gizzard and stomach. Bird sand generally contains some grit, but you can also buy it in a box apart at the pet store.

Grit improves your budgie's digestion. Image © parrotparadise.ca

Cuttlebone and mineral blocks

Cuttlebone comes from the shell of cuttle fish and provides both jaw exercise and calcium for your budgie. Mineral blocks contain the necessary minerals for your budgies. You can place these two objects in the cage and give the budgies some time to get used to them. After a while, the budgies will gnaw at them to get the exercise and nutrients needed.

Cuttlebone and mineral blocks can be combined into a perch, which is brilliant because budgies love to gnaw on everything. That includes the things they're sitting on. Image © Ken Marshall from Fotolia.com