what to feed your lovebirds

rastalovebird · admin. Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Posts: 71 Location: jamaica

What to Feed Lovebirds

One of the basic keys to keeping your lovebird healthy is
to provide the right kind and a variety of diet for them.

The basic diet of lovebirds in the wild is seeds of various fruits
and grasses, the fruit itself, various plants and some insects.

Keep a cuttlebone or mineral block
available to your lovebirds at all times as a good source of calcium.

Keep fresh, pure clean distilled water for them to drink or natural string water.

Do not purchase cheap seed, that is what it is...Cheap nutrients.
Don't feed if it's moldy or shows signs of being fouled by vermin.

Lovebirds husk their seeds before swallowing, but are not good
at chewing the seed.

Lovebirds do not always accept new foods into their diets readily,
sometimes it may take up to 2 weeks or more for them to try a
new food.

Lovebirds love green foods and most fruits.

Lovebirds will eat mealworms, maggots, crickets, various flies and
any insect that normally lives on green plants. Ant eggs are a
good source of protein.

Acceptable Seeds/Grains:

Millet, canary grass seed, hulled oats, niger seed, flax seed,
sunflower seed, rape seed, milo, safflower, soybeans, rye, canary seed,
whole wheat, whole brown rice, fennel, caraway, poppy, sesame.

Don't overfeed sunflower seeds,
your birds will picks out all the sunflower seeds first, and will eat them
to exclusion of the others, this can lead to an imbalance in the diet.

Acceptable Green Foods:

Lettuce (not iceberg), green peas, spinach, endive, mango leaves,
strips of kohlrabi, carrots, carrot tops, fresh corn, tomatoes,
radish, red beets, parsley, dandelion, clover, chickweed, sprouts,
watercress, broccoli, cucumber, dried peppers, and kale (Petey
and Petunia Love their kale)

Wheatgrass is a wonderful food for lovebirds as it is high in
chlorophyll and a number of vitamins and minerals.

Acceptable Fruits:

Apples, pears, bananas, grapes, strawberry, raspberry, rose hips,
pitted cherries, oranges, tangerines, kiwi, figs, melon. If you get dried
fruits, be certain they are sulfite free.

Acceptable Nuts:

Shelled and unshelled peanuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, acorns,
horse chestnuts.

All uneaten fresh foods should be removed from the cages
once a day. Uneaten fruits need to be removed after 2 hours.

Be certain you thoroughly wash the insecticides/pesticides
and parasites from the foods before you give to your lovebirds.

Seed Mixes

Purchase a mix that is fresh. Seeds should be able to be
germinated and sprouted. Avoid buying at a pet store if
possible, these mixes are commercially prepared in large
batches and may sit around in warehouses or on the shelf
for a long time before being purchased.

If you ever open a bag of seed and detect a musty or moldy
odor, Don't feed it!

As a general rule, seed mixes intended for smaller or
junior hookbills, or a lovebird/conure mix is acceptable.
Short term, a cockatiel mix can be used.

Vitamin/mineral supplements are not necessary if you are feeding
your lovebird a wide variety of foods and provide them with
a cuttlebone.

Never Feed These Foods to Lovebirds:

Foods containing sugar, fast food items, greasy foods, foods
high in fat, salty foods, chocolate, coffee or teas, colas,
alcohol, (if you think intoxicating a pet bird is amusing, you don't
deserve to own the bird), ice cream.
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