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Question by Misty Rain: My Indian Ringneck only eats seed and tomatoes?
I have an 8 month old Indian Ring neck. I have had her since April and we have bonded extremely well. When I got her, she was untamed. But now, she is tame, gives kisses, but has a bad diet. When I first got her I fed pretty much every fruit and vegetable in the kitchen (besides the unhealthy ones). She doesn’t eat pellets (I haven’t tried them because I have heard lots of bad things), or anything other then budgie/parrot mix and any form of tomato.
I stopped feeding her tomato and replaced it with things like, apple, pears and grapes. But she refused to eat them and stuffed her face with seed instead.
My Indian Ringneck (Sora) – http://www.flickr.com/photos/78368926@N03/8922888564/
My questions are:
1. Is feeding her just tomatoes and seed bad for her?
2. Should I try and feed her pellets?
3. What do you suggest I do to fix her dietary habits?
Best answer:
Answer by Dawn
Your Indian ringneck is very cute. I hope the bracelet around its neck isn’t heavy. But please do not feed to much Tomatoes to your bird.
1. Tomatoes are an acidic fruit. Tomatoes are a fruit that are high in acid and are a food that avian vets advise not to offer to your birds. For dried tomatoes, it’s because only a little of the acid is left over from the drying process. The tomatoes in spaghetti sauce are cooked, removing the acid and also, there isn’t a lot used in the sauce. It’s a one in a million chance on there being major problems feeding your birds tomatoes, But I’d rather not risk it when there are better foods out there. Eat fruits and veggies in front of the bird. Show it how tasty the stuff is (even if it isn’t). Keep doing this until the bird looks curious.Put broccoli heads out where the bird can nibble on it (or offer some in your fingers). Broccoli heads, in particular, tend to look like a collection of green seeds; this is how I introduced the foreign concept of veggies to my ‘tiel, back when he was very young. I give my birds entire broccoli stalks (with all but one of the floret sets cut off for the humans’ dinner), and they sometimes rip off all the flowers and strip the stalk. You can usually tell how fresh and tasty the broccoli was by how much of it is eaten (the older and more bitter ones sometimes get no damage). If you leave the stalk on the cage-top, the birds can play with it there (and you’ll probably have to go retrieve it from the floor when they push it off).
2. Pellets are a good addition to a well balanced bird diet for the parrots and soft bills (like finches) that are typically kept as pets. What is a well balanced diet? In the last 20 years avian nutrition has come a long way but we still are learning (& guessing). The reason seed gets a bad rap now is because seeds are high in fat (very high) and don’t supply enough protein, calcium or many of the vitamins, fiber & certain minerals that make for a healthy bird. Just like for humans, variety is the best way for birds to get what they need. Pellets are good because they can be manufactured to include many trace vitamins/minerals in a somewhat controlled amount, things like B12, Biotin, Vitamin K & much more. If you birds are fed on seed DO NOT change to pellets, Pellets contain too many Chemicals and foods that birds would not feed on even in the wild. for instance waste food products such as animal offal, seed Husk, (which birds discard when eating seed)and many other things.even so called Organic Pellets.
3. From now on, only put what is recommended for the bird. You need to be tough to make the bird unlearn some old habits and pick new ones. Its a large bird. You don’t have to bother cutting up the fruit and veg. Large beaks need to cut on large chunks of fruit/veg. its a good exercise for their beaks and satisfies their need to bite at things. Give her one kind of fruit a day..say an apple chopped up in quarters (with no seeds, they are toxic to birds), chopped up cucumber, green chilies, peas, big chunk of corn, pear, mango, carrot etc. You can hang them by a thread so the bird does some workout to get the food. The bird will not starve itself. Once it learns that this is what it will get, it will have to eat it.
But remember, be patient and loving. You may reward you bird with one sunflower seed for good behavior, while doing a trick etc but not more than that.
Good luck
-Dawn/Sky
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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