Best Homemade Food For Parrots (Doubtful Questions Answered)

Being a parrot owner, your precious time gets wasted thinking about what can be the best food for parrots. Like a parent, you always feel like your parrot is your child and wants to provide him with a better life.

We can relate to such thoughts so much as we have been petting a cockatiel for the last few months. we know the struggle when it comes to the food for parrots and it can make you agitated sometimes.

Homemade Food Lists For Parrots – What To Avoid While Feeding Home-Made Foods?

With a heft of research and experiment, we reach some conclusions with the platters of parrots. It is not easy to pet a parrot when it comes to food as you can not feed him anything. ‘ what can be the best food for parrots?’ if this question knocks you now and then, you have me.

My sole purpose in writing this piece is to provide some valuable information about your parrot. If you want to explore them we would suggest you go through the article.

✅Benefits of feeding homemade food to parrots

Preparing for your parrot is the best way to feed them. There are many benefits while feeding homemade food. One of the main benefits of homemade food is you can control the ingredients.  If you feed commercial food, it consists of preservatives, artificial colors, and other ingredients that may not be healthy for your parrots. You can tailor the recipes considering your parrot’s likes and dislikes. For example, if your parrot does not like certain dishes, you can provide an alternative option. 

Every parrot is different and needs and has different nutritional requirements according to their species, size, age, and activity level. By making food for your parrot, you can ensure that the parrot’s diet is free from harmful ingredients like preservatives and chemicals. If your parrot lacks nutrition, you can alter the diet by adding nuts, vegetables, fruits, seeds, and treats in the required quantity.

Homemade food is affordable when compared to commercial food. So with proper planning and preparation, you can feed your parrots healthy and affordable food for the long run. 

🍉Nutritional requirements for parrots

We may think that parrots the main part of the parrot’s diet is seeds. But no, although they eat seeds, parrots thrive on a fruit-laden diet. Seeds should be a small part of the diet as they are high in fat and deficient in calcium and vitamins. So, we cannot feed our birds without knowing their nutritional requirements. Now, let’s see whatever nutrients are essential for your bird and try to include them according to its need.

1. Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the energy source for metabolism. Such food should be given in moderation to your parrots because overconsumption can harm them. The quantity may depend upon the size, temperature, and how much physical activity your bird has.

2. Proteins

Protein is essential to maintain muscles as well as to keep other body tissues of the bird healthy. It is considered a building block for the body. So, the daily diet plan of the parrot should consist of 10 to 15% protein. 

3. Vitamins

Vitamins also play an important role in the parrot’s diet. You should include Vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K in the diet of your parrot. But at the same time, too much vitamin A and D can lead to kidney damage, so provide them with the required quantity. You can find vitamin A in dark green foods like spinach, broccoli, sweet potato, peas, and beans. Vitamin D helps to improve the skin and preen glands of parrots. But the excess level of these vitamins can cause kidney problems in your parrots. 

4. Calcium

Your parrots require calcium for the maintenance of healthy bones, feather protection, eggshell manufacture, and muscle and nerve functioning. Calcium is present in cuttlebones, cooked chicken bones, chickpeas, bread, and dark green foods. 

5. Fat

Fats are an energy source for parrots, but overconsumption of fat food can lead to health issues in your parrots. Your parrot’s food should consist of 2 to 4 % of fats daily. It can be a health problem if it exceeds its normal quantity. 

Nutrient	Role	Daily Requirement
Carbohydrates	The energy source for metabolism	Moderate amount based on size and activity level
Protein	Building block for body tissues maintains muscles	10-15% of the daily diet
Vitamins	Essential for various bodily functions	Provide necessary quantities, avoid over-supplementation
Calcium	Necessary for healthy bones, feathers, eggshells, muscle, and nerve function	Provide necessary quantities, and adjust based on the bird’s needs
Fats	Energy source	2-4% of the daily diet

What Human Foods Do Parrots Eat?

Parrots are considered omnivores and they will enjoy prepared mixed food dishes. Now the question comes what if they can consume human food? Before answering this question, let me tell you some facts about a parrot’s digestive system. Parrots can live for an average of 15 – 20 years having seeds and pellets only. However, they have around 350 taste buds whereas a human consists of 9000 buds. So they can taste food like us but the intensity will be less. This is a piece of good news for all those parrot parents you can experiment with human food for them.

A parrot can eat Fresh fruits, and vegetables even if it can digest a little number of meats. You need to check the foods and their repercussions before serving them. Checking all the facts before feeding them might seem hectic so here we will share some human food for parrots and also the restrictions you should maintain.

🔹Vegetables:

You can provide vegetables as they are healthy and can improve their digestive system to them. You can start with Asparagus as it is full of antioxidants and it reduces the chances of constipation.

Parrots can grow inflammation sometimes and Beet can be the best solution at this time. Beet has a pigmentation which is called Betalains which can soothe the inflammation of your parrot. Bell Papers will be your parrot’s favorite food as they have vitamin c and fiber in abundance. It will help their digestive system.

Bell Papers are known for their presence of various Vitamins and they can heal any kind of pain. As your parrot has fewer taste buds so they do not feel the burning sensations like a human. You can easily provide them. Apart from that, you can feed your parrots Spinach, and Carrots Parsnips.

🔹Fruits:

Other than veggies, fruits are also good options as food for parrots. When it comes to fruits, you need to maintain some restrictions as some fruits can be dangerous to them. Fruits like Plum, berries, and Peaches are juicy and have a good amount of sugar. This can irritate the digestive system of your parrots.

As parrots are not habituated to fruits so in the beginning, they might not like them but gradually they can be inclined toward them. There are some fruits you must feed them. 

Bananas are known for minerals like potassium, Magnesium, etc and they can make your parrot’s heart muscles stronger. Apart from that, a slice of a banana can make them healthy with stronger bones. You can experiment with Grapes sometimes as they contain Resveratrol which decreases the inflammation of your bird. Apart from that Apple, Oranges are liked by parrots. Your bird can snatch them from your hands. 

However, you should know about toxic fruits like apricots, peaches, plums, cherries, etc. These kinds of fruits are considered toxic for parrots. We never recommend such fruits for your parrots but if you still want to experiment with them make sure you peel off the stone of those fruits. The stone is an apricot that can generate cyanide in your parrot’s stomach and it can cause death.

🔹Seeds:

Any veterinary suggests seeds as the best food for parrots at any time. If you are feeding them seeds for a long, there is a high possibility that parrots can addicted to them. Your feathery friend would like to have seeds that can be picked with his beak.

If you are feeding them seeds daily then try out sprouted seeds rather than dried ones. However, eating seeds regularly can harm them as they cause obesity in parrots. You can see the vitamin deficiency in your pet so make sure you feed them other nutritious food with seeds.

⏰Monitoring and adjusting parrot’s food

Unlike wild parrots, a pet parrot’s life routine is different, and it wholly depends upon what they are allowed by their owners. A good diet is essential to keep them happy and healthy. If the diet is not balanced, they may face various health issues like malnutrition, digestive problems, and other diseases. 

All parrots are different and have unique personalities—the same applies to their eating behavior. It is necessary to understand your bird’s eating patterns before making a food chart. It may vary according to the bird’s breed, size, age, and nature. But have you ever wondered how to adjust their food considering their requirements? Then let’s discuss it more.

Changing a diet for a parrot needs a lot of patience and attention. If you notice health issues like malnutrition, obesity, and other health problems in your bird, consider it as a reminder to adjust its food pattern.

Like humans, parrots also need a balanced diet that provides them necessary nutrients to live a long life. Several illnesses occur when the parrot does not get a proper diet. The most common among them are malnutrition, liver diseases, and obesity.

Malnutrition is a common illness that occurs when the diet does not consist of enough nutrients. On the other hand, obesity can be caused by a diet high in calories and low in nutrients. A poor diet is responsible for several health problems in parrots. So, identify the problem and reschedule your parrot’s diet to offer them a better life. 

Food Category	Purpose
Fresh fruits and vegetables	Provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber
Pellets	Provide balanced nutrition
Seeds	Provide fats, protein, and carbohydrates
Treats	Offer variety and enrichment

Tasty Home-Made Food For Parrots

Serving homemade cooked food to anyone is always a favorite hobby for most of us. For my Cocketeil, there are no exceptions. we love to feed him but before that, we need to go through some research work and experiments. we have tried out some recipes for him and would love to share them with you. Here are some recipes you can try.

• Sweet Potato Balls 

You will need one sweet potato, A banana, and some other stuff like raisins, oatmeal frozen vegetables, etc. With a grinder, you can grind them and make a mashed version of all the ingredients. After all the processes, you can shape them as balls and serve them to your baby.

• Peanut Butter

You can serve them peanut butter as it is healthy food for them. You can prepare the food at home with nutrition. Make sure your homemade peanut butter is salt-free. 

• Yogurt Covered Strawberries

Yogurt-covered strawberries can be a very good meal for your parrot. All you need to mix in a grinder and make a thick paste. You can serve it in a bowl and see how they like it.

• Celery Sticks

Celery sticks can be his favorite meal if you serve them with care. Celery is not counted as toxic so you can easily serve them. Make sure you wash them and peel off their skin before serving.

• Boiled Potatoes And Pumpkins

You can provide raw foods as well as boiled ones.  Boiled Potatoes and Pumpkins will be also a great option as they are easy to digest for the parrots. 

• Seed Balls

As we have mentioned that seeds can be very delicious food for your parrot but only seeds will not provide all the nutrition. So you can mix them with other fruits and veggies and shape them into a ball. It can be a favorite variation of theirs.

Let’s Conclude…

Parrots are delicate birds and they need proper care and nutrition. If you are petting a parrot you have the worries like what is the best food for parrots. We have been petting my bird for the last few months, and we have faced such problems. To provide the best food we have gone through some studies and talked with some professionals. 

We have shared all our experiences with you in this article. We also have prompted some food recipes you can prepare for your parrot. This was from the end and we hope they will ease some of your worries about food for parrots.

Frequently Asked Questions