Having a pet can be quite entertaining especially if you own bird that can interact with you. Cockatiel is one of the fun pets you can adopt since it can mimic voice. Especially if you adopt male cockatiel, it has more tendencies to mimic voice in perfect tune than female cockatiels.
However, in order to keep them in shape, owner should pay attention to cockatiel’s health as part of how to take care cockatiels. One of the most important aspects in keeping your cockatiel healthy is by choosing the best food for your cockatiel.
Here are some of the best food choices for your cockatiel birds that you can pick.
Best Food Choices for Your Cockatiel Birds
Here is the list of food that you can give to your cockatiel.
1. Seed
The first food that you can give to your cockatiel is seed. Seed is essential for your cockatiel especially if it has omega and necessary fat. The seed that contains many nutrients is good to sustain your cockatiel’s health. To provide the best quality of seed, make sure the seed you give is something the vet recommends or in hygienic condition.
Provide clean tray to put the seed in your cockatiel’s cage. Put several seeds only for certain meal time and do not let it gone to waste if your cockatiel does not eat all the seeds. Change the old seeds with the fresh ones.
2. Yams
One of cockatiel’s favorite foods is yam. Yam is edible tuber that has light sweet taste and a lot of fiber in it. Not only cockatiel regards it as a delicious food, it also has a lot of nutrients to keep your cockatiel healthy.
Cockatiel is very sensitive when it comes to food. To some extends, improper feeding can reduce your cockatiel life span. To make sure your cockatiel is all healthy and well-fed, provide fresh cut yam every morning and change it once or twice a day to keep it fresh. while you train your cockatiel to fly to you, for example.
3. Dried Tomato
To keep its metabolism, you can give dried tomato as one of your cockatiel’s diet. Cockatiel does not really like any squirmy food, however, tomato has a lot of nutrients. Hence, giving dried tomato will help to keep your cockatiel healthy while also maintaining its appetite.
Tomato has a lot of vitamins as well as fiber. It will support your cockatiel’s stamina and its metabolism. Moreover, it will also add variety to your cockatiel’s diet. You can give it in between when your cockatiel is bored of the same food every day.
4. Peaches
Not only vegetable is good for cockatiel, fruit is also ideal choice of food for your cockatiel. One of them is peach. The sweet and sour peach is fresh as well as refreshing for your cockatiel. The juice will keep your cockatiel hydrated and feeling fresh for the whole day.
As fresh peaches do not stay for a long time, make it as a treat instead of main meal. You can give your cockatiel peach after your cockatiel succeeds training such as training to sing fluently. Thus, it will avoid the peach to go stale when you leave it at the food tray instead.
5. Cheese
Even though cockatiel’s ideal food is mainly of vegetable and fruit, cheese can also be a variety diet for your cockatiel. The fat and protein it has will help to sustain your cockatiel’s weight as its additional nutrients will complement ones that cannot be found in veggies.
You can make cheese as a treat or give it twice a week to balance the nutrients your cockatiel needs. Do not give too much cheese as it will affect your cockatiel’s health. You can also mix cheese with veggies simultaneously in order to save time especially if you have tight schedule.
6. Apricots
The next one of the best food choices for your cockatiel birds is apricot. Apricot has a lot of fiber as well as vitamins inside it. It will help to sustain your cockatiel digestion so it will have healthy metabolism. Apricot is also good for food mixing along with other foods.
You can choose apricot as a variety for your cockatiel’s diet. For example, you can give yam in the morning, apricot in the afternoon, and other foods in the evening. Therefore, your cockatiel will not get bored easily as you give it variety of food.
7. Cooked Egg
Even though protein from animals are not necessarily recommended for cockatiel, you can give it a try once or twice a week to balance your cockatiel’s nutrient. You can give cooked egg, either hard boiled or scrambled egg for your cockatiel. Do not give egg that is not properly cooked as it may contain bacteria or not hygienic enough for your cockatiel.
Egg is also good to be mixed with other veggies or fruits as your cockatiel may get bored with the same meal everyday.
8. Sprouts
Another veggies that is good for your cockatiel is sprout. Fresh sprout is ideal to keep your cockatiel healthy as it has a lot of vitamins and mineral to keep your cockatiel’s energy intact. Sprout is also more digestible for your cockatiel as it is a lot smaller than other vegetables.
You can give sprouts to your cockatiel as well as other vegetables in the morning in a clean food tray. Change the food and wash the tray in the afternoon or evening to avoid bacteria infestation. This is also necessary if you keep multiple cockatiels at home.
Reminder
Do not give cockatiel fruit that has seed inside it. Some seeds are dangerous as they can produce toxin like cyanide. Moreover, your cockatiel may not be able to digest seed in fruit and causes your cockatiel to get ill.
These are all the best food choices for your cockatiel birds. You can also consult veterinarian for the most suitable diet needed by your cockatiel.