As an animal lover, the health and happiness of your pet should be your top priority. When taking care of parakeets (aka budgerigars or budgies), feeding them a healthy mix of foods they like to stay healthy and strong is essential. It makes them feel good physically and gives them the nutrients they need!
Seeds are not enough for wild parakeets to live on alone. Budgies also need things like mealworms and a wide range of other foods to get the vitamins and minerals needed to grow and stay healthy.
Even though most bird food products do an excellent job of giving your pet all of the essential nutrients, there are times when you may also need to give your pet dietary supplements to fill up any gaps.
Plus they’re not as satisfying for your feathered friend! When it’s time to make your parakeet’s next meal, what foods should you give them, and which ones should you stay away from?
When you have so many choices, choosing the foods that give you the most protein for budgies and vitamins can be challenging. By giving you these helpful tips, we’ve made choosing even easier.
What Do Parakeets Eat in the Wild?
Budgies are omnivores in their natural environment because they eat plants and insects. When the bird is kept in a cage, they are usually fed a special mix of seeds and fresh fruits and vegetables. A reliable source of seeds gives the bird a lot of protein, which it would have to get from insects in the wild if it didn’t have access to this food source.
The only significant difference is that the seeds also have a lot of lipids, making the birds less active and less likely to move around on a full stomach.
Insects give birds protein and the kind of fats that give them more energy.
Most of the time, mother birds feed their young insects while they are still growing. This is because insects are good sources of nutrition, which helps the bird grow as a whole.
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What do Budgies eat? Do Parakeets Eat Mealworms? What Can Parakeets Eat?
Budgies eat many things, including bugs like worms, ants, and flying insects. Greenflies (a type of aphid), and other common garden pests can’t keep up with their hunger! The question of what bugs your parakeet can eat is not nearly as hard to answer as the question of where you can find them.
Can Budgies Eat Worms? and Do Parrots Eat Insects?
In the wild, the budgie’s diet consists of vegetation, insect protein, seeds, and raw nectar.
Mealworms are the most common type of bug-based food because you can buy them at almost any garden or pet store. Also, ant pupae can be found on the shelves of most stores that sell pet supplies. Most of the time, these pupae are sold as a deep-frozen meal.
If you have a budgie, you can feed it protein-rich insects and get rid of problems in your yard at the same time by picking up stray insects. One of the main reasons most birds are such a great addition to gardens is that they can eat these kinds of insects and pests.
Just be careful about letting your pet bird roam outside – it might decide it likes the great outdoors more than a cage!
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Mealworms as Part of a Parakeet’s Diet
Still asking “can Parakeets eat mealworms?” Mealworms are especially important to a healthy parakeet’s diet, although the foods they like to eat vary significantly from bird to bird. They may be small, but each one packs a ton of personality!
Most domestic parakeets eat seeds. Some budgie owners swear by these tasty treats for Parakeets, while others have seen that their birds have no interest in eating them.
Some owners shun the seed diet because it isn’t what most parakeets eat in the wild and it can make them fat and lazy.
The good news is that mealworms give them a good amount of protein from insects without making you feel bad about giving them something that might upset their stomachs. It’s also more akin to what they’ll find in the wild.
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Do Parakeets Catch Bugs?
Budgies often catch flying insects or spiders as they go by, whether they live inside or in an outdoor aviary.
When pet owners see this for the first time, it can be a proud moment to see their tiny little bird eating a bug they caught themselves. It is normal for them to catch their food in the wild and in captivity if the bug is foolish enough to stray too close!
Even your parakeet might decide to take things into their beaks and start catching bugs from inside its cage like a little feathery assassin.
See Related: How do Parakeets Sleep?
What Can’t a Parakeet Eat?
Just like with other animals, there is a long list of things that parakeets should never be given. Certain fruits and vegetables should make up a big part of their diet, but it’s essential to know which ones are safe to eat and which could be bad for their health.
Some parakeet owners think certain human food items (y’know other than fruit and veg) are okay to feed their pet birds. It’s fine as an occasional treat, but fried food for every meal is a no-no for your bird’s diet.
Foods like potatoes and peppers have different amounts of solanine, which is a poison for them. Avocados and onions are two foods that should never be given to parakeets either.
Some plants that make vegetables safe for your pet may also make leaves that birds shouldn’t eat because they contain chemicals that are bad for them. The leaves and other parts of the plant have a much higher concentration of certain compounds than the fruits and vegetables themselves do, even though the fruits and vegetables do have small amounts of it that are safe to eat.
Chocolate and any candy are types of foods you should stay away from. Anything with a lot of sugar will be bad for their health in a significant way. Even sugar-free candy has chemicals that you should never give to a bird.
Stay away from processed foods that have a lot of saturated fat and a lot of salt. These bad treats make the bird drink too much or too little water, which can lead to problems like dehydration or kidney failure.
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Can Parakeets Eat Dried Mealworms?
Bugs are not needed when food has a good balance of nutrients. At least 5% of the food you give your budgie should be fruit, and at least 20% should be vegetables.
A satisfying amount of protein can also be found in seeds, which should make up about 10% of their diet. Even though it’s fine to give them this type of meal once a day, it’s best to give them smaller amounts of snacks and things like insects.
See Related: Do Parakeets Like Being Held?
What About Earthworms? Do Parrots Eat Worms?
Some species of parrots like eating earthworms in the wild, but your domestic budgie likely won’t! If the question arises can parakeets eat worms? Wild parakeets will only go for earthworms if there is nothing else to eat. It might be a case of.
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What Do Parakeets Drink?
In the wild and in captivity, budgies drink water. I know, it’s boring, but most things drink water. Don’t serve a parakeet coffee or a vodka Redbull, even as a rare treat – it won’t appreciate the effects and subtlety, and it will probably just die.
What Are the Foods That Parakeets Like to Eat the Most?
Your parakeet’s favorite food comes down to its tastes. Like people, different birds have different personalities and tastes that affect what they like to eat and why.
Many like seeds, many birds like mealworms, and then there are some parakeets that can’t stand either!
But, in general, these charming little birds seem to agree that fruits are the best thing for them to eat! And kids would have ice cream for every meal if they could. Fruit is okay, just don’t make it the core of their diets.
You’ll be glad to know that you have a lot of options when it comes to the different fruits you can give your budgie.
A consensus among owners is that melons are the fruits that parakeets love the most. Some of the top melons include cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelons. Your bird might also like to eat fruit like mango, pomegranate, bananas, apples, and even more.
For example, mangoes and apricots are excellent sources of beta carotene and other vitamins that parakeets need to stay healthy. Apples are also fairly popular. Just know that apple seeds and certain fruit pits have compounds in them that are poisonous to budgies, so try to remove them first.
Well, I think I’ve adequately established that feeding mealworms to everyone’s favorite pet birds is A-OK. Now you know budgies eat mealworms, here are a few other foods that your pet parakeet might enjoy.
Pellets
Most people who have parakeets feed their birds various foods, such as pellets, seeds, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Most people who keep birds as pets give them food pellets to eat in addition to the food they give them.
These pellets have a nice mix of the nutrients the bird needs, so the owner doesn’t have to spend a lot of time looking for the different things that make up a healthy diet. The pellets and seeds make up about 75% of their diet. Most of the time, a natural diet is best for your pet.
Fruits & Vegetables
When it comes to eating vegetables, parakeets love leafy greens the most. They love almost all green foods (except avocados don’t give them avocados) but go ga-ga for certain vegetables and fruits as well. Try some diced apple or a melon rind. You could even mash some yummy sweet potatoes for them!
Peas, celery, asparagus, and cucumber are healthy vegetables you can give to your pet and they love them too! They are also crazy about corn, carrots, and beets, all tasty foods. Man, that sounds good, I’m thinking of fixing up a salad.
Nuts & Seeds
In addition to fruits and vegetables, these little tropical birds like to nibble on many other seeds and nuts. You can feed your bird pistachios, peanuts, almonds, and pecans. The most common type of bird food is millet seeds, followed by safflower and canary seeds.
Because sunflower seeds have a lot of fat, they should be given to parakeets much less often and in much smaller amounts than other seeds and nuts.
Treats
Honey sticks and millet bars are good choices if your pet bird wants something sweet to snack on!
Some people think that honey sticks have too much sugar and that you should only use a small amount of them per time.
But if your budgie likes a particular fruit or food, that can be enough of a reward on its own. If you want to teach your budgie new skills like how to talk or follow directions often, try feeding it something with a little less energy.
Since you’ll be feeding them more than once during the training reps, you should choose something that doesn’t give them too much sugar and fat with each bite.
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Final Thoughts
Your animals deserve as much love and care from you as you give to yourself – if not more! Like people, they have a wide range of dietary needs that must be met to be at their best.
Before giving them something to eat that you aren’t sure is safe, double-check it and ensure that it won’t cause them health problems.
You can make sure your parakeet is happy and healthy in another way by making sure it gets enough sleep at night. This is a great way to make these goals come true.
They need a routine to help them relax at the end of the day after spending the day playing and singing. This is of equal significance to ensure that they consume nutritious food in sufficient quantities.
Learn how to change your parakeet’s sleeping habits and how to keep them asleep to learn more about the best techniques to help them fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer. Learn their typical sleeping patterns and then change their schedules accordingly. They adhere to the regular regimen and make time for recuperation.
Sleep and diet are extremely important for your feathered friend, so make sure that you provide an atmosphere in which they can receive the rest that they deserve.
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