List of potential food/treats for Red Bellied Parrot and Cockatiel

[ChrisUlrich]

Broccoli, peas, corn, carrots, kale, zucchini, parsley, spinach, celery, sweet potatoes, beets, yams, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, turnip greens, sweet peppers, fresh sprouts, endive, and yellow squash.

Make sure all food is fresh. Also, only leave meats and eggs in your bird's cage for about 30 minutes because they can spoil quickly.

You can also feed your bird cooked oatmeal, cooked cereal, hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, cooked rice, cooked pasta, cooked turkey, and cooked chicken, and yogurt. Wash all raw foods and serve cooked food at room temperature.

That sound accurate?

[New Ekkie Mom]

Your list is very good. A few things to keep in mind:

Celery and cucumbers have very little nutritional value. They're fine for something to munch on once in a while, but they do pretty much nothing for the bird nutritionally.

Meats and eggs can spoil quickly, but I wouldn't have a problem leaving them in the cage longer than 30 min. (If I make a turkey sandwich for my kids in the morning to eat at school for lunch several hours later, it's still ok.) This is for room temperature environments, of course.

Make sure any cooked oatmeal/cereal has no added sugar.

Dairy products should be given on a very limited basis, if at all.

Rice, pasta, oatmeal and cereal can also be served uncooked.

Meat and eggs (always cooked, of course) are very good additions to the diet, but they should not be given all the time. You do not want to give a bird the size of a cockatiel a big chunk of egg every day. A fourth of an egg a week is probably even too much. That's what I feed my Eclectus, and he's MUCH bigger than a cockatiel.

Cooked food can be served slightly warm (some birds prefer it warm) but not hot. It should not be any hotter than what you would offer a human baby.

[Poicephalus girl]

That sounds about right. I would add Chard (swiss chard, red chard, etc) to the list and would go easy on the romaine lettuce as lettuce doesn't bring much nutrition.

Personally, I also keep the fresh veggies and fruit for a minimum in the cage. They get pellets all day and a little seed and they get the fresh food for supper. They eat it then and I am able to remove it shortly after and don't have to worry about fresh food going bad in the cages, specially during summer when it is hot.

I don't give yogurt to my birds and I think I've read to only give some sparingly if you decide to; birds can not digest lactose.

Sprouts are awesome. Easy to do and my birds love them :)