Cockatiel Diet

[Kauvan]

Hi, I just wanted to know what is a full, helathy and balance diet for a cockatiel:
Seeds (what kind of seeds, which ones should be given regularly, which ones occasionally/as a treat).
Veggies/Fruit (what kind of, how much/day)
Pellets (is it possible to avoid them if I feed my tiels everything else?)

[Scritch]

Have you heard of or thought about sprouting? Sprouting seeds... even just a soak overnight and rinsing them... greatly increases their nutritional value. Couple articles with "how-to's":
ParrotChronicles.com
Sprouting For Healthier Birds

There are special sprouting mixes you can buy, but you can also sprout any ol' regular seed mix, so long as it doesn't have a lot of unsproutable stuff like pellets and cracked corn. The most basic, least fancy seed mix you can find will usually sprout best.

Anyway, basic cockatiel seed mix should be fine for your bird most of the time. For a dry seed mix (rather than a sprouting mix) I like ones with a nice variety of seeds and other foods in them. I like some of the Hagen mixes if you can find them. Most cockatiel mixes contain a lot of sunflower seeds, which can be a bad thing as they're high in fat (except when sprouted!), but if your bird is eating plenty of other foods I wouldn't about it.

For vegetables, go ahead and feed as much as your bird will eat! Cockatiels usually especially like dark leafy greens -- collards, spinach, romaine lettuce, kale etc. Also broccoli and carrots seemed to be favorites with my tiels. Avoid pale leafy greens like iceberg lettuce, they aren't very nutritional. That goes for most veggies -- the more color they have, the more nutritional they are. But for the most part, any veggie your bird will eat is a good one, just make sure to offer a variety. NO AVOCADOS. They are poisonous to birds.

If you have trouble getting your bird to eat his veggies, chop them up fine and mix them in with the sprouts, if you do start sprouting... most will eat them that way.

The same thing about color applies to fruit too, the darker-colored ones are better. Cantaloupe, peaches & nectarines, plums, kiwis, blueberries, raspberries, cherries... but really any fruit is good as a treat. Apples are usually favorites. Don't go overboard with the fruit, I usually offer my birds as much as they want to eat once a day, but not more often than that.

I don't believe cockatiels need pellets and mine seemed to do better without them. IF they're eating a balanced diet, otherwise. Cockatiels are seed specialists in the wild surviving mainly on dry seeds, sprouted seeds and vegetation, so if you can provide seeds, sprouts, and fruits & veggies, they shouldn't need pellets. The more healthy variety you can put in the diet, the better!

[Lady Kakata]

Sorry posted in the wrong place!