Budgerigar Soft Food

In the wild, the Budgerigar eats grass seed and shoots, as well as the buds of trees. There is some evidence that they also take small insects and some fruit. In captivity, the simplest way to feed budgies is to buy a good commercial Budgie Mix - it is best not to change the brand, but if you want to make up your own soft food, a mixture of four parts of plain canary seed to one part white millet and one part yellow millet is fine. In addition, as with all seed eating birds,budgies most have mineral grit. Since birds do not have teeth budgie swallows whole seeds which go into the crop where the yare broken down by muscular action on the seed and the grit together. The sharp edges on each piece of grit chop up the seeds into easily digestible particles. A bird will not eat much grit. Out it must have access to the stuff at all times. If you keep a single budgie, a small packet will last over a year. A commercial vitamin mixture should be given on a regular basis.

You should put a piece of cuttlefish bone in the cage to provide the budgie with calcium, and he will appreciate as many millet sprays as you care to give him. If you soak a spray in water for few hours, then rinse it well and put it in an open topped amatory a day and then rinse it again and put it back in the jar and keep doing this, you will find in two or three days that all the seeds on the spray start to sprout. When they do, give it a final thorough rinse and hang it in the cage. If you do this once a week you will be providing your bird with all sorts of vitamins that he otherwise would not have. To add some variety to the diet, especially if you want to breed budgies, you can also try tidbits of green food, such as pieces of fruit or vegetables that have been well washed, but no tall budgies will take them. In any case, such items should only be supplied very sparingly, especially if you have only one budgie in ac age. Seeding grasses, thistles and other wild plants are good foods if they are not covered in contaminants. Budgies do not drink much but they should have water at all times.

Incidentally, in the spring when the last frosts are past, if you sow a row of spray millet seeds they will grow, but you will only get a reasonable quantity of decent sized sprays if the summer is along hot one. You can save a fortune on the things if it is. You cannot grow ordinary budgie seed as it has been dried at temperature which has killed it.