Best Seasonal Diet for Lovebirds & Conures (Aug to April) – Exhibition Bird Feeding Guide

Best Diet for lovebirds, Conures, Exhibitions etc

From August to April

 One of the basic keys to keeping your lovebird healthy is to provide the right kind and a variety of diet to them. The basic diet of lovebirds in the wild is seeds of various fruit sand grasses, the fruit itself, various plants and some insects. Keep a cuttlebone available to your lovebirds at all times as a good source of calcium. Keep fresh, pure steam distilled water for them to drink. Do not purchase cheap seed that is what it is...Cheap nutrients. Don't feed if it's moldy or shows signs of being fouled by vermin.

Lovebirds husk their seeds before swallowing, but are not good at chewing the seed. The seed is ground into a pulp in the stomach helped by grit they swallow. Grit is really gravel, it is held in the bird's gizzard. Most avian veterinarians now believe that lovebirds do not need grit provided in their diet, and some believe it may do more harm than good.

Lovebirds do not always accept new foods into their diets readily, sometimes it may take up to 2 weeks or more for them to try anew food. Lovebirds love green foods and most fruits. Lovebirds will eat mealworms, maggots, crickets, various flies and any insect that normally lives on green plants. Ant eggs are a good source of protein.

 

Acceptable Seeds/Grains:

Millet, canary grass seed, hulled oats, Niger seed, flax seed, sunflower seed, rape seed, milo, safflower, soybeans, rye, canary seed, whole wheat, whole brown rice, fennel, caraway, poppy, sesame. Don't over feed sunflower seeds, Petey picks out all the sunflower seeds first, and will eat them to exclusion of the others, this can lead to an imbalance in the diet. 

Acceptable Green Foods:

Lettuce (not iceberg), green peas, spinach, endive, mango leaves, strips of kohlrabi, carrots, carrot tops, fresh corn, tomatoes, radish, red beets, parsley, dandelion, clover, chickweed, sprouts, watercress, broccoli, cucumber, dried peppers, and kale (Petey and Petunia Love their kale) Wheatgrass is a wonderful food for lovebirds as it is high in chlorophyll and a number of vitamins and minerals. 

Acceptable Fruits:

Apples, pears, bananas, grapes, strawberry, raspberry, rose hips, pitted cherries, oranges, tangerines, kiwi, figs, melon. If you get dried fruits, be certain they are sulfite free. 

Acceptable Nuts:

Shelled and unshelled peanuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, acorns, horse chestnuts. (All uneaten fresh foods should be removed from the cages once a day. Uneaten fruits need to be removed after 2 hours) Be certain you thoroughly wash the insecticides/pesticides and parasites from the foods before you give to your lovebirds. 

Seed Mixes:

Purchase a mix that is fresh. Seeds should be able to be germinated and sprouted. Avoid buying at a pet store if possible, these mixes are commercially prepared in large batches and may sit around in warehouses or on the shelf for a long time before being purchased. If you ever open a bag of seed and detect a musty or moldy odor, Don't feed it! As a general rule, seed mixes intended for smaller or junior hookbills, or a lovebird/conure mix is acceptable. Short term, a tie l mix can be used. Vitamin/mineral supplements are not necessary if you are feeding your lovebird a wide variety of foods and provide them with a cuttlebone.

Never Feed these Foods to Lovebirds: Foods containing sugar, fast food items, greasy foods, foods high in fat, salty foods, chocolate, coffee or teas, ice cream, colas, alcohol, (if you think intoxicating a pet bird is amusing, you don't deserve to own the bird)