Birds are natural foragers. A bowl of pellets and seeds is not normal for a bird. This will be addressed in the foraging segment but it is important to know, especially if your bird’s wings are clipped and can’t fly. Flying from perch to perch is exercise. Lack of exercise, too much eating and eating of too many fatty seeds can be a health hazard to your bird. Read the foraging section for more.
NO GRIT! Grit is for canaries and other birds, NOT lovebirds. Ask your vet about grit if you have another bird but most birds will be harmed by it.
Our Lovebirds eat Roudybush Crumble. If you are reading this because you got baby birds from us then I’ll state that they MUST continue to eat this. They have been weaned on it.
Whatever the bird was weaned on most breeders would suggest to keep them on it because it’s what they’re used to and they can be so finicky that they’ll actually go hungry instead of eating the food in front of them. However, I will disagree with that (even though I realize I just contradicted myself but it is for good reason as you’ll soon see), especially if they’re baby birds with some black still on their beak because baby birds with food is like baby humans with language. You’ll become accustomed to what you are surrounded with. That being said, I would suggest you switch either Roudybush or Harrisons and size the pellets to the corresponding size of your bird. I can’t say enough about good nutrition and food choices have to be made early. If you’re getting a baby bird from a breeder, insist that they wean them on your preferred food. If they object due to the cost, tell them you’ll buy the bag at what they paid for it plus shipping and even offer to round it up to the nearest $5 increment. That way you’ll have the exact food type the bird was weaned on so that when you bring your lil’ birdie home you’ll have no trouble in the feeding category. If the bird is still making the feeding gestures, notify the breeder. Some unscrupulous breeders will let the birds go much too early. This can be remedied but you shouldn’t have to buy formula and feeding syringes because a hasty breeder wants a sale. That should be a red flag but that doesn’t mean that bird doesn’t deserve a good home too. I’m not suggesting you call any agencies simply because I don’t want flak from those who value privacy over benevolence but even though I highly value our constitutional privacy I am a firm believer of doing the right thing. That of course, as always, is up to you.
Roudybush is what we use. Roudybush Crumble. Roudybush Mini would also work but that will be discussed shortly. Roudybush has no artificial colors, flavors or extra sugar/salt. Most other brands have these unwanted ingredients and are also mixed with seeds. They have these are in pretty shapes and look like Lucky Charms so they look pretty to humans. Birds don’t care what their food looks like even if we humans do. Some “bird foods” are simply seeds with bits of pellets in them that have a powdery mix in them that contains vitamins and minerals. Although that is better than straight seeds that is like eating pizza all the time. Sure pizza technically has all 4 food groups if you have a meat topping but… you get the picture. Seeds are very fatty (which is why they’re so yummy, like steak to humans) and have almost no nutrition which can cause fatty liver and other health problems. This is why pellets with seeds is so bad. You think the birds are eating the pellets but in fact they are eating only the seeds. Like a cat or dog you have to give medicine to so you wrap the pill in a piece of cheese. They eat the cheese around the pill but leave the pill and if they’re smart they manage to hide the pill. All along leading you to think that they’re taking their medicine. Seeds are only to be given as treats and only about 20%-25% of the daily diet max. When it comes to transitioning from a seed or a colorful puree diet that looks like Trix & Lucky Charms I’ll have to defer you to look online. We’ve never had to do that so I’d rather flea flicker you to people with a bit more expertise but most sites will say mix the pellets in about 20% and gradually increase it. Birds are finicky (just like a… toddler) and will actually starve themselves instead of eating what they don’t like. We were running low on Roudybush Crumble one time and the only thing Jo’s Exotic Bird Store near us had at the time was Roudybush Mini. Mini is the 1/2”-3/4” long tube type version of their bird pellets. Roudybush Crumble is basically Roudybush Mini that if you busted up into 4 or 5 pieces. Take a Mini piece, hit it with a hammer and basically you’d get the Crumble. So it’s the same damn thing only pre busted up. I figured Herbie wouldn’t care. It’s the same stuff right? I mean it’s like a child’s hot dog or steak that isn’t yet cut up for them. Boy was I wrong. That little green booger refused eat it. I had to put it in a blender and grind it like a coffee grinder to bust it up enough to resemble his “regular” food. What a turd.
For our lovebirds, Roudybush Crumble for a 10 lb. bag costs between $30-$35 minus shipping. That will last between 6-9 months usually and if you have a Tidy Seed food dish it can go up to 12 months. Granted that’s for if you have 1-2 birds that are no longer growing and have slowed their reproductive cycle. If you have many birds or growing birds you’ll spend more but even $10 a month for food is a good deal for any pet owner. And out of a total on 9 successful clutches of lovebirds from 2 to 6 per clutch, Roudybush has enough nutrition to be able to do the job without altering diet. It’s not a bad idea to add powder vitamins to the food especially during breeding and even a little calcium powder when the female is laying eggs but it’s not necessary otherwise, at least with Roudybush. If you lovebirds happen to breed, you can get a syringe and formula and do the hand feeding numerous times a day but you don’t need to “hand feed” a baby bird for it be become tame. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt but it’s all about interacting with them and getting them used to humans. Unless you plan on being a breeder, let them do their thing. You may have some heartbreak in there but understand that sometimes nature isn’t as nice as we want it to be. Don’t fight nature. That’s more for the breeding section but worth mentioning.
The only other hands down vet recommended food is Harrisons. You can find both it and Roudybush easily online at many sites. Drs Fosters and Smith are well known. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/ Otherwise, Jo’s Exotic Birds in Kenosha, WI sells it too so if you only have to make a trip 4 times a year it’s not that bad. There are vitamin powders that you can get at Jo’s that you can sprinkle over the seeds every once in a while. I take a toothpick and poke numerous holes in the foil top and turn it into a shaker like a salt and pepper shaker. If I use it I sprinkle a few light taps onto their food and shake it a couple of times to disperse it. They have instructions on the side as to dispense it but I find this way is easier and more effective. If your bird is anxious, screamy and bitey then there is this product called Avi-calm that is basically the same amino acid that make you relax after Thanksgiving dinner. There is really no way to overdose on it but still be careful. If you sprinkle this over food it is your best bet. Any powder you have to add to the water supply gets pretty bleh pretty quick. If you add things like palm or fish oil to food for supplements be careful. Fish oil should only be dispensed by poking the gel tabs and squeezing it out. Palm oil needs to be refrigerated. They are very high in Vitamin A and the bird can overdose on Vitamin A. This is why having a good pellet like Roundybush or Harrisons is so important. That way you won’t need to worry about such things. If you’re trying to alleviate a condition like plucking, that is a different situation but you should consult a vet regardless.
I’ll state it again. Tidy Seed food dish is THE BEST $20 you’ll ever spend on your bird. It’s easy to change the food, it allows the bird to see 180 degrees outside the cage (perfect if the cage is near your dining room table as birds like to eat with their “flock”), its mess free and if you shake it back and forth the big Roudybush Crumble chunks come to the top, saving food costs. www.tidyseed.com Jo’s sells this too. (and has lots of toys and other products so if you’re in SE WI make sure you visit them.)
For water you can use tap water or well water if its not tainted with high mineral content etc. Granted, birds in the wild drink and bath out of alleyway puddles but that doesn’t mean that pet birds can. If you have tainted water, especially in this day and age, just pony up the 25-50 cents a day it costs to get a Britta pitcher or a kitchen sink faucet attachment. They work pretty well, some better than others but that’s personal preference. You don’t necessarily need to use the filter to wash stuff or clean the bird’s things but a final rinse in filtered water doesn’t hurt but whatever you do, make sure that the bird’s drinking and bathing water is filtered and as cold as you can get it. More on that later.
For water, I use a JW Insight Water Silo and put it at the top of the cage with just enough head room to use a sand perch for access. Sand perch, not sand paper cover on a perch. Don’t use the sand paper covers/slip on as they can shred it and it can wind up in their crop and hurt them. This way they have to go on the sand perch in order to help keep their claws in check (which you or the vet will have to do on a regular basis even with the sand perch) but it also pretty much eliminates the chance that they will poop in their water supply so they have fresh uncontaminated water. This also cuts down on the splash mess since birds will bath in a Dixie cup. Trust me, I know. We tried every cup we had to get Herbie to bath and when we used a Dixie cup to add a bit of water to the cup we wanted him to use… he took the bath in the Dixie cup instead. Plus it makes it easy to change since you have the silo near the top of the cage. You also only need to change it every other day instead of every day since it stays so clean, plus it’s healthier for the bird. Use cold cold water for both it and bath water. It harbors fewer bacteria and for some reason our birds LOVE ice cold bath water.
I’m not for certain but I think some birds may poop in their water for territorial reasons. I also (see further down) use a water cup near the jungle gym playpen for when they are thirsty they don’t have to fly back to the cage. This also gives them another spot to drink and take a bath. Who doesn’t like variety? The silo also helps them clean the roof of their beak out. However, when you find whatever plate, bowl, Dixie cup, pet store bird bath, etc. apparatus that the bird prefers to bathe in (it can be anything, sometimes it’s even funny what they want to bathe in. The Dixie cup was our favorite J) they will usually drink out of it first. Birds don’t have peristalsis like humans do. Peristalsis is what pushed our food and water down when we swallow. It also allows us to bend over and drink from a stream and gets the water to our stomachs against the force of gravity. Birds don’t have that. (most) Birds need gravity to swallow (a bird would die in space) so having that as an option to have them drink that way every so often is good too.