Can I? If so, why not?
Thanks!
You want him to start acting like a wild bird? Hangin out with crows, and stuff? Flying south?
Once you go wild, there’s no going back.
Tris
i don’t have any budgie experience to impart, so i’d do some online research, or find a store specializing in birds. they’ll have the answers you need.
otherwise, i’d have say that like every other living creature, birds need a balanced diet, too. according to the magazine ‘bird fancy,’ and other sources, an all-seed diet is not a good idea. i know this for sure because the divemaster is owned by a 4.5 pound greenwing macaw with a three-foot wingspan named ‘trigger.’
trigger is large and in charge, and the damn beast eats better than we do! 
she gets her regular bird cereal (formulated for macaws, i believe), sometimes a little seed, but she also gets lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grain breads, cheese, lean chicken and beef (yes, they’re omnivorous), and other healthy goodies.
i do know that neither she nor any other kind of bird can have caffeine, chocolate, avocadoes, alcohol, or carbonated beverages of any kind, ever. they’re poisonous to the bird’s system.
the big deal is the fact that you lose what? something like 80% of your heat through the top of your head? IANAD, so those more learned, please step in.
having a wet head might very likely accelerate that process, getting you much colder than is warranted and therefore feeding the old wives’ tale about contracting a cold in the process.
i thought the losing heat thing was a bunch of hooey - until the divemaster plonked a stocking cap on my head one night while we were sitting there watching tv. i’d been complaining about the house being cold, and he’d adjusted the thermostat twice for me.
the third time, out came the stocking cap. it worked.
I’m going to lose 80% of my body heat if I feed my budgie wild bird seed? Wow.
I’ve been told that wild birdseed is much higher in fat. It’s marketed toward outdoor birds with an active lifestyle; i.e., they spend enough energy flying around that they need a high-fat diet. Indoor birds who spend much more time just clambering around a cage will not burn off those fat calories and so will develop dietary issues.
Your bird would probably be better off with one of the brands of nutritionally balanced pellets available at most pet stores, or your vet could recommend something probably even healthier (but more expensive).
Pellets and fresh veggies only.
If you get stuck, one day of seed won’t kill your budgie. But, providing the correct diet to your pets is an act of discipline on your part. Allowing yourself to be sloppy will harm them in the long run.
Current thinking is to feed both parakeet seed mix and a good brand of pellets, and supplement with fresh and cooked foods (not hot! Tepid only!).
We feed several seed mixes depebnding on what’s on sale, and Zupreem fruitblend pellets, and oat groats. We give cooked food every other day or so – plain spaghetti noodles, steamed rice, frozen peas, frozen corn, broccoli florets. We should feed more fresh leafy greens (spinach, kale, chard, collards) but they never show any interest in it, sadly.
Wild bird mix will keep a 'keet alive, but it’s not the best.
Also, the 'keets will need cuttlebone or mineral block.
No-nos: no “mite protector” disk, no mite sprays, no grit or gravel (parrots hull their seeds and do NOT need grit to digest…pigeons, canaries, finches, and other softbills DO need grit), no sandpaper perches (cement perches are fine).
NO cooking with nonstick cookware – it outgasses PTFE and can kill birds very easily.
There’s a lot more info. Google up a bird-oriented message board. :>
Sailboat
weel now… THIS is interestin’.
somebody 'splain to me how one post from another thread ends up in this one? after i’d posted about the bird seed?? :eek: it’s also the first time i’ve ever posted a quote to my own post! and it seems my world has become one of double postings as well. ::grumble:::
Maybe you should lay off the wild bird seed. Just sayin’.
Sailboat
Indoor/cage birds should be fed mostly pellet food with a supplement of seed and fresh foods.
The outdoor seed is a problem as a steady diet because it is just seed and will not be balanced nutrition, and such mixes also typically have a high fat content. Although it’s somewhat difficult to induce obesity in birds it’s not impossible. It’s not balanced and too many calories for pet birds except as an occasional treat.
Interesting that budgie food consists of pellets that side of the pond - they’re typically natural seed mixtures here in the UK - my budgie eats a blend of millets, flax, groats, other grass seeds, buckwheat and a few others I can’t easily identify, with egg biscuit crumbs mixed in. I also give him a shaving of carrot every now and again, plus the odd bit of chickweed or other carefully selected garden weeds. I’ve never even seen pellet-based foods for birds that small - parrot pellets are available, but those are for much bigger birds.
It’s only in the last five - ten years that the pellet foods have moved all the way down to the small hookbills in the US.
Scubaqueen has a macaw!
We need another silly parrots MPSIMS thread. . . We probably need pictures. . .