It is very difficult, though not impossible, to put together a complete diet for a psittacine using only domestic fruits, vegetables and seeds. This approach requires considerable AVIAN nutrition knowledge and only works if the bird eats all of the food items offered. If the bird chooses through the items it will likely end up with deficiencies.

Most birds eventually develop nutritional problems with this approach and I do not recommend it. I recommend that psittacine diets contain pellets that are formulated to meet all the requirements of a bird.

The pellets can be supplemented with vegetables and a limited amount of fruits and seeds. Another option is to use a blend of pellets and seeds that have been physically bonded using a nutrient fortified binder. This last approach can deliver appropriate nutrition and also provide additional feeding activity for the bird. It also works well for birds that refuse a pellet only diet. The key is that the diet be nutritionally balanced for birds (not humans, which have very different nutritional needs).

Sincerely...

Kirk C. Klasing
PHD Animal Science UC Davis

Find bird food pellet diets here