Introducing New food to your cockatiel:

Imagine this. Infused with total thrill and excitement, you decide to try new food with your Cockatiel. The first attempt fails. You think it’s natural. The second one fails too. So do all the following attempts. You realize your Cockatiel is one choosy and stubborn bird. It has no heart for your endeavours. What do you do?

Try feeding your Cockatiel with new food by offering it in the morning or at late evening. The following are some interesting ideas which you may employ to make your Cockatiel try new and unfamiliar food:

6. Disguise the Foods: Cockatiels, like human beings, are slaves of habit. Their bodies get used to specific timings. So, when it’s food-time, new food can be rejected. However, if you introduce new food some other time, say, by fastening it to the cage, your bird’s curiosity may be intrigued. It may start nibbling at it and, you never know, may begin to like it too.

7. Paint It Orange: Cockatiels are bundles of nature’s colors. They bring color to every owner’s life. So, give them brightly colored fruits and vegetables. They may be cooked or raw. Chop them into biteable pieces and watch them devour these delights.

8. Temptation Tricks: Seeing is believing. After all attempts have failed, try and convince your Cockatiel that the new food is phenomenally delicious by biting into it yourself. In more cases than not, your Cockatiel will be interested to try it after it notices you enjoying the fruit or vegetable.

9. Fresh Sprouts: Freshly budded seeds are a rich source of nutrition and nourishment. Before you begin with greens, give them seeds to make the transition slow but steady.

10. No Starving: Starving a Cockatiel for not trying new food is akin to killing it. It can develop behavioral problems due to this form of atrocity. DO NOT starve your Cockatiel. Think innovatively to introduce variety to your pet.

Seeds for cockatiel

A completely seed-based diet is best avoided. This is because of the following reasons. They do not provide complete nutrition. Secondly, seeds are full of fat. Such fatty foods are unhealthy and harmful for Cockatiels. Such a seed only meal should be the last choice when no other option os available. In the Cockatiel world, seeds are to them what chips and coke are to us. It is junk food for Cockatiels. Birds love them as much as we love chips. The greater threat is the long-lasting one. Once hooked to seeds, it is darn difficult to make them try new food. For most Cockatiels, kernels should only cover 10 percent of their regular diet. Even Cockatiels are brand conscious. Some Cockatiels select their favorite seed from a given seed mix and reject the rest. This lowers the nutritional value of their diet even more. Cockatiels and some Cockatiels are known as seed eaters and can tolerate a higher percentage in their diet. This does not mean that it is safe for them to take only seeds. A 25% concentration of seeds in the regular diet is harmless.

Fresh food and Suppliments for cockatiel

Most pet Cockatiels love their meals, provided they are the right mix of a variety of nourishing and freshly prepared foods, pellets and a small proportion of seeds. Remove the containers from the cages a few hours after meals as the food is quickly eaten and used up.

Vegetables for cockatiel

Fresh vegetables are an important part of your Cockatiel’s diet. Different vegetables provide different nutrients and a healthy mix of veggies ensures a good diet. Introduce dark yellow and leafy green vegetables like celery and lettuce that are high in yarn and water but are not very nourishing. You can cook the vegetables or offer them raw, whole or chopped, to your Cockatiels. As the owner you should be knowing which form your pet is comfortable with. A better way of tempting the Cockatiels to try new vegetables is to swing them from sideto-side or clip them on to the cage. If your Cockatiel is one of the larger and majestic varieties, you can offer chunky pieces that it will be able to crush with its feet at its own convenience. Whatever be the form of food, your aim is to get your bird to eat as many varieties of vegetables as possible. Again, use tricks and not force to make your bird eat.

Fruits for cockatiel

Try introducing your bird to a wide variety of fruits. Thankfully, birds love fruits. So, try to limit them to a small proportion of the normal diet, lest they exceed it. There is one golden rule about fruits. The more deeply colored the fruits, the more nutritionally rich they are. Give various tropical fruits that are a part of the Cockatiel’s natural diet. A word of caution: depths or apple seeds can be noxious.

Sprouted Seeds for cockatiel

Supplementing the vegetable diet with sprouted seeds is an excellent way of adding nutritional value to your bird’s diet. Since most birds love fresh sprouts, they are a good way of initiating your Cockatiel into the green diet! Newly budded seeds are replete with vitamins and natural resources, as well as enzymes and antioxidants that make them perfect constituents of a healthy Cockatiel diet.

Schedule for the Transition

Remember, for Cockatiels and cockatiels, a diet must have seeds (25 percent), pellets (50 percent), and fresh foods (25 percent) to make the best diet. However, larger Cockatiels must have a lesser percentage of seed content, with pellets and fresh foods and treats making up the major part of the diet.

Recommended Foods for Cockatiel:

Here is a list of suggested food items that can be used as natural medicine for our birds. The following are vital for the good health of your Cockatiel. Click on each food for details.