Author: Azmi Adnan Added: August 31, 2009
Feeding the right food is the most important aspect of owning an African Grey parrot. The right diet will determine the health and stress level of your parrot and its ability to be trained to talk and perform bird tricks. Unlike other birds, different African Greys eat different kinds of food. Don't make the mistake of thinking that they all have the same diet patterns. If you own more than one African Grey parrot, feeding them can prove quite a challenge. Just like humans, African Greys have their own diet preferences. But if you acquire your bird from young, say twelve weeks old, getting them used to feeding a certain kind of food can be fairly advantageous. Some African Grey parrots will eat soft fruit while others will only eat hard fruits. Some will eat vegetables and others will not. To find out what is best for your parrot, try giving them a variety of fruits and vegetables and see which one they choose, and stick to it. However, do give them a good balance of calcium because a lot of African Grey parrots that fell sick seem to lack calcium in their diet. You can get calcium from hard boiled eggs, watercress, spinach, blackberries or natural yogurt. If your parrot doesn't seem to want to eat any of these calcium based food, try giving them calcium supplements three times a week, mixed into their food bowl. Do not mix the calcium supplements into the water bowl because some African Greys may not drink water in a twenty-four hour period because they already had their water intake from eating fruits. A good calcium diet will ensure that your parrots have fine feather and are stress free. Calcium is good for producing healthy eggs too if you intend to breed African Grey parrots. Another great reason for having a healthy diet is that it will minimize any symptom of stress in a parrot that would result in the bird plucking its feathers and squeaking frequently. We all know how annoying squeaking can be especially if you live very close to your neighbors, or if you live in an apartment. When a parrot is healthy in both mind and body, it will also respond well to speech training or other bird tricks. This would make your effort in training it much easier and more productive. Just like in other animals, a healthy diet also means less visits to the vet and less expenditure on health matters.
--- Azmi Adnan is a writer and a parrot enthusiast. Subscribe to his newsletter for interesting articles on parrots at his website http://www.power-to-live.com/parrot.html
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