Without a healthy well balanced diet, nutritional problems are bound to arise.
Keep your parrot on a balanced diet and problems should be minimal.
What is the best nutritional diet? Well that is always debated.
For sure it means a lot of "green" food.
It is for sure not a diet made up primarily of seeds or pellet food.
One of the most common diet related disorders is vitamin A deficiency.
Seeds and pellets don't have enough vitamin A.
Leafy greens and orange fruits and vegetables are the best way to correct a vitamin A shortfall.
Egg yolks are another good source of vitamin A.
Parrots with a vitamin A shortage are likely to have skin, foot and feather problems.
They become susceptible to a variety of fungi, bacteria and viruses.
It weakens the immune system and makes other illnesses more likely.
In many cases the respiratory system is affected causing labored breathing and infection.
When it gets this bad you have to take drastic measures to bring the bird back.
Make sure you have contacted your veterinarian in cases this bad.
The good news is that if you get your parrot on a healthy diet today and keep him there, you can reverse the deficiency.
Avoid running out to your local pet store to get every possible vitamin supplement you can find.
It's too easy for your bird to be overdosed and cause toxicity.
The much better solution is to load him up on those green veggies.
Another common problem resulting from poor diet is a calcium deficiency.
The result can be feather picking or even seizures.
Seeds and pellets alone don't have enough calcium.
Feed your parrot calcium rich foods like almonds, carrots, kale and watercress.
You can also add liquid calcium supplements to your bird's water a couple of times a week.
I would check with my veterinarian and have the bird tested before I would start the supplements.
A parrot diet rich in green vegetables is again, a good way to avoid these problems.
Keep your parrot on a balanced diet and problems should be minimal.
What is the best nutritional diet? Well that is always debated.
For sure it means a lot of "green" food.
It is for sure not a diet made up primarily of seeds or pellet food.
One of the most common diet related disorders is vitamin A deficiency.
Seeds and pellets don't have enough vitamin A.
Leafy greens and orange fruits and vegetables are the best way to correct a vitamin A shortfall.
Egg yolks are another good source of vitamin A.
Parrots with a vitamin A shortage are likely to have skin, foot and feather problems.
They become susceptible to a variety of fungi, bacteria and viruses.
It weakens the immune system and makes other illnesses more likely.
In many cases the respiratory system is affected causing labored breathing and infection.
When it gets this bad you have to take drastic measures to bring the bird back.
Make sure you have contacted your veterinarian in cases this bad.
The good news is that if you get your parrot on a healthy diet today and keep him there, you can reverse the deficiency.
Avoid running out to your local pet store to get every possible vitamin supplement you can find.
It's too easy for your bird to be overdosed and cause toxicity.
The much better solution is to load him up on those green veggies.
Another common problem resulting from poor diet is a calcium deficiency.
The result can be feather picking or even seizures.
Seeds and pellets alone don't have enough calcium.
Feed your parrot calcium rich foods like almonds, carrots, kale and watercress.
You can also add liquid calcium supplements to your bird's water a couple of times a week.
I would check with my veterinarian and have the bird tested before I would start the supplements.
A parrot diet rich in green vegetables is again, a good way to avoid these problems.