Commercially available parrot treats look very appealing, but unfortunately they are usually designed to appeal to the parrot owner rather than the parrot’s nutritional needs. Very often they contain too many artificial colors and preservatives.
But the good news is that you don’t have to rely on pet store supplies to give your bird healthy and tasty treats.
Parrot treats can be very simple, such as fresh millet, dried fruit on a skewer, or fresh coconut chunks hanging from the cage (don’t go overboard with the coconut, as it is still a nut and as such contains more fat than fruit). , or require a little more preparation. Here are some more elaborate homemade parrot food ideas that your pet will probably love:
Parrot Treat Recipes:
1. Fruit muffins
- 1 package Hodgeson Mills Corn Muffin Mix with whole wheat flour (lower sodium than Jiffy’s)
- 3 eggs (with their shells)
- 1 ripe banana puree
- 1 mashed and peeled sweet potato
- 1 apple chopped and seeded
- 2 cups of pitted fruit (peaches, apricots, papaya, nectarines)
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 1/2 cup of nuts and mixed seeds (almonds, pumpkin seeds,…)
- 1 bottle of fruity porridge for babies
Mix everything together and bake at 350°F for about 30 to 40 minutes. Take care to let it cool down before giving a piece to your parrot.
NOTE: You can use 2 cups of cornmeal, 2 cups of whole wheat flour, and 1 tablespoon of baking powder in place of the muffin mix if you prefer.
2. Spicy cupcakes
- 1 package Hodgeson Mills Corn Muffin Mix with whole wheat flour
- 3 eggs (in their shells) 1 sweet potato, mashed and peeled
- 2 cups of fresh vegetables: spinach, broccoli, green bell peppers, peas
- 1 grated carrot
- 1/4 cup seeded jalapeño peppers
- 1/2 cup carrot juice
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 can of vegetable porridge
Here again, mix everything together and bake for about 30-40 minutes.
TIP: You can cut up individual portions and freeze and then thaw once a day or every other day.
Why a spicy muffin? Well, parrots have a less developed sense of smell and taste than we do, so using spices sparingly can be a nice bonus, and you’ve no doubt noticed that your bird sometimes soaks part of its food in water to take it out flavor. Chili peppers are also high in vitamins A and C, so they are also healthy, not just tasty!
fun and training
Part of the pleasure is the way to find the food: making your bird look for it will make it much more fun. You can also make the treat fun: for example, romaine lettuce is not high in nutritional value, but can be used to wrap other foods for fun, forage on the bottom, and entice your bird to try new fruits or vegetables. .
As the name implies, a treat is something out of the ordinary, a special extra that should not be substituted for a regular diet. Which makes it great as a training reward. To reinforce the training, you can use seeds (if your bird has a balanced parrot diet instead of mainly seeds), low-fat cheese (many parrots are addicted to cheese, so it is a safe way to allow them to treat themselves once in a while). when), or spicy muffin pieces.