Pet Habitat South Africa

26 JUN 2016

Posted By : Guest

Filed Under : Nutrition | Birds | Roudybush | Bird Food | Pet Care

We live in a land of fast food, fatty snacks, and junk food junkies. French fries dripping with grease, hamburgers packed with calories – most of us are painfully aware that our diets are less than ideal. Could our pets also be suffering from a similar situation? If that pet is a bird and it's on an all-seed diet, the answer's an emphatic “Yes!” While nature lovers can safely supplement wild birds with feeders full of seed, too much seed for your pet bird can lead to serious problems. Just ask Dr. Vanessa Rolfe, an avian veterinarian at Avian & Exotic Veterinary Services in Salem, Va. “Seventy to 80 percent of the problems I treat in birds are due directly or indirectly to inadequate diets – usually seed-based diets,'' Rolfe says. “Seeds are high in fat and deficient in many other nutrients, including amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. So an all-seed diet can be associated with a long list of medical problems.” These p.. [More]

Tags : Birds Need More Than Seeds South Africa , Roudybush Bird Diet South Africa

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26 JUL 2014

Switching Your Bird's Diet

Posted By : Guest

Nutrition is the watchword for taking care of your bird. A balanced diet is a necessity to allow a bird to live a full and healthy life. An unbalanced diet is the main cause of disease and early death in pet birds. Malnutrition is a human-made disease. Fortunately, it is also treatable by changing the diet. For most pet birds, a balanced diet consists of 65-80% formulated diet, about 15-30% vegetables, and the rest can be fruits and nuts. Some species such as lories and hyacinth macaws have very special dietary needs. Be sure to consult with your avian veterinarian to know what diet is best for your bird. If your bird is currently eating a seed-based diet as her primary source of nutrition, it is a good idea to convert her to a formulated diet. Feeding your bird correctly is not difficult, but knowing when and how to switch from a not-so-healthy diet to one that has optimum nutrition takes some know-how. We have compiled a host of tips we recommend in order to switch .. [More]