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| Coy Cockatoo - Photo by I’m George (cc) |
eat whatever they find. For this reason, you should include a variety of things in their diet to stay as close to their natural diet as possible. On the other hand, your cockatoo can eat most of the things that you eat.
They mainly feed on seeds, berries, fruits, nuts, and flowers. Sometimes, they can thrive on the basic diet of seeds and pellets alone. They don't require any particular food but need "particular nutrients". You should add more vegetables and fruits to your cockatoo's diet. These are sources of additional nutrition.
The growth of your cockatoo depends on nutrition. Apart from that, reproduction, temperament and longevity also depend on nutrition. So, a well-balanced diet becomes very essential to mold a lovable, healthy and a life-long companion.
To put it briefly, a cockatoo's "balanced diet" should have equal shares of pellets, seeds, and vegetables with a small number of fruits, nuts, proteins, cooked rice, bean mixture, and table food like cheese, corn, cereal, pasta, meat etc. It should have it all (that's why I said they can eat most of the things that you eat!).
Pellets
Pellets can make as much as 60% of your cockatoo's food. In fact, some cockatoos thrive on a pellet diet. You should keep pellets in their food dish all day and night. Pellets are a must as they provide your bird with a balanced diet.
Seeds
Most cockatoos favor seeds of the Eucalyptus tree, Casuarinas, Native trees and Marri seeds. Apart from these they also eat bull banksias seeds and occasionally feed on Angophoras, Hakeas, Acacias and fruit seeds (fruit seeds are toxic to some cockatoos, so make sure your new pet is not in that list before you feed it with fruit seeds). If the bird is fed only a seed diet on a daily basis, it will lead to a deficiency in vitamins. So, a supplement of vitamins may be necessary in that case.
A Healthy Mixed Diet
A healthy mixed diet has it all...25% vitamin enriched seed mix, 25% pellets, 25% vegetables, dark leafy greens and fruits, 15% cooked rice, corn, and bean mixture, 10% table food, cereal, bread, pasta, cheese, meat etc.
Vegetables
Vegetables to be fed can be green, dark green, orange, yellow or meaty. Fresh vegetables provide the additional nutrition your cockatoo needs. So, encourage your cockatoo to eat
vegetables. Some of those that fall under this category are carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, broccoli, greens, green peppers, asparagus, ripe tomatoes, spinach etc.
Fruits
Some of the cockatoo owners-to-be have this general query. 'Do cockatoos eat fruits and how to make the bird eat fruits?' Fruits provide the natural supplements to your cockatoo. So, it would be a good idea to introduce fruits to your new pet. Initially, it may reject it, but later it will start eating fruits. Some of the favored fruits are apples, pears, peaches, pomegranate, bananas, berries, plums, oranges, kiwi, citrus, pomegranate, grapes, raisins etc.
Nuts
Cockatoos prefer nuts to fruits. Because of this, some nuts make ideal treats. They can crack hard nuts and should be encouraged to do so. If given whole nuts, they love to crack open the shell to extract the seed. Their beaks are specially adapted for this function and it could also be a form of entertainment.
Water
Water is equally important as food. The bird should drink water on a daily basis. Fresh water should be in the cage at all times.
Proteins
As I said earlier, it's important that the bird gets all the necessary nutrients. And proteins are an important supplement that aid growth. The bird can be provided with food high in proteins such as legumes, cooked eggs, and grated cheese. Sprouts, ripe tomatoes, cooked beans, spinach are some of the other sources. They can also be fed with freshly cooked lean beef, chicken or fish in small quantities. Occasionally, they can be given cooked meat bones.
Vitamins and Minerals
If the bird's diet has a variety of all the nutrients, then a supplement of vitamins and minerals is not required. As a matter of fact, it is better to consult an avian vet before giving the bird vitamin supplements because an overdose of vitamins and minerals will do more harm than good.
Now having known all that you can give your cockatoo, let's also keep ourselves informed as to what should be avoided.
AVOID:
Don't feed your cockatoo alcohol, parsley, and avocados (as they are toxic to cockatoos). Seeds high in sunflower and safflower should be avoided as these are very fatty. Keep your bird away from chocolates and caffeine. Iceberg lettuce and cabbage can cause diarrhea in your pet. Other foods to be avoided are seasoned meat or fatty processed meats. All these can cause your pet serious health problems.
Other important tips
Keep in mind that just providing them with food isn't sufficient but you have to make sure that they're eating what is given to them.
Too much milk shouldn't be included in the diet as some cockatoos are lactose intolerant and could get diarrhea. You can give them tofu, low-fat cottage and hard cheeses and non-fat yogurt in small quantities.
If you aren't including pellets/vitamin/mineral supplements in their diet, you should sprinkle a powdered bird vitamin/mineral supplement to their food once a week. This would avoid deficiencies. Although a calcium block and a mineral block should normally serve this purpose, these birds are famous for destroying the blocks.
Don't let fruits and vegetables stay in the cage for more than two hours.
Do not give them nuts and peanuts often, as these are very high in fat and can make your pet obese if overfed. Dry food can be left for no more than a day.
Always store nuts in a secure bin that will keep the contents dry and safe from rodents. Rodent excreta can transmit diseases like Salmonellosis.
Clean the food and water bowls kept inside the cage thoroughly every day. Disinfect them with bleach (and wash off thoroughly) every week.
Some cockatoos have the tendency to become overweight so you need to monitor their food and diet properly. Stick to a low-fat diet and include a variety of greens. Don't increase the volume as overfeeding will make them picky and they will also waste the food.
Cockatoos are famous for tipping over their bowls. Usage of heavy-bottomed feed and water bowls serve the purpose just fine.
With all these tips, I believe you have all the important information on how to provide your pet with the best diet.
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