World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

If you wish to keep your bird in favorable conditions you are to pay serious attention to its nourishment. Pets that dwell in people's houses in ornamental cages commonly belong to granivorous birds. And as a result many people used to think that such birds should eat only seeds. But in fact this sort of birds vary their food every season in natural conditions. The ration can include animal forage, different greens, fruits and tree barks. That's why the diversity of feeds will bring your bird healthy.

Today you can buy bulk bird seed almost anywhere, even on the web. As you see you shouldn't feed your bird a whole year with corns because it wouldn't harmonize with their natural nourishment.

Lots of birds may have the same forage for a long time and don't show any signs of an illness. But as a rule, the effects of such nutrition can be revealed in the abnormality of moult, overweight, kidney disease and disorder of the reproductive function. Also there may be a lot of cases of infectious illnesses because birds need vitamins and proteins in their nourishment.

So the main part of a bird's meal contains grain mixtures. But the composition of the mixture must be of different grains (wheat, oats, millet, maize and so on) and seeds (canary seed, herbage seeds, seeds of lettuce) because it is highly significant to keep your bird healthy. Oil-yielding seeds may be also included. They are sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, hemp seeds, diverse nuts and others. But these sorts of crops must be attached in a small amount because overuse of oil-yielding seeds is the reason of obesity.

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