My budgies have babies at the moment and I am feeding them a little bit of egg and biscuit mix with water everyday on its own which they polish off in 2 seconds. As this is high in protien I am wondering if I am giving to much as I know protien is hard on the kidneys. How often and how much should I give them and when not breeding how much should they have then. My problem is that the only vegie they will eat is snow peas and I can't get them to touch pellets so their diet is a bit lacking. They get vitamin supplement in their water and they have cuttlefish, mineral and calcium bells which they like.

Hi Kerrie,

You are probably better off making them some fresh egg food, as the egg and biscuit mix we get is high in sugar also.

For fresh eggfood you boil some eggs. Shell them and dry the eggshells out in the microwave. Crush the eggshells to fine powder and put back in with the egg which you mash up. Add some grated carrot or sweetcorn, and some fine sliced greens like pak choy or bok choy, or even the snow peas finely sliced. Add some breadcrumbs, and stir through. Sprinkle some bird seed over and through it and serve. They love it, its better for them than the egg and biscuit available to us here and they will chow down on it.

 

Cheers Karen

Edited January 17, 200718 yr by Bubbles

Hi Kerrie,

 

It's a worry isn't it. I too have never gotten my budgie (actually called Turbs) to love pellets despite trying dozens of packets over years and years. I'm still putting it in though and here's what seems to attract some interest...

 

Put a beated egg in the microwave for a 1min. Then mix it in with pellets - like crumbing it in as you do with butter and flour for scones. Wash your hands and rub the pellets and egg between your fingers to small bits.

 

Even grind up the pellets like the consistency of their current egg and biscuit. A coffee grinder can be bought for about $25 for this (I wouldn't use the coffee one, cause of the coffee oils). Then they pick the egg out and may start picking bits of pellets. So the egg bits attract them to explore the pellets.

 

It's a good theory anyway... ! You could also do the same with their current preferred egg biscuit and pellets. Mix them together and hopefully lead them to pellets.

 

My girl budgie does eat a little, but stress the word little. Still a bit each day surely couldn't be bad, given that seeds are nutritionally deficient anyway... I recall reading a study that seeds have only around 5-7% protein and budgies need about 12% or thereabouts. Hence, there is usually a gap on an all seed diet.

 

I know that this will be debated and it's probably not even 100% established as fact, but I reckon a bit of egg doesn't hurt, given that they only eat seeds. Also plenty of vegies everyday is important for other nutrients.

 

When not breeding, I wouldn't cut back unless they are getting too fat. The less seed the better - especially, if they eat more vegies and a small amount of egg each day.

 

Turbs.

 

 

 

My budgies have babies at the moment and I am feeding them a little bit of egg and biscuit mix with water everyday on its own which they polish off in 2 seconds. As this is high in protien I am wondering if I am giving to much as I know protien is hard on the kidneys. How often and how much should I give them and when not breeding how much should they have then. My problem is that the only vegie they will eat is snow peas and I can't get them to touch pellets so their diet is a bit lacking. They get vitamin supplement in their water and they have cuttlefish, mineral and calcium bells which they like.