IndianRingNeck.com

Hey guys! I have posted on here a couple of times but didn't have enough experience to help others out in return, so as my experience with my irn increases, I would be more than happy to help others out.

I have a few questions regarding my irn's diet.

I have a male irn.

He's outside of his cage most of the times and loves spending time with me, just hates anyone touching him lol, but hes very friendly to strangers.

Since he's outside his cage most of the times, he likes to eat everything i eat, and he bites my finger so i can give him whatever I'm eating, I was eating skittles the other day, and he kept on biting me, i gave him one, i know its not healthy, but i was seduced by his cuteness.

He ate chocolate a couple of times, but then i read an article that it can be very deadly for birds, however nothing happened to my little "Grumpy" But just after reading that article, i stopped feeding him no matter how hard he screams and bites. I'd rather have him be annoying than have him get sick.

So its been a week now, and i have been feeding him sunflower seeds, his favorite when it comes to the "Bird food" I put him a piece of apple everyday without seeds. (also read somewhere that seeds can be very harmful for him"

I would very much appreciate your time if you guys can let me know what foods are extremely dangerous for my IRN, and what foods i should always feed him.

A good food/bad food list would be very much appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Hello,

Now, I might not be very helpful here, as I also am a fairly new owner of an IRN... Lena. (FYI, she loves spending time with us, but HATES and protestests so much when someone touches her!)

Anyway, I've heard that Avocados are poisonous for IRNs, so don't feed her that.

We feed Lena a variety of fruits; apples are her favourite, pears, banana, peaches, nectarines and
Vegetables; carrots, lettuce, bok choy, spinach (she likes green leafy things!) corn and peas

all this she eats and our breeder told us to giver her more vegetables than fruits and grains.

What we normally do is in the morning, fill one bowl with fresh fruit and veg, and let her nibble at the during the day, then in the evening she gets a bowl of grain (Just a Parrot Mix from the pet store). She's so clever, she eats all the sunflower seeds and waits and waits for more - only once shes realised theres no more THEN she'll eat the other seeds lol) another thing the breeder told us was not to give them TOO much sunfloer seeds as they contain a lot of oil and are fatty which can make the IRNs fat and their feathers oily, so we giver her them in moderations. she LOVES them.

Hope this helps and its not too irrelavant!!

hi abedkh,

at the top of this forum (diet & housing) there is a topic called "what to feed your irn". it includes a comprehensive list of the dos and donts in feeding. theres also another one called household poisons you should have a look at too.

fyi sunflowers are a great treat - our birds will do anything for a sunflower seed - but should not be part of a regular balanced diet.

there are also dozens of websites dedicated to food and recipes for parrots. get creative - the choices are endless. we make up a batch of vegie mash, and freeze in seperate little portions. this usually lasts between 1-2 months.

anyway, happy research!