Lisa Shea Forums Parakeets General Parakeet Chat Sometimes you never know who's at the door.

Did I?
Wow, I don't remember that

Hey I'm getting old, I get confused between PDM, BLR. It was one of you triple capital letter people! :P

Thank you for getting me confused with PDM, that is quite a compliment. It was I who gave you that piece of erronious information. It was something I read when I was researching Canaries. I guess like all the other information, some of it can be wrong. Sorry.

Ok.
I thought that I had completely lost my memory ~ and the plot.

KentuckyChicken - sorry to hijack your thread but I really want to comment on the diet thing. It is true that with a fortified and varied diet birds are a lot more likely to come into breeding mode. But they are also more likely to live longer. Spring brings an abundance of foods, leading the body to prepare for procreation while there is a good food supply to give the offspring a better chance of surviving. A longer day also tells the keet’s body that it is time to procreate. Our experience with our keets should be fun. If we want to feed our keets veggies, and it is fun – go for it. If your guys won’t eat veggies, don’t angst over it. Things like a mineral block and cuttle bone should be available. If you are going to breed, that is a whole different game and should be approached as such.

[quote=BLR] Our experience with our keets should be fun. If we want to feed our keets veggies, and it is fun – go for it. If your guys won’t eat veggies, don’t angst over it. Things like a mineral block and cuttle bone should be available. [/quote] shouldn't all parakeets have fruits and veggies daily? my birds love to be feed lettuce, strawberries and watermelon

Blah BLR don't be apologizing. I think as bird owners we have to take what information is handed to us from all sides and make our decisions based on our birds...and BTW, I think Tiki is a girl, no singing. *pouts*

shouldn't all parakeets have fruits and veggies daily? my birds love to be feed lettuce, strawberries and watermelon [/quote]

It will extend their life. So yes it is a good thing. It is not something that will render them ill if you don't give it to them everyday, so let you keet be your guide.

tweetymom, I really don't think Illusive is saying anything to give anyone a hard time. She's just passing along things that she has learned along the way, in hopes that it might help someone. For instance if she has heard that adding wheatgerm oil to their diet is not so good for them, of course she is going to bring it up. She's not bashing anyone, least of all newbies.
I've actually given a lot of thought to what she has been saying about feeding a fortified diet along with a wide variety of vegs and fruits every day making them be constantly in breeding/egg laying mode. If you think about it, it does kind of make sense. Because like BLR said instead of just having a very good food supply for raising young in the spring(like in the wild) they have it all year round.
Anyway, it's something to think about, and I for one am always up for more opinions. Of course after hearing all opinions, it's up to the individual to choose how and what they want to feed.
I know that Illusive joined for the same reason as you and I. To LEARN from each other. I know I've learned a ton here too. I think it's great to share experiences and things we learn. It doesn't mean we all have to agree on everything.

Sorry, I think I went off topic AGAIN. LOL
KC, I love hearing about Tiki, it's cool hearing about canaries. I don't remember anyone else here having one before

Well, it's been discussed on here about giving the "newbies" advise that could be wrong in the treatment of their keets.

We have (and me too) members struggling to get some veggies into their little beaks, and etc etc.

In my opinion, birdies living in a cage would have more stress and therefore need more vitamins, since stress wipes them out, just like humans. Also, they have to contend with being totally reliant on their flock leader, to give them the things they'd need in the wild.

Also, there is the thing about the tumors. I've read and seen it on here, that feeding your budgies veggies can give birdie more of a chance of not getting them.

Illusive Fantasy, I was not bashing you, and I apologise if it seemed like I was. It seemed to me that you sounded a little exasperated at having to go over info you had gone over before.