Can cockatiels eat budgie food?

Can budgies eat cockatiel food?

If you own either of these two birds, you might be wondering about this.

Since budgies and cockatiels are similar in many ways, it is only natural to wonder if they can eat each other’s food.

This article will discuss what foods both budgies and cockatiels can eat.

You’ll also learn what foods to avoid feeding both birds.

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Quick Navigation:

• Can Cockatiels Eat Budgie Food?
• What Other Budgie Food Can Cockatiels Eat?
• Fruits & Vegetables
• Nutri-Berries
• Foods To Avoid Feeding Cockatiels And Budgies!
• Sources

Can Cockatiels Eat Budgie Food?

To correctly answer this question, we must ask another.

What exactly is budgie food?

People typically refer to seed or pellet mixes labeled for budgerigars as budgie food.

The seed or pellet mix will typically have no other birds except budgies on the box.

Pick up some Trill budgie seed mix here.

If we’re referring to a budgie seed mix, cockatiels can absolutely eat it.

In fact, my avian vet has recommended primarily feeding a budgie mix to my cockatiel instead of the regular cockatiel seed mix.

The reason for this is simple…

Cockatiel seed mixes contain a LOT of sunflower seeds.

Budgie mixes contain no sunflower seeds.

That’s the only real difference between the two, other than the fact that cockatiel mixes will have slightly larger types of seeds.

Well, cockatiels are slightly larger birds, so it’s understandable.

When it comes to pellets, most brands label them as either “small bird pellets” or “large bird pellets”.

For this reason, cockatiels and budgies will typically eat the same pellets, which is totally fine.

Why Sunflower Seeds Are Excluded From Budgie Seed Mixes

There is a very specific reason why sunflower seeds are removed from the budgie seed mix.

And that has to do with the budgies’ nutritional requirements.

Since cockatiels are larger birds, they need more calories and a higher fat intake than budgies, hence why they include fatty sunflower seeds in their mix.

Budgies simply don’t require sunflower seeds in their diet.

Cockatiels also don’t need too many sunflower seeds, which is why vets will usually recommend feeding the budgie mix to cockatiels.

The cockatiel seed mix will often contain too many sunflower seeds.

High-fat seeds like sunflower seeds and millet are best saved for training rather than added to the food bowl.

See the cockatiel diet chart here.

Advantages Of Having BOTH Seed Mixes

I only own a cockatiel, yet I have both seed mixes.

The reason for this is that I can use the larger/fattier seeds from the cockatiel mix for training while adding the budgie seeds to the food bowl.

This helps prevent my cockatiel from getting too fat from larger seeds.

It’s much easier to provide the budgie mix than it is to pick out all of the sunflower seeds from the cockatiel mix.

That’s the main advantage of having both seed mixes for cockatiels.

What Other Budgie Food Can Cockatiels Eat?

On top of seed and pellet mixes, there are many other foods safe for both cockatiels and budgies to eat…

Fruits & Vegetables

Fruits, but mainly vegetables, are an essential part of both of these birds’ overall diets.

Pellets, seeds, and vegetables should be the foundation of a healthy cockatiel and budgie diet.

To find out what vegetables you can feed, check out the full list of safe vegetables for cockatiels and budgies.

Also, view the full list of safe fruits.

The foods on these lists are 100% safe for both parakeets and cockatiels.

Nutri-Berries

Another nutrient-rich food you can feed both birds is lafebers nutri-berries.

These tasty treats are a bit different, but they are nutritionally balanced like pellets and very healthy for birds.

In fact, they’re just as healthy for your bird as pellets.

Unlike commercial pellets, nutri-berries keep their ingredients whole while pelleted ingredients are ground into dust to make the pellet form.

Lafeber has even stated that their nutri-berries can replace pellets as a bird’s main food source.

This is what a nutri-berry looks like:

Developed and approved by avian vets and avian nutrition experts, nutri-berries make a great addition to a healthy cockatiel or budgie diet.

Thinking of getting some? Use the buttons below:

Foods To Avoid Feeding Cockatiels & Budgies!

Although most fruits and vegetables are safe for both birds to eat, there are some foods all parrots should avoid:

• Avocado

• Garlic

• Onion

• Most fruit seeds

• Chocolate

• Salt

• Mushroom

• Rhubarb

• Raw meat

• Raw potatoes

View the full list of toxic foods for parrots here.

Feeding these toxic foods to your birds can lead to sickness or even death.

Sources

• https://lafeber.com/product/cockatiel-nutri-berries/?v=3e8d115eb4b3
• https://www.thesprucepets.com/safe-vegetables-for-pet-birds-390623
• https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/budgies-feeding
• https://www.queenslanderaviaries.com/bird-safe-food-and-plants
• https://www.thesprucepets.com/common-foods-that-can-poison-bird-390628
• https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/nutri-berries-vs-standard-avian-diets/