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What's the best diet, cage cleaning, and vet schedule for my bird?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Bird | Unknown - Bird | Female | 0.15 lbs

1. What and how often should I feed my bird? I give her a handful of special parrot food in the mornings and a piece of fruit, raw corn or lettuce in the afternoons. 2. How often should I clean her cage and replace the paper? 3. How often should I take her to checkups?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

Licensed Veterinary Technician

Published on April 28th, 2017

Julie looks like she may be a Quaker parrot by looking at the side view of her in the picture. You can post additional views in this forum for confirmation. Small parrots should be fed a varied diet with a commercial pelleted diet being the base. A fortified seed diet can be offered in limited quantities to prevent obesity and finicky eating. Most fresh fruits and vegetables can be offered daily as well. Favorites are grapes, apple, cooked egg and pasta. Limit fruit to prevent loose droppings. The cage should be cleaned weekly, if not more frequently depending on how messy she is. Provide different sized perches to exercise her feet. Parrots are chewers so care must be taken that they don't chew wires or toxic plants. Provide plenty of bird safe chew toys and other toys to keep her engaged. Rotate them out to prevent boredom. Ideally, she should be examined by an experienced avian veterinarian yearly. Please peruse the Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach Library for articles regarding bird care.

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