Discover the best budgie food list and what to feed your budgie for optimal nutrition
Budgies (parakeets) are small, seed-eating parrots that are not too picky about food as long as you meet specific dietary requirements.
The best staple food for house budgies is a quality commercial pellet mix formulated for small birds, such as Harrisons’s Lifetime pellets, Higgin’s InTune, Roudybush Mini size, and Johnston & Jeff (UK), supplemented by fresh vegetables, fruits, and seeds, together with occasional seeds and grains.
Leafy greens are also a perfect treats for your budgie, along with cooked and boiled human foods, like rice, millet, pasta, hard-boiled eggs, and quinoa.
To provide a balanced diet, feed your budgies a mix of 75 to 80 percent pellets, supplemented with fresh vegetables at 15 to 20 percent and fruits, seeds, and treats at 5 to 10 percent.
Picky budgies may not accept anything that is not seed or pellet mix, and owners often have a rough time getting their birds to eat fruits, leafy greens, and vegetables. So, to help you know the best or favorite food for your budgie, introduce new foods gradually and observe your budgie’s response.
Monitor their eating habits and remove uneaten fresh food after a few hours to prevent spoilage.
You can also consult an avian veterinarian for further guidance on your budgie’s dietary needs.
Best Budgie Food List (Types)
As seen above (intro)
Budgies have diverse tastes and can eat readily available seeds, grains, vegetables, and fruits. High-quality pellets are an ideal staple for house budgies because they are balanced, while cooked home food, like rice, pasta, and quinoa, can be fed as occasional treats while bonding.
See the complete list of best Budgie Foods (Things a budgie can eat).
- Commercial Budgie Food: Budgie Pellet or Seed mix
- Seeds and Grains: Oily Seeds, Grass Seeds, Herb Seeds, Sprouted Seeds
- Vegetables
- Leafy Greens
- Legumes
- Fruits
- Cooked and Boiled Foods: Rice, Pasta, Hard-Boiled Egg, Quinoa
- Chop (Homemade Budgie Mix)
Commercial Budgie Food: Pellet and Seed Mix
I consider commercial budgie food as two types, pellets, and seed mix.
Pellet mixes are the better everyday food for budgies, supplemented by fresh vegetables and fruits, with seeds being the smallest percentage of the diet (10%).
Your budgies can be ok eating seed mix as a staple but gradually convert them to pellet and vegetable mix or chop (homemade budgie mix) to prevent long-term health issues, such as gout, fatty lumps, poor feathers and liver or kidney damage, common in parrots on seed only diets.
Only feed your budgies commercial foods that give information on the ingredients because some contents, such as artificial colorings and preservatives, can be poisonous or unhealthy for your bird.
Avoid all bird pellet food or seed mixes with artificial colors, presevertive, flavors, and added sugars.
Budgie Pellet Mix
Budgie pellets are commercially produced bird food available in small, uniform pellets. They are good because they provide a balanced and complete diet for budgies. The best (high-quality) pellet mix brands, like Harrisons, Roudybush, and ZuPreem, contain a proper balance of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and fats.
Essentially, pellet budgie mixes are better than seed mixes because they are more balanced.
Pellet mixes are uniform and will also keep your budgie from selectively feeding on their favorite seeds, which can cause an unbalanced diet.
To introduce pelleted food to your budgie’s diet, start with a small amount mixed with the usual seed mix. Over time, increase the proportion of pellets while decreasing the seed mix until your budgie get accustomed to the pellets.
To make the pellets tasty and enticing, makers will add flavors and vary the pellet sizes to cater to your budgie’s preference.
Best Pellet Food for Budgies
A complete high-quality pellet mix with Vitamin D3 and other nutrients your bird needs is most acceptable. Brand like Harrisons and Roudybush are best, but there are other good options for a cheaper price and readily available in pet stores.
Roudybush, Harrisons, and ZuPreem are my top choices for any healthy bird, including budgies, but Harrisons and roudybush offer the best clinical diets for birds with special dietry needs.
Haggins, Hagen, Goldenfeast, and LaFaber are ideal burget purchases, especially if you have several budgies to feed or incase you unexpectedly run out of bird food, but they are not as superior in quality.
Here are my go to brand choices:
1. Roundybush Mini-Size or Crumble
2. Harrisons Adult Lifetime Pellets (Super Fine)
Harrisons lifetime is a complete, high-quality pellet bird food with super and extra fine pellets best for small parrots, like budgies and cockatiels, and other tiny pet birds, such as canaries.
The food is available in USA, UK, Newzealand, Canada, and Australian bird stores, though not as accessible in some parts of Europe, like Denmark.
Harrisons budgie pellets do not have added sugars or artificial dyes (colors), so you budgie won’t run the risk of yeast infections or colored poop.
Your budgies poop color will be very consistent.
Bird owner also notice less health issue with their budgies when they feed them Harrisons lifetime pellets. The feathers and skin are prettier, and birds molt less often.
Pros:
Harrisons is a complete high-quality pellet food, with Vitamin D3 and other nutrients necessary for budgies healthy growth.
Your budgie weight is easier to control when feeding them Harrisons pellets, than when they eat high-quality seed mix.
Harrison does not color their pellets with food coloring or artifically scented fruity flavors to entice you budgie.
The food comes in different pellet sizes to suit your budgie’s preference.
Harrisons have assorted pellets for healing birds, increasing weight on under weight budgies, and for baby budgies (6 months and below).
Cons:
- The only downside of Harrisons budgie pellets is they are high-quality bird food hence come with a heafy price tag. They are expensive than most bird foods you will find in any bird store.
3. ZuPreem Natural Pellets
4. LaFaber
5. Higgins
6. Caitec
7. Hagen
8. Kaytee
9. Goldenfest
Budgie Seed Mix
Seeds and grains lack the most nutrients incorporated in pellet foods and should only make up ten percent of your budgie’s diet, even in a mix.
Giving birds seed constantly will cause obesity and heart disease it’s like only eating potato chips pellets, fruits and veggies are always better