Diet: Indian Ringneck Parakeet

Indian Ring Neck Parakeets eat both seed and fruit

• Basic Diet:

  • Formula Options:

    • Kaytee Exact Baby bird Formula

    • Harrisons Formula

    • Hagen Tropican Baby Bird Food

  • Supplemental Options

    • Egg Food Bird Supplement (Vitakraft or Quiko)

    • Abba Green

    • Unflavored Pedialyte

    • Softbill pellets

  • Protein Options:

    • Mashed hard boiled or scrambled egg (chicken or duck)

  • Fruit Options (you can purchase the fruit in the form of organic baby food)

    • Banana

    • Mango

    • Strawberry

    • Papaya

    • Apple

    • Blueberry

    • Lychee

    • Small amounts of citrus such as orange and tangerines

• How to Feed:

  • Mix fruit, baby food, and baby bird formula with water

    • 20% pureed fruit, 80% baby bird formula

  • Crop feeding:

    • Hatchlings (under 2 weeks): 5 - 5 ml of formula every 30 minutes, adjust as necessary until the crop is full then empties

    • Young Nestlings: 5-8 ml of formula every 2 hours or until the crop is full then empties.

      • Make sure crop empties before feeding again

    • Nestling: 10 ml of formula every 2 - 3 hours approximately

      • As the bird gets older, you can increase the amount of formula, and feedings can be spaced out to every 2 - 3 hours.

    • Juvenile: stage you can start to ween and offer bits of small fruit with formula. Only offer separate water in a dish when they start to eat solids on their own.

  • If you do not want to crop feed:

    • Mix fruit (baby food or fresh) with an egg mix: hard-boiled egg or Abba Green, and baby bird formula (Kaytee or Exact) add water to create a chunky but moist consistency. Bites of this mix can be served to your nestlings or fledglings for as many bites as they will take using a coffee stirrer or skewer.

    • Feed every hour for 12-14 hours a day. 

• How to Ween:

  • When the nestlings begin to show interest in eating on their own (pecking at things in their cage), start offering a variety of seeds including parakeet, finch, and canary seeds. Millet, leafy greens, freshly picked grass seeds, and pieces of cut fruit.

    • 1. Hang millet spray around the cage so young necks can explore and learn new food sources

    • 2. Put soft fruit inside the cage, change the fruit every 6 -8 hours. You can sprinkle quicko mix or abba greens (supplemental options) on top of the fruit.

      1. Fruit Options

         • Banana

         • Lychee

         • Papaya

         • Strawberries

         • Blueberries

         • Raspberries

         • Apples

         • Mango

         • Slice of orange or tangerine

    • 3. Start to put grass and other leafy dark greens around the cage

  • Continue hand feeding every 2 hours throughout the weaning process as they begin eating more seed on their own and gradually decrease the amount of formula or soft food they eat.

  • Do not rush the weaning process and allow them to wean at their own time.

• Helpful Tips:

  • Fledglings can be offered soft bill pellet to add to their diet and as they wean off of formula.

  • Older birds continue to enjoy a variety of fruits and seeds.

  • Ringnecks can be very vocal if you choose to rehab one- be aware of the noises they may make!

  • Ringnecks can learn how to talk and will often mimic phrases!