# What are the most nutritious/healthy varieties of seed to include (in moderation) in a budgie's diet?



## raskolnikova (Oct 4, 2021)

Hi all,

You may have read my other thread where I talk about the adjustment of my first budgie, Malchik, who I have had for just about 2 weeks. We (myself and my partner) have kept him on seed mix so far since we got him so recently and didn't want to try to switch his food til he was better adjusted. However, since we had a good past couple days with him where he was very friendly with us out-of-cage and curious about all sorts of foods, I bought ZuPreem pellets today and replaced his dish full of seed with it; he seems to be fine with the new pellets.

Something else we happened to find out yesterday, the last day he was on seeds ... he does not eat about half of what is in every variety of seed mix they provide at my local pet store. For some reason he absolutely _refuses_ to eat *canary grass seeds.* He would appear to have a full food dish, but upon closer inspection it was all canary grass because he'd eaten all the other types of seeds out. So while we thought he was begging to get out of the cage because he was bored/lonely, he actually was begging to get out so he could forage (he knows his food is under the table and that there are spilled seeds in the carpet).

So anyway, I'm switching him to a mostly pellet-based diet and finding out which vegetables he likes to eat. I'd still like to include a small amount of seeds in his diet, as treats/foraging material. There's no point in me feeding him "budgie seed mix", though, because every single brand seems to be full of canary grass (funny enough, my partner's childhood budgie 20 years ago also refused to eat canary grass seeds). I'd like to just buy some seeds or grains from the bulk food or grocery store (maybe some Bob's Red Mill type stuff?) to include in his diet.

With that being said: since I have more choice in this matter than I would if I were feeding budgie seed mix, I'd like to feed him something healthier than mostly millet seeds.* Which kinds of seeds have the best nutritional value for budgies? Are there any such seeds which can be bought at an ordinary grocery or bulk food store?*

Thank you for any information you are able to provide.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Look at the seeds listed in this link and it will give you some ideas of what to try:*

*Quality Seed Mix*


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