.png)
The base diet that we feed our caiques is a pelleted diet. There are several good balanced diets on the market. We feed our birds and babies Tropican Parrot Sticks.
Our flock prefers these larger sized pellets. I have noticed that caiques really love to hold their food in their foot while they eat and I think that is why they gravitate to the larger sized pellets. Some caiques may like the small sized pellets better. If you buy a small bag of each and mix them together it will be easy to figure out which size your caique prefers.
We supplement our caiques diet with the following items:
1-2 nuts per day. They may be walnuts, almonds,cashews or pistachios, but never peanuts.
Pine nuts.
These items are not placed in the food dishes but are reserved to be fed in limited amounts, by hand, as treats, bribes and training aids.
Other foods fed regularly in a separate food dish in the caique's cages are fruits, veggies, seeds, sprouted seeds and grains.
These may be in the form of:
Thawed, frozen mixed veggies
Parrot Chop
Or healthy parts of whatever we are cooking for ourselves
A small amount of seed. We like Higgins Mayan Harvest Tikal Blend.
Foods Not Recommended
Peanuts - While not harmful in themselves, they can carry fungi that can infect and sicken birds. While not likely to be an issue we generally do not recommend peanuts. If you must, then feed only peanuts intended for human consumption.
Grit - It is unnecessary and can be dangerous if eaten in large amounts.
Dairy - Unless given very occasionally and in small amounts. Caiques do not possess the proper digestive enzymes to process a large amount of dairy.
Mushrooms - Can be fed with caution and only those safe for human consumption. It's easier just to skip them all together.
Foods to Strictly Avoid
Chocolate
Avocado
Onion & Garlic
Comfrey
Fruit Pits & Apple Seeds
High-Fat, High-Sodium, High-Sugar Foods
"Sugar-Free" Foods that contain artificial sweeteners