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Fresh parakeet food should be stored in the fridge or fruit bowl. Anything from the fridge should be removed for at least an hour before feeding, though, as over-chilled food can irritate a parakeet’s tongue and throat.
Dry seed and grain should be stored in a cool, dark, dry place, in airtight containers. If you only have a pair of birds – or even a single bird – a small box of food is all you need.
For larger quantities of seed, a plastic box or bin with a tight lid is what you need. If using clear plastic, or glass, it needs to be kept in a dark cupboard or cellar, as the light will spoil the seed.
Good quality birdseed is is the basis of a healthy parakeet's diet
Seed and grain mixes, suitably stored, will stay fresh for up to six months. Any longer than that and a lot of the vitamins and nutrients will have disappeared. Locking the goodness in by freezing solves the problem, but creates new ones. After defrosting, the seeds will be moist, and this can lead to fungal and bacterial growths, which can make your parakeet ill. The best option is to avoid buying in bulk – that way your seed will not become old and leached of its goodness.
As mentioned above, if your seeds become damp, mildew can spread quickly. Any sign of a white dust on the dry seed, or a mushroomy odor, means that mold has spoiled the batch. It will have to be thrown away, and a drier storage space will be required for future batches.
Check parakeet containers regularly for parasites, even if you only store small amounts.
Comments
Jbs, 12 April 2023
Thank you so much for this comprehensive article. I've been wanting to investigate making homemade budgie food, as most store mixes are either horribly expensive or mostly millet. This is surely the advice I will be using! Including percentages is soooo helpful. Thanks again :)
Neil, 14 March 2021
What is the shelf life generally of Budgie seed Please
Karen, 9 June 2019
I have 2 Budgies very young their hatch date was the 22/1/2019 this is a great web sight I've come across, I see I can feed Budgies cabbage when I googled the question ,but its not stating whether it should be given raw or cooked, can someone/anyone answer this question please?
Ivan, 3 June 2019
Hello. If I have a suspicion that my more than 6 years old budgie has some possible kidney problem for a longer time, what could I do? It is a problem to take a blood from such a small animal. He was taken some time ago, but only just to confirm he does not have chlamydia or to see the main blood picture. Maybe trying to get a dry chemistry. But he was never an extrovert bird... HE is now with one female in one room and 3 other budgies in the other rooms. They are flying, only the one in the other room is now captured in the cage... This budgie ( Bilko ) is a little depressive, shy, introvert, frightened, he does not get along with the others, maybe due to his handicap with which he was bought by me. His legs are a little curved and he had probably a broken wing, so his flying is limited. He spends most of his tim on the top of the larger cage. Sometimes he has a one day more apathy when he has diarrhea or lastly he was vomiting, but then it was better. I can not diagnose him, but my suspicion is towards the kidneys. Wish I would not be right. What could I do? How could I make him to eat more liquid foods? Can this condition be connected with stress? My budgies are stressed of me. Or can he be stressed by the other budgies which are more active or dominant? Can this cause the kidney problem? Thank you.
Lauren, 10 April 2019
How do I make my seed container “air tight”? Do I stick a straw through a small gap in the lid and suck out all the air?