Budgie · Grains, seeds & nuts
Can budgies eat millet?
Yes, in small amounts. Millet is a budgie favourite but is low in many nutrients, and budgies that fill up on it can become poorly nourished or overweight.
- Portion
- About 2–3 cm (1 in) of spray millet, or a small pinch (about 1/4 teaspoon) of loose millet
- How often
- Spray millet only occasionally (one veterinary guide suggests once or twice a month for pellet-fed budgies); loose millet can be part of a small daily seed portion of no more than about a tenth of the diet
How to serve it
- Break off a short piece rather than hanging a whole spray
- Check that it is dry, clean and free of mould or insects
- Use it for training or foraging rather than filling the bowl
- Count it as part of the day's seed, not an extra
Why
Risks. Millet is low in vitamin A, calcium and protein and high in carbohydrate. Budgies choose it over better foods, and seed-heavy diets are linked to obesity, fatty liver, lipomas, iodine deficiency (goitre) and vitamin A deficiency.
Benefits. Millet is very palatable, which makes small pieces useful for hand-taming, training and foraging games.
Questions owners ask 2
Can budgies eat millet every day?
A small pinch of loose millet can be part of a daily seed ration, but spray millet is best kept as an occasional treat. Most of the diet should be pellets plus vegetables.
Why does my budgie only eat millet?
Budgies prefer tasty, high-carbohydrate seeds. Offer other foods first and millet only as a reward, and ask an avian vet about a gradual switch to pellets.
Millet: nutrition per 100 g
| Water | 8.7 g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 378 kcal |
| Fat | 4.2 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Fibre | 8.5 g |
| Calcium | 8 mg |
| Phosphorus | 285 mg |
| Calcium : phosphorus | 0.03 : 1 |
| Sodium | 5 mg |
| Vitamin A (RAE) | 0 µg |
| Vitamin C | 0 mg |
“Millet, raw”, USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, FDC 169702). Public domain.
Sources & method 5
The sources below discuss millet for budgies (or for pet birds generally). Confidence: high. Rated on the JOMIZOO Feeding Scale; when good sources disagree we choose the more cautious level.
- Feeding Budgies — VCA Animal Hospitals
- What to Feed Your Pet Bird — RSPCA
- Management of Pet Birds (professional version) — Merck Veterinary Manual (Sharman M. Hoppes, DVM, DABVP Avian)
- Nutritional Diseases of Pet Birds — Merck Veterinary Manual
- Tumors in Birds: Lipomas — VCA Animal Hospitals (Gregory Rich, DVM; Rick Axelson, DVM)
