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Fresh food should be stored in the fridge or fruit bowl. You’ll probably just be feeding your birds a small amount of your own fruit and veg, so this should be no problem. Anything kept in the fridge should be removed for at least an hour before feeding, though, as over-chilled food can irritate a budgie’s tongue and throat.
Seed and grain needs to be stored in a cool, dark, dry place, in airtight containers. This will lengthen its shelf life, and will usually (but not always) prevent infestation from flour mites, grain beetles, moths and other unwanted visitors. If you only have a pair of birds – or even a single bird – you won’t need much seed mix at any given time, and a small box of food will suffice. As it will only last two weeks or so, you don’t have to be too paranoid about infestations; but keeping it in an airtight container is still a good habit to get into.
If you’re buying larger quantities for a larger flock of budgies, you don’t need specialised bird seed containers. A coloured plastic box or bin with a tight lid is fine, or any other plastic or glass sealed container (although if you are using glass or clear plastic, it must be kept in a dark cupboard or cellar). ‘Wet’ foodstuff – wild seeds collected from weeds in your garden or sprouted from dry seeds – can be frozen in airtight freezer boxes. Don’t leave it hanging around once defrosted, or moulds will start to form; and never refreeze it.
Good quality birdseed is essential
Kept dry, airtight, cool, and away from direct light, a seed and grain mix should stay fresh for up to six months. After that time, even if the grain is still dry, 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 budgie 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. If you see even a faint dusting of mildew on the surface of your batch of seed, or catch a whiff of something mushroomy, you must assume that rot has spoiled the whole batch. Throw it away, and find a drier storage space.
Budgie food containers should be checked regularly for parasites, even if you only store small amounts (see Budgie seed infestation section below).
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?