worms????

Ducky · Post by **Ducky** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 6:58 am

ok I'm gonna ask this, in reading on the net it mentioned that its ok to give your pet birds dandelions and an occaional earthworm..............

is it really ok???has anyone?

julie · Post by **julie** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:14 am

im not 100 percent sure but i wouldnt give any to indie because of fertilisers and stuff like that from the soil they live in.

Neokireina · Post by **Neokireina** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:24 am

I would also pass on the whole worm thing, it might not harm them, but I dunno if they would even be interested.. I doubt it's part of their normal diet, they arent insectivores.

jen5239 · Post by **jen5239** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:39 am

Ducky · Post by **Ducky** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:29 am

ya thats what I thought

yuck.....I was reading info about plumheads and it was in there....

Ed Loschi · Post by **Ed Loschi** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 10:22 am

Why can't your irn eat earthworms or dandelions?
The fertilizer issue must be solved but if you are 100% sure that the food is safe from fertilizer (or other toxics) then I think it is safe to at least introduce those foods. Let your bird tell you what it will and will not eat.
It helps me to remember that all birds (yeah even our fids) are wild animals and really smart and can quickly adapt to their environment. Parrots are particularly good at adapting and are opportunistic feeders.
There was a comment about a pair of King Parrots here on this site that were killing mice and eating the innards, not so tempting to me or you probably but maybe like a fine tender roast beef to the parrots...yumyum.
Parrots are not vegetarians, they are omnivores, and can digest meat just as easily as fruit, veggies, seed, grain, etc.

jen5239 · Post by **jen5239** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:41 pm

I'm sorry, but I just would not allow my babies to eat worms. First off, it would suck for the worms and secondly, no kisses if they've eaten worms. ICK, ICK, ICK,ICK! And I loves me some Remmi kisses! Of course, Byndi would rip my face off before he would kiss me. But.... I still wouldn't let him eat worms.

Neokireina · Post by **Neokireina** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 5:04 pm

It's not that it's bad for them, I mean even kids eat worms sometimes right?
It's just that I'm not going to go out of my way to feed them worms.

Jade · Post by **Jade** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 5:42 pm

It was my Kingys that eat the mice and rats :oops:

We were told to feed them meal worms when they came into breeding season too. Apart from that, I'm a traditional wife/mother and i like to cook a roast on Sunday. When i have the roast out defrosting, chooky will do anything to try and chew on it. The first time i caught him i hadn't realised how long he had been at it and he had chewed a massive hunk out of the roast (which i had to disguise so that hubby didn't have a fit). He also loves chicken. Basically, i have come to the decision that if he will eat it, then he can eat it. They aren't stupid and they won't eat what they can't handle or tolerate.

Mazziemom · Post by **Mazziemom** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 6:59 pm

I have a friend who gives his birds meal worms. They are all healthy happy birds. I do not do it, simply because I cant touch the things, I get all grossed out.

Dandelions however are wonderful! Our crew gets so excited about them, the bounce up and down! We only take them from yards we know well (like our own) and where we know there hasn't been any yucky stuff sprayed or sprinkled. We wont be taking them from our yard this year since we just moved here and cant be sure what was used last summer. However... my dad has a HUGE yard and he doesn't use anything in it... he even pulls them and bags them for me when he mows

Athena

natalie · Post by **natalie** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:53 am

All i been doing on here recently is laughing. Right ok firstly Athena, bless your Dad for collecting the worms for you, what must his neighbours think lol. Kireina, i just chukkled when i read "kids eat worms dont they" they sure do , amongst other nastys, yuck.lol.
Jade i just lost it when i read" had to diguise it from hubby" i could picture it, you quikly turning the meat up the other way so no one can see the whole,lol
Jen eeewww im so with you on that, ick ick ick, oh and i can so relate to having your face ripped off by Byndi, puts me in mind of marley,haha.anyway im not up for the worm thing either. Poor worm!!!!!haha :lol:

natalie xxxx

julie · Post by **julie** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:17 pm

there is a big difference between earth worms and meal worms.as far as i know meal worms dont come in dirt and they can bite whatever is eating them.thats if they are fed live but dead is a different story.

berrynice · Post by **berrynice** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:39 pm

I have 3 boys so if I can avoid anything yuck I do. What they find in the backyard is enough. Does 'what doesn't kill us make us stronger' apply to birds too!!

Angelface · Post by **Angelface** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:29 am

meal worms are ok to feed...superworms bite! they chew thru anything and I won't feed them unless their heads are chopped off. but I feed small meal worms to everyone in my house! the irn's aren't always interested, they like to play with them more than anything!!
grow your own flowers for them to play with!! I have an indoor garden and every plant in there (except 2) are safe for them to eat and chew. christmas cactus is the two that isn't supposed to be chewed on! but they rarely eat the plants....but they love the grasses!
just set up a small pot and some seeds and before long you'll have your own little safe garden for them. and you will KNOW what goes into it for fertilizers etc.

Mikaela · Post by **Mikaela** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:13 am

Baby would be like 'I aint eatin dat crap'

Wheres da beef!

Yeah, I'd pass on that.

Ed Loschi · Post by **Ed Loschi** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:05 am

I let Bebe investigate everything on my porch. That includes the plants, he loves climbing up and down Spider Plants, and it is great when he hangs out and roams around in the Rosemary, afterwards he smells great.
We have alot of Christmas Cactus' that he investigates and snips when he feels like the plant needs to be pruned and he has gone to town on a couple that I had to save from him.
He has had no ill effects from snipping and pruning the Christmas Cactus, I have seen him taste it too but not eat it.
And get this. My CC's bud out in Nov and bloom during Christmas (go figure) and the blooms keep on going 'til late Feb...no kidding. Here is the good part. Just before the flowers are about to drop they get a little bit of sweet nectar at their base and Bebe is all over them...I'm trying to figure out how to use them in cooking now...and the flowers freeze.

IndianRingNeck.com

worms????

worms????

Let'em eat earthworms and dandelions.

lol

No ill effect from snipping and pruning the Christmas Cactus