The 6 Best Parakeet Foods of 2023

Best Overall

ZuPreem FruitBlend Flavor Pellets Bird Food

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Pellets are generally considered to be superior to seeds as a parakeet staple, since they are nutritionally balanced and protein-rich compared to high-fat, low-protein seeds. It is crucial to provide snacks and other ingredients as sides—usually fresh fruit and vegetables—but all of the essential nutritional needs your parakeet or budgie needs are in most organic pellet products. 

Made from natural grains, these fruit-forward pellets cover all the major dietary requirements for your budgie to say well-fed and healthy. While it’s important to diversify your parakeet’s diet, these cost-effective and tasty pellets can account for at least 60% of their nutritional needs. The secret to this is not only its protein content, but also its spread of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.

Its positive effects on your budgie extend beyond just diet and nutrition. ZuPreem’s pellets are lower in fat than many seed-based mixes, thus promoting cardiovascular health. The whole grain makeup also results in meals that are heavy on fiber, which is crucial for maintaining healthy digestion.

ZuPreem FruitBlend Flavor Pellets are a perennial favorite with parakeet owners, and also get a stamp of approval from veterinarians and bird specialists. Their shape and size are ideal for small and medium-sized birds, making them a flexible option for a wide range of pet bird species.

Price at time of publish: $12 (2-pound bag)

_{Main Ingredients: Ground corn, soybean meal, ground wheat, oranges, apples, grapes, bananas, more | Sizes: 2 lbs (pack of 1), 2 lbs (pack of 2), 10 lbs (pack of 1)}

Best Natural Pellets

Lafeber Premium Daily Diet Parakeet Food

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A close second to ZuPreem, Lafeber’s pellet diet for parakeets can be a little harder to find, but is the ideal choice if you’d rather nix artificial preservatives or flavors from your parakeet’s diet. Lafeber Premium Daily Diet Parakeet Food is full of antioxidants, chelated minerals and omega fatty acids that have benefits for skin, feather, and immune system health. 

Lafeber Company is a highly trusted brand, which released the first commercially available, nutritionally complete bird food pellets in the 1970s. Still manufactured in Cornell, Illinois, Lafeber’s bird seed uses domestic-grown grain in all its pellets. The care Lafeber puts into developing the product is evident in their directions and recommendations for use, which include advice about what fresh fruit and vegetables it should ideally be served with, and how to get your bird to transition comfortably to pellet-based meals.

Lafeber Premium Daily Diet Parakeet Food comes in a variety of sizes. You can even get a 25-pound box of Lafeber Premium Daily Diet.

Price at time of publish: $29 (5-pound tub)

_{Main Ingredients: Ground corn, wheat, oat groats, soybean meal, cane molasses, dried whole egg, corn gluten meal | Sizes: 1.25-pound, 5-pound, 25-pound, 85-pound tubs}

Best Seeds

Hagen Original Blend Budgie Seed

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Seeds on their own are not generally recommended as the main staple of a parakeet diet. They are usually low on amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. They are also high in fat content, which means the bird to which you feed a pure seed diet needs to be fairly active for it to not lead to potentially negative health effects.

However, a high-quality seed mix is excellent for pairing with other mineral-rich items, usually fresh fruits and vegetables. And as far as seed mixes go, you can’t find a much more nutrition-packed product than Hagen’s Bird Seed offering for parakeets and budgies. They are enriched with extra vitamins and minerals—including iodine—to push them above the levels of less hearty seed mixes, making it fortified enough to serve as your bird’s main diet if necessary.

Hagen Original Blend Budgie Seed is also a good pick because the seeds are thoroughly cleaned, which means you don’t have to worry about dust. It comes in a CO2 air-barrier bag to assure freshness and keep out air and dampness to prevent accelerated seed aging through oxidation.

Price at time of publish: $11 (6-pound bag)

_{Main Ingredients: white millet, canary grass seed, oats, red millet, canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), calcium carbonate, orange oil, ferrous carbonate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, etc. | Sizes: 6-pound, 25-pound bags}

Best Mix

Living World Premium Parakeet/Budgie Mix

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Combining the best of seed and pellet diets, this budget-friendly mix from Living World includes a variety of seeds, grains, dried fruits, vegetables, and nuts—a bit of all the options you might hope to put in front of your beloved bird at lunch or dinner time. Part of the secret to the full nutrient profile that Living World’s Premium Mix provides is its 10% Tropican makeup, a diet made up of eight types of grains and nuts that is heavy on essential nutrients. 

The Canadian-based avian research organized Hagen Avicultural Research Institute (HARI)—which in part specializes in nutritional studies—has given the Premium Mix its official Seal of Approval. Tropican is all-natural, and generally regarded as having a variety of other health benefit for parakeets, budgies, parrots, and more. These include promoting weight regulation, healthy plumage, bone strength and high metabolism.

Price at time of publish: $8 (2-pound bag)

_{Main Ingredients: Papaya, pineapple, coconut, Canary seed, oat groats, white millet, flaxseed, rapeseed, hemp seed, niger seed, sesame seed, carrot, caraway seed, and more || Sizes: 2-pound bag}

Best Snacks

Lafeber’s Classic Nutri-Berries Parakeet Food

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The best snacks you can give your parakeet or budgie are usually considered to be fresh fruit and vegetables. But if you’re looking for a solid store-bought product that can provide the benefit and tasty appeal of those items, Lafeber’s Classic Nutri-Berries Parakeet Food provides a combination of hulled seeds, peanuts, cracked corn, and more. 

The Nutri-Berries are all-natural and non-GMO, covered with stabilized vitamins, chelated minerals, and amino acids, plus it contains a variety of sweet and savory flavors that encourages foraging. Similar to Lafeber’s pellets, the Classic Nutri-berries are nutritionally complete, which makes this a potential alternative for parakeets that don’t respond to standardized pellets. But for most budges, this blend is a perfect periodic snack.

Price at time of publish: $36 (4-pound tub)

_{Main Ingredients: Hulled white proso millet, hulled canary grass seed, hulled oats, maltodextrin, peanuts, red millet, soybean meal, ground corn, wheat flour, corn syrup, glycerin, hydrolyzed soy protein, canola oil, ground limestone, ground rice, dicalcium phosphate, carrageenan, iodized salt | Sizes: 10-ounce, 4-pound, 14-pound}