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average life span?

29K views 16 replies 13 participants last post by  Cthebird 
#1 ·
My parrotlet is 7 yrs.old. What are folks finding to be the average life span of the parrotlets? I almost hate to ask. I want this little guy around for a long time!
 
#2 ·
they say the average life span is around 10-15 years, however i have seen websites say 20-30 which is highly unlikely and most likely bogus. Personally i had a parrotlet that lived exactly 10 years and recently passed due to a move and he just couldnt handle the stress of my move. :-( but yea i would have to side with the 10-15 year mark. Good luck, and hope he lives long. They are definatly great companions.
 
#3 ·
I think mike is on the right track with 10-15 - we have had two around the forum lately who have lived to 12 and others who are still kicking around the same age. Most parrotlets die prematurely due to accident or injury due to their size and delicate nature - for this reason we don't see as many that live out their true life span.
 
#4 ·
thank you so much! what may I ask are you feeding your birds? this parrotlet has lived mostly with my daughter since she graduated and moved but I keep him for months at a time. We are very bonded. I know he needs more than the 90% cockatiel seed diet he is on. I am presently cooking him a mixture of quinoa, lentils, adding small amt. of winter squash, broccoli, and a touch of powdered kelp and ground flax seed. Sound okay?
He LOVES a tiny bit of cheese now and then. Think that is okay?? I give him egg and chicken on occasion, which he loves...
 
#5 ·
I recommend you get him some Volkman Avian Super Science Parrotlet seed mix. It is the very best you can buy for your bird and even Volkman recommends that it be supplemented with fresh foods. The extras you are feeding are fine, try a bit of apple.

I do not believe that a parrotlet cannot go twenty. I had a budgerigar that was 12 and the oldest bird on TalkBudgies until he met with an unfortunate accident. A parrotlet is significantly more sophisticated and intelligent, so I fully expect mine to get parrot life-expectancy.
 
#8 · (Edited)
You can feed these little guys most fruits and veggies, mine always love apple, lettuce, broccoli, cheese, banana and most like a little bread not to much and only a treat. Also the beans and such are a great way to give protein as well as egg with shell. Also some like cooked rice, potato, squash, grapes, cherries and seasonal fruits. All my parrotlets also LOVE LOVE LOVE hemp seeds which you can get at pet store. Down in South America the government has flocks of these little guys that they set loose on a pot grow and they will decimate it in a day. It is a favourite for these little guys. Also a very good high quality of pretty bird or pellets that you can get at most vets, and pet stores, the pellets can be used as a complete diet as it gives them all they need nutrition wise, but I also give fresh foods as well. Who among us likes the same thing every meal and the same day in and day out. Also millet while it's a favourite is not a good only seed to give it would be like us as people eating cookies and chocolate cake all the time, we would put on a lot of weight, this is what to much millet and to much sunflower seeds do to our feathered babies.
 
#12 ·
Ollie gets some cottage cheese in the morning while I eat it. He goes for that extra calcium, but not too much. Hemp seeds are worth the expense. I add a little in his seed dish several times a week.
It's nice to read that parrotlets can live past 15 yrs. At my age, Ollie will be my last bird!

 
#14 ·
I hope you give the Volkman's seed to outside birds----they will certainly be happy.

Higgins is the brand I use for Ollie topped off with hemp seeds. He eats all hemp seeds.
I have a separate dish of fresh and cooked veggies for Master Ollie. when I eat cottage cheese, he has to have some to throw around after a bite or two. Never gave him cheese.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I've read that a parrotlet that is fed a very healthful diet and avoids accidents can live between 20-30 years. My parrotlet is currently 13 and very healthy and young looking. We feed him a wide variety of things:

REGULAR DAILY MIX:
Harrison's very fine organic pellets
A small amount of parrotlet seed mix
Mixed dried greens with chamomile and some bee's pollen
Hot pepper flakes
Dried cranberries or yogurt birdy bit

BREAKFAST:
An organic mash full of beans, fresh vegetables, fresh greens, fresh fruit, rice, legumes, kelp, and more. They are carefully frozen in individual servings and then microwaved (served warm)
or,
A pasta bean, veggie, seed mix frozen and packaged in single serving portions (served warm from microwave)

DINNER:
Parrotlet portions of my husband's and my approved dinner items (i.e. cooked chicken, cooked salmon, veggies, pasta, brown rice, whole wheat couscous, and things like that) Usually served warm.

Yes, we put a plate of the breakfast/dinner food on our dining table for him (with fresh water) so he can join "the flock" for the meal. He really likes that. He likes the warm meals just as humans like warm meals.

My parrotlet gets a lot of attention and loving. He's with me (on me or in sight of me) maybe 10 hours per day (when not sleeping). I know that's more than most people can give, but he does thrive on it. We try to get him at least 10 hours of nighttime sleep (covered) and 2 hours of daytime napping. We try to keep his cage as clean as possible and his dishes are always clean. We give our bird spring water with his daily food or filtered water for meals at our dining room table. He drinks a lot of water. Basically he is treated just as well as (or better than) if we had a child. I really want him to live a healthy, happy, and long life with lots of love. We'll be devastated when he passes on.
 
#17 ·
I have read that parrotlets are lactose intolerant, so I never feed my bird cheese. We on occasion do let him steal some of my husband's unsweetened muesli from his cereal bowl (sometimes my husband has no choice but to let him steal my bird's so fast and determined), but my husband is lactose intolerant too and uses lactose free milk. My bird on occasion licks a bit of white plain yogurt, but yogurt is easier to digest than milk and cheese because of the cultures.
 
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