Parakeet Feeding its Toy

User Question
Hi, I have a question about my 4 years old parakeet. I do not know the sex of my parakeet so I will refer to it as a boy. I have been noticing that when my parakeet plays with his favorite toy (a jingle ball hanging down from a branch), he would make a neck-jerking motions and a small grain-like brownish pellet smaller than the size of a grain of rice would come out of his mouth. The pellet is hard and ovalish with pointed ends. He would then chew it and swallow it. He does this about 20 times or more a day but only when he plays with his favorite toy. I don't know if this is normal or if this is serious. Please help me. Thank you!!!

Lisa's Answer
That is normal :) When a parakeet eats a seed, it hulls it, that is strips off the outer coating and eats the inner grain. You are seeing that grain. When parakeet parents feed their kids they eat the seed, digest it a little then spit up the seed again and feed that to their babies. Most birds do that. So your keet is in love with its toy and is trying to feed it as a sign of love.

I would really either spend more time with the keet or get him a friend, if your bird is so lonely that it is trying to feed inanimate objects :)

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