Charlie is a parrotlet, not a budgie or cockatiel, but the end result is the same.
All seed diets are very bad.
In the end, Charlie had diabetes, pancreas problems, liver disease and kidney failure. Though he was eating well right up until the day he died, due to the diabetes and pancreas problems, he was getting literally nothing out of his food. He literally starved to death, though he was eating regurlarly and his droppings were normal.
In the photograph, Charlie's liver is very clearly visible and it is enlarged quite a bit. I don't mean "enlarged by Photoshop", I mean enlarged as in swollen due to damage and diseased caused exclusively by the all seed diet he was fed in his previous homes for nearly seven years. There is a point when damage done is irreversable; Charlie's problems were irreversable at the time he came to me.
The poor diet he received, which was marked on the bag as "100% complete" and is one of the more popular brands of seed out there (I won't name names, as to avoid any potential lawsuits), is the main cause of all of the problems that lead to his early death. It cut his life, literally, in half. He should have lived another 6-7 years.

Anyone who tells you a seed only diet is 'nutritionally complete' is either dangerously ignorant or is lying to you to make a sale.

This is what Charlie looked like about a month before his death...as you can see, the signs of damage caused by all seed diets aren't always outwardly apparent.



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