The most popular cage bird in Singapore and Malaysia is the Oriental White-eye. The Oriental White-eye is also known as Mata Puteh (i.e. “white eye”) in Malaysia and Singapore. This name is derived from the ring of white around the eyes which thicken as the bird gets older. It is not unusual to find 100 to 200 Oriental White-eyes at each of the more popular gathering places in in Singapore on Sundays.
The cages for these birds are very small and each owner can comfortably carry 2 to 6 birds. Canvas bags can even be purchased for the specific purpose of carrying cages for these birds. These bags look very much like large shopping bags with each bag being able to hold up to 3 cages. This enables the more enthusiastic hobbyist to personally transport 6 cages at a time with the help of 2 of these bags, one bag in each hand.
I believe that most forumers would agree with the logic that as bird keepers or even if you are keeping other animals (dogs, cats, fish etc) you would try to provide the animal with food which is its natural diet. Of course now we have dog biscuits for dogs, cat food for cats and so on. But even such commercial preparations always advertise themselves that the ingredients are very close to natural food.
The same applies to birds. Why do people take the trouble to catch grasshoppers or pay for crickets which are troublesome noisy insects, to feed their birds? Again it’s simply that we wish to feed our birds with the closest substitute to their natural diet.
Any experienced birdwatcher will tell you that the
Mata Puteh's natural diet consists mainly of four things: nectar, fruits, grubs (and small caterpillars) and small insects (including small spiders).
Most of us will feed our Putehs with commercial pellets and supplement it with fresh fruits. The question is whether we are giving the Puteh too much fruits. The answer is simply: No.
An animal such as a bird (or any other animal except Carp) eats only what is necessary and never over eat. So you may stick a whole apple or orange inside the cage, but the Puteh will not gorge itself to death, instead it will peck only a small portion of it. The only harm is that it’s a waste to put an entire orange or apple in the cage. If anyone tells you that his Mata Puteh ate an entire apple in one day - it’s either he is joking or he is delusional.
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Enjoy your hobby, cheers!
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