Fruit and veggies

[Lina]

Is there a place on these forums that i can see a list of safe fruits and veggies, i know no onion and galic but what are other no nos and can i give cantelope melon?

I know there are lots of posts on food i did find one that said cantelope is ok , but i have had to reboot my computer 5 times just to get that info. i really need a list

[pionus]

Hi there. here is a link to a topic of vitamin A fruits and veggies that are safe. viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8997&hilit=parrot+food+list
Also, you will see that cantaloupe is indeed safe.

Hope I helped!

[GreenWing]

Hahaha, Pionus beat me to it...

Cantaloupe is OK.

For what to NOT feed, specifically on the onion family, see this article... avoid leeks, garlic, onions, chives.

Tomatoes are up for debate but I am one of the many who won't give my bird RAW tomatoes (cooked is okay though) as SOME parrots become very ill after eating RAW tomatoes.

Avocados are POISONOUS to parrots, so never, ever give avocado.

See this article for other no-nos.

AvianWeb has a great, comprehensive list on poisonous foods for parrots.

Beware with wild berries. Many, like elderberries, are poisonous to parrots, too.

[Pajarita]

I've fed raw tomatoes (cherry or grape) to my birds (from canaries to macaws) since 1992 about once a week and none has ever become sick from them. Tomatoes are one of the most nutritious foods you can offer a parrot because they not only have lots of betacarotene and vit C, they have lycopene (a powerful anti-oxidant that prevents cancer). I've never seen a single anything on parrots becoming sick after eating raw tomatoes, can you provide a link?

As to safe fruits/veggies/greens (off the top of my head, there could be more):

Strictly organic: apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, plums.

Not necessarily organic: bananas, oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, all types of grapes (but only grown in America, not from anywhere else), mangos, papayas, watermelon, cantaloupe, golden melon, pineapple, coconut, pomegranate, blackberries, raspberries, kiwis, cranberries, fig, dates, currants.

Never feed starfruit to a bird.

Veggies: potatoes and carrots (organic), sweet potatoes, yucca, all the hard rind squashes (calabaza, pumpkin, acorn, spaghetti, , zucchinis and cucumbers (organic), corn, sweet peas, green peas (aka gandules), plantains, radishes, olives, tomatoes, celery (organic), beets, bamboo shoots, palm hearts, water chestnuts, sugar cane, peppers (red, green, yellow, orange -all organic), jicama, green beans (they can also eat wax beans but not often), artichokes (very good for their liver).

Greens (all organic except for the cabbages and broccoli): all the lettuces (but not iceberg), chicory, escarole, carrot tops, dandelion, Swiss Chard (green or red but not too often), broccoli, all the cabbages (green, red, savoy), nappa, bok choy, kale, broccoli-rabe, endive, fennel, watercress, spinach (very seldom), wheatgrass, chickweed, lamb's ear, basil.

[Lina]

Wow thanks alot this is so very helpful for a new bird owner. Hope we can keep it at the top for new bird owners, great info for what can be feed and the most important what never do feed.

Like the avacodo that i had heard or read but good to know i didn't know about mushrooms being a no no but thank god i didn't even think of it to try for them .
Booze is i would think would be a given but somepeople have done stupid things, i have an ex that has a cat that loved booze of any shape or form and would farm the emptys under the sink to get it , we had to put child safty catches on the cabnits to keep it out.

[GreenWing]

I've never seen a single anything on parrots becoming sick after eating raw tomatoes, can you provide a link?

Sure

There's avian vets out there who claim to never feed a parrot raw tomatoes.

There's alkaloids in the solanaceae (Nightshade) family, and while many plants from the Nightshade family are poisonous to humans and other animals, the alkaloids in tomatoes can be dangerous for a parrot. Some parrots will respond violently to ingesting raw tomatoes and get very, very sick. It doesn't seem to happen often but better safe than sorry, I say. Of course, cooked tomatoes, as in sauces, and also dried tomatoes is OK, but there are parrot owners who won't even feed that.

[Pajarita]

With all due respect to Dr. Nemetz and you, this is 5 years old and it relates one single isolated case of a bird that, supposedly, had ulcers (and the only thing I know -I could be wrong- that causes proventricular ulcers in birds is PDD). Yes, acid food will make ulcers worse but almost all food that contains vit C is basically acidic and tomatoes are actually less acidic than oranges (see here: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/acidic-fruits.html). Oranges have a pH of 3.5 while tomatoes are 4.2 and lemon juice is 2.3 but avian vets recommend adding lemon juice to the water of birds that have liver damage which I don't think they would do if it could cause ulcers.

And I don't know if I would make the connection of a bird eating tomatoes three days prior to developing bleeding ulcers either because food goes through a parrot's body much, much, much quicker than that because of their high metabolism (it takes literally only hours from when they eat the food to when they poop it).

[GreenWing]

I said above it's a debate; that parrots becoming ill from tomatoes doesn't happen often; that not everyone is going to agree.

The article I shared had two statements from Avian Vets. You can find a ton of information on alkaloids and solanaceae in databases and/or Google Scholar. There's this from 2011 that was printed in Parrots Magazine and, please note that while I don't agree with the extremity, it is still interesting to read about. More importantly, I asked my own Avian Vet about it. So, for me, personally? I feed cooked and dried tomatoes but not raw as -- agreeing with Avian Vet Jill Patt's statement -- there's plenty of alternatives. If feeding your birds raw tomatoes works for you, then by all means don't stop.

[Pajarita]

You do know that avian vets never study avian nutrition or behavior, don't you? They only study physiology and pathology...

[GreenWing]

Doesn't matter, I trust my Avian Vet, and I agree regarding raw tomatoes, and you're not going to change my mind.