Are pretzels ok for a bird...

[born2fly]

Both of my birds go crazy when they see me eating a pretzel. I never give it to them because they were salted, but I found unsalted ones and gave it to them. They eat some of it but I think they enjoy the crunching more than anything. Would you consider it safe as a treat?


PS Buddy goes crazy when he sees potato chips, which makes me wonder about his diet with the previous owner.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

One of the bird stores around here sells peanut butter filled pretzels for birds. They don't have the big salt crystals. I don't see why a pretzel would be bad as an occasional treat except the salt. My guess would be you could knock the salt off and let him have some, but I'll be interested to hear the consensus.

[pchela]

I'd say like anything else, they're fine in moderation. (minus the salt of course)

[jayebird]

Junk foods like popcorn (no butter, no salt) and chips (plain, baked) and pretzels (no salt) are okay as treats in really, really, really small doses. It's much better to give fresh fruits and veggies as "treats" (they seem like treats when a bird is on a pellet diet.) The salt is dangerous to feed a lot of. I've heard that grains can affect a bird's hormones, kind of like how too much protein can encourage aggressive breeding behavior.

My personal opinion is that I'd stay away from them and try to find crunchy toys to chew (like those bird kabobs) that they could enjoy. Roudybush pellets are also pretty crunchy so that way they can be fun and nutritious, too.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Actually, my understanding is that whole grains are as healthful for birds as they are for us. Cooked barley, oat groats, wheat berries, quinoa etc. and plain cooked pasta are often cited as desirable components of a cooked diet for parrots. I'm not saying pretzels aren't junk food... but grains in general I don't think can be said to be bad. In fact, pelleted diets are grain-based. Here's what's in Harrison's Adult Lifetime from their website:

Ingredients: *Ground Yellow Corn, *Ground Hulless Barley, *Ground Soybeans, *Ground Shelled Peanuts, *Ground Shelled Sunflower Seeds, *Ground Lentils, *Ground Green Peas, *Ground Rice, *Ground Toasted Oat Groats, *Ground Sun-Dried Alfalfa, Calcium Carbonate, *Psyllium, Montmorillonite Clay, *Spirulina, *Ground Dried Sea Kelp, Vitamin E Supplement, Sea Salt, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, d-Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite.

[pchela]

This is the second time I've heard about the grains thing and I have to say that I'm not buying it. They eat grains in the wild. Does anybody making this claim have some resource they can direct me to? I've done a bit of searching but haven't been able to find anything saying grains are bad.

Honestly, with the list of things that people claim are bad for our birds, I'm surprised we can feed them anything at all!

[Titanius]

Well I sometimes use Saltine crackers as a treat. Minus the salt of course. You have no idea how crazy I go with scraping off the residual salt crystals. (I might as well just get unsalted ones then) My birds love them. Diamond flew and latched on to my head because she thought I had something that looked like a cracker in my hand.

[birdvet]

I agree with the majority, unsalted pretzels as a treat are fine now and again.

Grains are absolutely fine for birds, I must say I've never heard of the hormone imbalance claim. If anyone has the link please let me know, I'd be interested to see if they have proof to back this claim. I'd be really surprised if they did unless they were doing research on lory's and lorikeets and feeding them grains to see what would happen