Fish?

[Vikki]

This is a topic that I have never found a solid yes or no answer on and I wanted to see what others here thought. I was told years back that it's a bad idea to feed fish to parrots (cooked or otherwise) because fish are high in toxins from any number of pollutants in the water where they live. My take on this is that if that were true, humans wouldn't be able to eat fish either, but I'm no doctor and don't want to assume anything, so I've never fed fish to my birds. Thing is, I eat tons of fish in my own diet and would love to be able to share it with my fids. Anyone have any input on this?

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I'd avoid the same fish that people should limit consumption of because of mercury contamination... swordfish is one example.

The other concern I'd have about fish is that it spoils quickly, much faster than most protiens, especially if raw. If it was held in the crop it might go off... I don't know this for a fact, though -- would anyone with more experience like to comment? Do any parrots eat fish in the wild?

[Michael]

Look at it this way. The parrots don't need the fish and it probably wouldn't do them much good. But there is a risk that they could get or accumulate toxic stuff from eating it. What's the point of giving them fish then?

[Vikki]

That was pretty much my thought, but given that my birds tend to join us at dinner and I eat fish all the time, it was more along the lines of "do I need to wrestle it out of their mouths if they happen to steal a bite" like I would if it were avacado or chocolate?

[kaylayuh]

Shellfish should never be given to birds. It's one of the foods on the no good list. As for larger fish, I would avoid those as well due to toxins present in fish. Birds are much smaller than people are; any toxin present in the fish would do more harm to a bird more quickly than it would to a person.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I'll be devil's advocate here a bit, although I'm not planning to run out and feed my birds fish. Fish is a low fat high quality protein, in some ways even more healthy than chicken, which is often recommended to feed to parrots. Only some species are contaminated with heavy metals or may carry ciguatera and I'm not aware of other "toxins" commonly present in sustainably and legally farmed or fished fish.

[patdbunny]

Ducky likes tekka maki. I'll let you guys know if he dies any time soon.

[kaylayuh]

I'll be devil's advocate here a bit, although I'm not planning to run out and feed my birds fish. Fish is a low fat high quality protein, in some ways even more healthy than chicken, which is often recommended to feed to parrots. Only some species are contaminated with heavy metals or may carry ciguatera and I'm not aware of other "toxins" commonly present in sustainably and legally farmed or fished fish.

I was thinking more along the lines of fish that commonly have trace amounts of mercury in them. I'm sure that fish without heavy metals present would be acceptable in small amounts on certain occasions, but it's not something I'd personally rush to try. I'm also not sure why shellfish presents any more of a danger than other fish does.

I also don't really like fish so I may be a bit biased. Even if it was okay to feed to my birds, I wouldn't just because I can't stand the smell.

[zazanomore]

I'm just going to avoid fish all together. They don't need it, so why risk it? Same with avocado.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

They don't need fish, they do need some protien. Fish is not the only source for that, but it isn't crazy to consider it, either. Eggs and chicken also carry some degree of risk.