Fruit Veggies?

[Pomlover2586]

What fruits and veggies are NOT bird safe? I know Avocado isn't safe as well as chocolate and caffeine.

but as far as fruits and veggies go, what is off limits or what has to be prepared a certain way prior to eating? Right now I'm sticking to the basics but I'd like to be able to offer a wider varietyin the future.

[Michael]

While chocolate/avocado are the outright deadly ones, there are plenty of others that fall in the categories of bad for them, overdosed on chemicals, or downright useless. For example things like celery, lettuce, cucumber, watermellon, and the like are useless to the birds. The first two are just fiber and water so they fill their crop and taking away from real nutrition. The second two are water and sugar which are just empty calories. Things like strawberries, other berries, and other specialty fruits are overdosed on chemicals. Some say it seeps in so deep that you can never wash them all off. The birds are much more sensitive toward these kinds of things so it's best avoided. They nutritional gain of eating these fruits is negligible compared to the risks. Chilean grapes can be deadly. Someone said Chile has some crazy low standards and that parrots have died from consuming those. If you do feed grapes, wash them very thoroughly and only buy American grown ones. As for foods that are bad for them, I've heard that garlic, onions, and tomatoes are bad for them. Spinach is up for debate. Some say good and others bad so it's safest to just skip. Fish is another food that is best to skip. It's not even close to their normal diet and loaded on heavy metals so don't feed them fish.

Stick to known foods like broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, peas, corn, apple, banana, grains, seeds, and nuts.

[GreenWing]

Yes, as Michael says, strawberries and other store-bought berries have chemicals on them that isn't safe for birds... the avian vet told me that while organic is better, garden berries are best. If you can get a strawberry plant, that is ideal for your bird... we have strawberries, salmonberries, blackberries, and raspberries in our garden.

On my "Healthy Parrot Diet" list, the unsafe and toxic stuff includes:

Avocado
Mushrooms
Rhubarb
Onions
Raw tomatoes
Cabbage
Apple seeds

I've also read that Elderberries are poisonous for birds, too.

[marie83]

Home grown/organic berries are fine, high in antioxidants and nutrients, they are way better nutritionally than apples/pears and the like. I would avoid anything treated with pestacides and stuff though.