Pscitticines eating fish?

[smallonion]

Hi everyone,

My Humphrey seems to love to eat fish. Whenever we have it, she begs...and we do give some to her. Normally she likes white flesh fish like cod/flounder, but tonight my husband was eating smoked salmon and she wanted a piece. He said, 'ok, but you're not going to like it!" WRONG! She loved it! Which is strange as she normally prefers bland food.

Is it ok to feed her bits of fish once in a while?

Michele and Humph

[Monica]

Some amounts of thoroughly cooked fish should be fine! I've read that it makes a good addition to the bird diet! I don't eat fish, nor does my sister (beyond canned tuna) so we don't normally have anything in this house that comes from the sea...

[Alyce Johnson]

Beware of canned tuna - there's a lot of mercury in it, relatively speaking (which is why they recommend a limited intake of it for children & pregnant women). Also, here in the San Fran bay area, where "light" diets with lots of fish are popular (and where fresh fish abounds) a doctor noticed that her female patients (who tended to eat a lot of fish to help keep their weight down) where having problems with toxic metal injestion. Fish are often a polluted food, nowadays, given the sorry state of our oceans. For a human, you have to eat it pretty regularly (they recommend having fish 2 or fewer times a week, due to these issues). But for a bird, I'd be a tiny bit concerned that it wouldnt take so much for it to be a problem. I think as a rare treat it would probably be OK but because birds are so tiny, I'd seriously limit her intake, and maybe look up those varieties that are known to be more polluted and avoid letting her have those entirely.

[Montys Mommy]

Salmon is a better alternative to canned tuna as yes, can tuna does contain alot of mercury in it. Monty loves Salmon and the ocasional crab leg that she can tear into, however it is limited to as a treat, as fish can be a bit salty.

[Tiki]

I personally don't eat fish, but I have noticed that my 12 week old Princess, Tjinimin is very adventurous and wants to try anything I have on my plate!

[felisdomesticus]

I give Scarlett canned salmon for a week every month or so. I open a can and she gets a bit on her dinner every night until the can is gone. She LOVES it! but eclectus are famous for their huge and not-picky appetites.

[Alyce Johnson]

Hmm... the fish oil (esp in something like salmon) should be good for them. Anybody know if fish oil supplements have ever been found to contain toxic heavy metals? Would "organic" fish oil make any difference? (I mean, it comes from fish, who all come from seawater, right?)

Beware of farmed salmon, by the way. It's way worse, in terms of concentrated pollutants - or so I've read, anyway. I love fish, personally, so all this news and research about polluted fish has really rained on my dinner parade. And as a diver, it's just depressing, the state that our oceans are in. But still, better to be aware and careful, I think, esp where the tiny ones are concerned. For myself alone, I liked it better when I could eat whatever w/out being worried....ignorance was culinary bliss. Now, besides thinking of how magnificent the fish was while it was alive in the ocean (comes from being a diver) I have to wonder about the chemical contents of every bite. Ug.

[felisdomesticus]

Originally Posted by Alyce Johnson

Hmm... the fish oil (esp in something like salmon) should be good for them.

When I make bird bread, I always open a few capsules into the batter. She only gets bird bread once or twice a week, though.