Just some general advice on some Do Nots on a Bird's Diet

[PowerBBS]

1) Chocolates:

Chocolates are toxic to birds. Do not offer them any. Even small amounts can kill them. Veterinarians have confirmed that small traces of chocolates in birds can cause vomiting, diarrhea, seizures and death.

2) Avocado:

Some bird owners claim that their birds have eaten avocado and survived. Some have died. Why chance it? It's not certain if the black part of the avocado, skin or pit is the cause of the poison - but there are many other food items to feed your birds instead of taking a chance with avocados. Avoid them completely.

3) Onions:

Questions have been raised about the danger of feeding birds raw onions. There has been studies to confirm that onions damage red blood cells in certain animals; although not confirmed with birds. Until more research is done, put onions on your "prohibited" list.

4) Fruit Pits & Seeds:

When you feed your birds an apple, discard the seeds. Same with oranges, grapes (seedless will be easier), dates, and any other fruit that contain them. Fruits, in general, contain a lot of sugar and should only be fed in limited amounts. But when you do feed them, make sure you remove the pits & seeds.

5) Milk Products:

Birds are not able to digest more than just little amounts of lactose. Veterinarians have confirmed that birds are lactose intolerant past a certain level, and will have diarrhea when fed foods that are high in lactose content. As such, avoid dairy products that contain high amounts of lactose. Therefore, do not feed milk to birds, nor use milk in your birds' diets/recipes.

(Many people confuse high lactose foods for all dairy products. That is not the case. Eggs have no lactose, and cheese have trace amounts of them, being that cheese is processed food and the manufacturing of it removes the lactose. Cheese and eggs fed in moderation are healthy for birds).

6) Caffeine:

Caffeine is known to be dangerous to birds. This will include caffeinated coffee, teas and sodas. Please don't feed them to your birds.

7) Alcohol:

As obvious as it sounds, please do not feed alcohol to birds.

8) Food with molds and fungi:

This may also be obvious, but sometimes it's not easy to notice. Improperly stored seeds, grains and even peanuts can become contaminated with fungi and molds. Molds and fungi can produce toxic substances. These toxins can remain in the food long after the fungus that produced them have died, and some can remain toxic even after the food has been cooked. Always examine any food you offer your pet birds and make sure that it has no signs of mold.

9) Foods high in fat, salt and sugar:

What do you know.... the same things that humans should avoid! Keep your birds away from these. Canned vegetables are high in salt, so are some snack foods like potato chips and crackers. Some species, like Macaws, do require higher fat intake than other bird species, so check with your veterinarian on the right amounts of fats your bird should consume. For most birds, a pelleted diet and balanced human diets should contain enough fat for their needs.

10) Tobacco:

You don't necessarily feed these, but tobacco is on this list because your birds will unwillingly consume it if you smoke around them. Smoke will painfully kill your birds. Please take this seriously. Do not smoke around your birds, or in the house that your birds live in. Birds' lungs are far smaller than humans and withstand a whole lot less. Birds that are exposed to smoke suffer breathing and respiratory problems, which can lead to behavioral problems, feather plucking, other illness and death. Birds naturally do not exhibit signs of bad health and will suffer for a long time before the symptoms are present. By the time a bird looks ill, the matter is serious and most often non-curable. Avoid tobacco around your birds, completely.

[Tishrei]

Originally Posted by PowerBBS

1) 10) Tobacco:

You don't necessarily feed these, but tobacco is on this list because your birds will unwillingly consume it if you smoke around them. Smoke will painfully kill your birds. Please take this seriously. Do not smoke around your birds, or in the house that your birds live in. Birds' lungs are far smaller than humans and withstand a whole lot less. Birds that are exposed to smoke suffer breathing and respiratory problems, which can lead to behavioral problems, feather plucking, other illness and death. Birds naturally do not exhibit signs of bad health and will suffer for a long time before the symptoms are present. By the time a bird looks ill, the matter is serious and most often non-curable. Avoid tobacco around your birds, completely.

I know someone that has a too that smokes heavily in the room the bird lives in. The bird plucks and screams. I wish there was some way I could convince her that she should not smoke around the bird let alone in the same room. When I have visited her, it's hard to be in the room because the smoke bothers me so I wonder what it does to the bird. The whole room reeks of smoke.

Actually, the bird is not a happy bird. It's only let out of the cage once a day in the morning and spends the rest of his time sitting in a cage in a smoke filled room. I can't tell you how sorry I feel for that bird.

[swanwillow]

something to add;
seeds we feed... there are alternatives to the bag you buy at the grocer! Organic stores contain many different things, and you can make your own mixes!
Pumpkin seed is a good alternative to sunflower seed. Use organically grown almond slivers, and organic grass seed mixes to make your own lower-fat diet for your fids!

[Odysseus]

Since the thread is begun I will ask this here.

Just recently my wife got herself her third hamster. The other two passed away and no not after only a couple weeks. One made it more than three years. Well, we unwittingly fed it almonds among other things trying to learn our new hamsters favorite foods. Well, it started feeling poorly so we looked into it and lo and behold one of the foods we tried WAS bad for the poor little guy. Almonds have cyanic acid that is bad for our hamster. Not fatal, but too much for the little guy to be comfortable for a time.

Just curious if anyone has found that with their bird the cyanic acid is hard on them too?

[fluffy_stitch]

thanks for letting us know about the almonds,i recently got a degu and had been giving him almond flakes as treats!!!! i give some too the birds too,can anyone tell me if this is a bad idea for the birds also???

[Kiwi1224]

I thought I had read that almonds, walnuts and pecans were okay for birds in moderation. Kiwi tends to go for the walnuts more than the other nuts. I hope one of the members can let us know for certain. Great thread, I have these items listed for reference but it's a listing that should be viewed on a regular basis.

tishrei -- that's a shame about the too...I hate the thought of the bird being caged with no means of escape from the smoke. You just want to grab the bird and run!

[PowerBBS]

Originally Posted by Odysseus

Since the thread is begun I will ask this here.

Just recently my wife got herself her third hamster. The other two passed away and no not after only a couple weeks. One made it more than three years. Well, we unwittingly fed it almonds among other things trying to learn our new hamsters favorite foods. Well, it started feeling poorly so we looked into it and lo and behold one of the foods we tried WAS bad for the poor little guy. Almonds have cyanic acid that is bad for our hamster. Not fatal, but too much for the little guy to be comfortable for a time.

Just curious if anyone has found that with their bird the cyanic acid is hard on them too?

You know that's an interesting question. I give my birds roasted shelled unsalted almonds as treats. I even see whole unshelled almonds in many Parrot Seed mixes of many brands.

Since you asked, i went out on a search and believe it or not, I found almonds are not recommended for birds. I found a huge list of stuff on a site.

First, i'll quote what the site says, then I'll give you the URL so you can verify it yourself. Turns out it's an avarian website too....

Foods & Plants Toxic to Birds

The below is not a complete list. It is recommended that you consult with a vet, if in doubt.

Please note that the items marked with an * are especially toxic to birds and can be fatal.
Toxic foods are foods that can cause allergies and/or health problems in birds. Anything high in sugar or salt is inappropriate, as are fatty foods. More serious are things such as chocolate, which is toxic to many pets. Caffeinated or alcoholic beverages are also dangerous.

- Acorns
- Alcohol
- Almonds (plant-pan allergen profilin can cause serious reaction in some birds)
- Alocasia
- *Amaryllis Bulb
- Angel's Trumpet (some species), seeds, leaves
- Apple Seeds (small quantities ok)
- *Apricot (seeds, wood)
- Arrowgrass
- *Autumn Crocus
- *Avocado (leaves, seeds, stem, skin)
- Azalea (entire rhododendron family)
- Baneberry
- Bayonet
- Beargrass
- *Begonia
- Bird of Paradise
- Bitter Almonds*
- Bittersweet
- Black-eyed Susan
- Black Locust
- *Bleeding Heart
- Bluebonnet
- Bloodrot
- Box
- Boxwood
- Bracken fern
- Buckeye
- Buckthorn
- Burning Bush
- Buttercup (Ranunculus)
- Caffeine
- *Caladium
- *Calla Lily
- Canada Yew
- Candelabra
- Cactus
- *Castor Beans
- Ceriman
- Cherry (seeds, wood)
- Chinaberry
- *Chinese Sacred or Heavenly Bamboo
- Chocolate
- *Choke Cherry (unripe berries)
- Christmas Rose
- Chrysanthemum
- Clematis
- Coriaria
- Cornflower
- Corydalis
- Crocus bulb
- Croton (Codiaeum sp.)
- Crown of Thorns
- Cyclamen bulb
- Daffodil
- Daphne
- Datura
- Deadly Nightshade
- Death Camas
- *Delphinium, larkspur, monkshood
- Dicentrea
- Dieffenbachia
- *Dumb cane (Dieffenbachia)
- Easter Lily
- Eggplant
- Elderberry (unripe berries)
- Elephant Ear
- English ivy
- Fig (Ficus)
- Euonymus
- Evergreen Ferns
- Ficus
- Flax
- Four-o'clocks (Mirabilis)
- Foxglove (Digitalis)
- *Garlic (safe for birds in SMALL amounts)
- Golden Glow
- Gopher Purge
- Hellebore
- Hemlock
- Henbane
- Holly berries
- Honeysuckle
- Horsebeans
- Horsebrush
- Horse Chestnut
- Hyacinth bulbs
- *Hydrangea
- Iris corms
- Iris Ivy
- *Jack-in-the-pulpit
- Japanese Yew
- Java Beans
- Jessamine
- Jerusalem Cherry
- *Jimson weed
- Jonquil
- Jungle Trumpets
- *Kalanchoe
- *Lantana
- Larkspur
- Laurel
- Lily
- Lily-of-the-Valley
- Lily Spider
- Lobelia (some species), all parts
- Locoweed
- Lupine species
- Malanga
- Marigold
- *Marijuana or hemp (Cannibus)
- *Milkweed
- *Mistletoe berries
- Mock Orange
- Monkshood
- *Morning Glory
- Mountain Laurel
- Mushrooms
- Narcissus, daffodil
- Nettles
- Nectarine (seeds, wood)
- Nightshade
- *Oak
- *Oleander
- *Onions (toxic to birds, small amount ok)
- Peace Lilly
- *Peach (seeds, wood)
- *Pencil cactus plant
- Peony
- Periwinkle
- Peyote Cactus
- *Philodendron (all species)
- Pimpernel
- Plum (seeds, wood)
- Poinciana
- Poinsettia (many hybrids, avoid them all)
- Poison Ivy
- Poison Oak
- Pokeweed
- Poppy
- Potato (green seed balls, green tubers; plant, leaves and stem)
- Precatory beans
- Privet
- Rhododendron
- *Rhubarb leaves
- *Rosary Pea
- Rubber Plant
- Schefflera (umbrella plant)
- Scotch Broom
- Schefflera
- *Shamrock (Oxalis sp.)
- Skunk Cabbage
- Snowdrops
- Snow-on-the-Mountain
- Spindle Tree, Euonymus (some species), leaves, fruit, bark
- Spreading English Yew
- Spurge (Euphorbia sp.)
- Staggerweed
- Starleaf
- Star of Bethlehem
- Sweet Pea - Lathyrus latifolius - L.: Although no records of toxicity have been found for this plant, the seed of some species in this genus contain a toxic amino acid that can cause a severe disease of the nervous system known as 'lathyrism' if they are eaten in large amounts (although small quantities are said to be nutritious)[65, 76]. Great caution is advised.Plants For A Future - 7000 useful plants
- Tansy Mustard
- Tobacco
- Tomatoes (leaves and stem)
- Tuffroot
- Tulip
- Virginia Creeper
- Walnut hulls
- Water Arum
- Weeping Fig
- Wild Call Wisteria
- Wild Calla
- Wisteria
- Yellow Calla
- *Yew

Here's the link: Foods & Plants Toxic to Birds

[Odysseus]

Thanks for the list BBS, looks like my lovebird will have to live in a bubble! :P

It is amazing how many things can be harmful, and that list helps me be better prepared. I am assuming it will be possible and perhaps easy to avoid all those items for my lovebird.

I respect that avarian site, and the hamster issue with almonds...but digestive systems work differently. So, I wonder if anyone else has a third opinion to add to the group?

As of now, better safe than sorry, looks like Almonds won't be on my lovebirds diet. I am sure my lovie will survive as long as he/she never knows they exist! As the wiseman once said, "Eat an oreo and vanilla wafer you like oreos. Eat a vanilla wafer and a cracker, you like vanilla wafers."

Best tasting foods can be relative and I am sure my bird will have plenty favorites.

[swanwillow]

with the way my fids LOVE almonds, and many MANY birds in the wild eat almonds, I'll still be feeding it. If you read that, it says that there are some allergies to it.

IMO, if you've been feeding your birds it, and they haven't had a reaction to it.. well, then they probably aren't allergic. I'm not feeding it by the handful either... I added a half pound to a three gallon vat of food... all told, they aren't getting much (I didn't even add any to the last vat of food either, I decided to use it as a reward instead of food)

If you look through some of the cheaper food mixes, you can find whole unshelled ones in them. Thats what Quana was on before I got her.

[birdlady49]

I've been feeding almonds in the shell to my CAGs forever without problems. However, I recently read that California has introduced new laws that require the "spraying" of almonds ... to prevent e. coli if I'm remembering correctly. Most almonds in the United States come from California.