what about greek low fat yougert good for a McCaw or not?

Hi Lynn, It sounds like your bird is on a good diet. To answer some of your questions: tomatoes are fine for birds. Garlic is very healthy, BUT too much of it is not a good thing. It is a blood thinner, which means that wounds will tend to bleed more before they clot, but more importantly, too much garlic causes anemia. It is something you want to offer in moderation. Mine get some every few weeks. Peanuts might contain an aflotoxin which is harmful to birds, however, as my birds love them, I haven’t entirely eliminated them from the diet. I just give them less. Try to slowly reduce the amount until you are only giving them once or twice a week. With regards to the feathers, the best advice I can offer is more exposure to sunlight or full spectrum lighting. Here is a post on the benefits in that: http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/the-importance-of-natural-sunlight-for-your-parrot/, and two on full spectrum lighting: http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/why-proper-lighting-is-important-for-our-indoor-birds/, and http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/safe-use-of-full-spectrum-lighting/. I hope this makes you feel more confident and well informed! Patty

Sometimes I am so worried and confused. My African Grey, Martha, has eaten peanuts since I got her and she is 4 years old. We live in Africa;Nigeria ;and shewas born here. She has peanuts as a steady diet everyday and loves them so much, in the shell. Should I be taking them away from her? She is very healthy and playful, but I wonder if this will affect her on a long term basis. She eats lots of fresh vegs. and fruit also, and loves roasted corn and tomato. There are no such things here as pet stores where we can buy food for her. Are tomatoes good for her? The other thing I just recently heard is that garlic is not good for her either, that is one of her favorite things she goes crazy when she sees it.. I have stopped giving it to her? Please help!!! I would not want to hurt her in any way so if someone can tell me what to do… I don’t know how to get answers back on this site about these things. Should she not have garlic ever? About the peanuts, there are not too many other nuts here that I could get acces to for her, so if I cannot give her peanuts what else can I give her, or since she has always had peanuts, it is ok to continue giving them to her on a daily basis? I wrote a comment on here awhile back and I do know some things that are not at all good for her, but these things that I have mentioned on this comment I am not sure what to do about them. So if someone can tell me that would be great. I had asked this question before, to see if someone could tell me what to give her for dull feathers.. that is the only thing I see that may be wrong with her. She is very beautiful otherwise. Is there something she needs in her diet to make her feathers shiny.. or is there something that I am giving her that is causing the dull feathers. Or do they get dull when they are molting? Thank you for any answers to my questions, in advance.. Have a great day !!!

We have a Blue and Gold and she eats almost everything that we eat but we add a bunch of the good stuff too. We sit down to eat, she goes to her bowl. I have tried many many many times to get her eat vegetables, but to very little avail. Fruit on the other hand, she loves it! It took a long time to find cereal (pellets, blah,that’s what bunny poop is, I buy her bird cereal) and she will eat that more than anything. Dried and cooked pasta, just about any kinds of nuts (but no seed) low sugar granola sprinkled over her breakfast, Fiber One cereal has no sugar added and it’s very crunchy! We do everything we can to keep her interested and entertained. You know she likes her meal when you hear her laughing in her bowl while she eats or when she is trying to still food off of her buddy’s plate. Happiness is… your bird laughing in happiness.

My birds eat everything we eat, except avocado and chocolate. They look forward to these treats every day and actually ask for them. I have a 40 yr old orange wing amazon, a 23 yr old african grey and an 8 yr old Goldie’s Lorikeet. Lorikeets are primarily nectar eaters but she loves everything and screams until she gets it, especially at dinner time. Her favorite dessert is whip cream. So I do believe in variety for my birds.

My cockatiels love cheese, besides most of the cheese varieties have just a small percent of lactose.

I realize I have commented before but I must say that Ringo will eat almost anything except cauliflower. His favourite item…ice cream, pudding etc. anything dairy. He eats peanuts often and we always give him fruit and veggies every day. he loves breads….basically when we eat he eats off our plates. He is very healthy and active. He doesn’t very often eat seeds…doesn’t seem to care for them too much. Ringo is an Indian Ringneck is that why he loves peppers????

Harley ( B & G Macaw) is treated like one of our children and I really pitty a child who has no childhood memory of their parents “bending” the rules in their favor once in awhile for something really special…… Thanks for all the tips – Harley says thanks too!! Wanda

My 30 yr. old citron cockatoo loves cheese-any kind. He gets it as a treat-SMALL amount several time a week. I’m afraid that is too often. What do you think? He also loves cereal with milk (I use Lactaid because I am lactose in tolerant). He gets cereal infrequently, and always a low sugar/high fiber type. He loves pasta, rice(I try to use brown rice usually), and cooked carrots with dill. I recently got baking powder with no aluminum and I’m looking forward to baking bread for us with that.

Hi Liz, Please don’t feed chocolate to your bird. It contains a toxin called theobromine that affects the nervous and cardiovascular systems and stays in the system for quite a while. The darker, and more expensive, the chocolate, the worse effects it can have on your bird. Too much sugar too! Patty

We give our bird as a treat pasta, toast with peanut butter, she begs for home made french fries one large and that is it. Her love is for lime sherbert you get a bowl of that for yourself and you have company saying I want some. Go figure she is a African Grey 6 yrs old

I have a blue fronted amazon and an african grey. They both ADORE smarties! Each day I hide a different coloured one in each bird’s food. They rush to dig around and find their prize – then sit for several minutes nibbling at the smartie help tight in their claw! They dont waste a crumb. The chocolate does not seem to have harmed them as both are over 50 years old! Liz Gordon

If peanuts are not good for parrots, why are peanuts in so many bags of mixed parrot food? I buy mixed parrot food and add a ton of my own ingredients, such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, cut up dried fruit, etc. Another favorite of all my birds is a rice, egg, bread mix, they gobble it up like candy. There are so many healthy treats you can give your birds without harming their health, and shortening their lives. Fried food is not good for humans so I would think that french fries would not be good for parrots. I know that parrots like food and drinks that are not good for them and as respondsible owners we should know what is right and wrong. My Umbrella Cockatoo would run to my coffee cup and drink as fast as he could, but I do not allow him to do that as it will kill him. Caffine is 100% deadly for all birds. The more organic fresh fruit, veggies, and whole grain bread you give your birds the longer they will live without health problems. CANDICE you can give your birds inexpensive treats like banana chips, whole grain crackers with no salt, orange slices, toast and jam, etc. Toys are expensive so go to the thrift store and look for baby toys parrots seem to like them. Use an old dog chain if you have any and hook the toy up to the top of the cage for hours of fun. Change the toys once a week or two so they do not get bored. If you use your imagination you will always find a way to keep your birds happy. Hope this helped.

My conure loves cheese… any kind… he also loves ice cream and scrambled eggs and is doing just fine. He also eats his proper pellets along with a few seed treats. He loves apples and dried mango and dates. Doesnt much care for raisins or peanuts but adores pistachios.

my sun conure loves peanuts and now whole wheat toast, although i’m not sure if shes’ eating the bread or just loves trearing it up, either way she loves it and is happy and healthy as can be. She needs to be happy and enjoy life know matter what. Thats my feeling anyway.

Hello All I totally agree that breaking the rules is okay once in awhile. When I give my Sulfer Creasted Cockatoo some cheese I swear he’s smiling from ear to ear. All of the other parrots (14 in total) go crazy for toast, peanut butter and jam for a treat. If you really don’t want to give your parrot peanut butter try almond butter they love that too.

Chet, I loved your story. I totally agree, our pet birds give us so much joy that the least we can do is try to make their lives as good and interesting as possible. My pet conure is always willing to try anything I´m eating but I´m so afraid that if it´s not strictly bird food, it might harm it. From now on I will break some rules, as you say, once in a while. Thanks!

Hi Avian Vet Tech, There are no pellet bushes either. In fact, many, many of the recommended foods we give our birds are not found in their native habitats. We do the best we can with what is available. In my years working with birds, I have seen much suffering resulting from horrific diets. This site is unwavering in its endorsement for safety and a healthy diet. Every day. No excuses. The occasional inclusion of “people food”, such as cheese, will no sooner deteriorate a bird’s good health than the occasional candy bar will in the human diet. It will be the over indulgence of the owner that harms the bird. We keep birds in cages, that is the most unnatural thing of all. If these foods, given in moderation, adds to their quality of life, I’m all for it. As far as a bird not missing people food, try this experiment: give your bird two bowls of food for dinner. One containing a favorite vegetable, the other potato chips, and see which one he goes for. Sadly, he will likely go for the chips. I have performed this experiment three times with different birds who have never eaten a scrap of table food, their owners were horrified when their birds ran straight to the bowl with the chips. (And, FYI, we didn’t allow the birds to eat them.) I am not saying this is a good thing, but what does this tell you? Our choices may not be theirs, and who are we to always deny them something they enjoy. I can see and appreciate how seriously you take this issue, and believe me, I do too. I just choose to indulge my birds once in a while. Patty

HI Chet, Trixie, my Rose breasted Cockatoo seldom gets the off limit treats which you mention in the blog. The only truly off limits items are avocado, chocolate and peanuts. I adopted this bird, (or Trixie adopted me)- except we pay the bills, and she produces no income, only laughter, and the occasional blood draw when I am late to the groomer. Your comment to the fact of what is good for us, is usually good for the birds- yes, and I will say, that Trixie surprises me by liking beet greens, collard greens, and Swiss chard. She goes nuts for the seeds in bell peppers of any color, and eats pepper seeds of all sorts. Trixie likes Greek Yogurt, Red Quinoa, Salmon, Chicken, Cheese, and recently the bird ravaged a piece of leftover fillet Mignon. The red meat had me concerned, as I don’t indulge much myself & wondered what it can do to the bird’s tiny system. Trixie spits out anything less than tasty, and will eat most any vegetable, or fruit, but is more of a seed, almond, and pistachio lover. I don’t offer any rich cheeses, or ice cream to Trix, though she/he would gladly mow it. Reason being, the pooh looks bad and we all know what that means for birdies. Also, Rose breasted’ cockatoos are susceptible to fatty tumors, so I try to keep the bird in shape & weigh her every couple of months with a gram scale. Common sense and no taboo items- we will all have happy crazy birds. Mine is a boy bird from Long Beach CA named Trixie, as we thought (he) was a female, and it stuck. My dad still calls her/him miss birdiie girl, and the bird repeats it. Who cares, have fun, keep your bird healthy, not spoiled and happy! Cheers, Lisa

I made the peanut butter and banana on oatnut bread for Mozart.. he loved it and this bird mostly eats what I eat..It’s jjust the two of us and so I share everything with him..Thanks for the tip. Maybe his name should have been Elvis when I adopted him.

I never heard about peanuts causing a problem. We give our two macaws human grade roasted unsalted peanuts a couple of times a week when we pull their vegetables bowls in the evenings. And occassionally they get a treat holder filled with peanuts. They are 15 years old and never had any problems. Oh and sometimes they get cored apples stuffed with peanut butter on a scewer. Too much?

My birds eaf just about anything that I eat but in moderation. My grey loves yogurt,ice cream and cereal with milk. My Quaker loves meat and anything sweet,my cockatiel likes cereal without milk and any fresh veggie. They are all healthy and loving members of our family,and just as I watch my granddaughter’s diet ,I keep an eye on what goes in their tummies. They get excited when I "share "with them and I feel we are forging a stronger bond.

Everything in moderation. I have been giving my 3 parrots peanuts, cheese, eggs, noodles, rice, veggies, meat and other foods for over 25 years now and they are all healthy as can be!! I’ve had my grey since she was a baby and is 26 years old now, my orange wing is over 36 and I dont know how old my quaker is but I’ve had her for 12 years (she was found out in the snow almost dead). I use to work for an exotic animal hospital that specialized in parrots and it is ok to feed your parrot food that is good for you but anything high in fat has to be in moderation (or avoided). Birds do not process fat like we do and many get and die from fatty liver disease. You MUST also research things like (supposedly) asparagus is bad for birds even tho its ok for us. I believe Chet had put out that info but check the internet for the list of toxic foods for pets. I just worry now about all the recalls on food like spinach, peanuts, sprout and melons. Its pretty scarey!!

Our African Grey, Sharkey, gets fresh food (not enough – enough would be the exact diet that she would get in the wild if she were wild). She eats a very good large chunk (so that we can put it in foraging toys) organic diet , fed in her dish (in case she’s feeling lazy) and in foraging toys and in crunched up paper lunch bags and small paper cups thrown on top of her cage (she prefers “finding” her food) that she has to get to by hanging upside down and pulling them threw the bars (spent hundreds on foraging toys only to find out she likes this best) in a cage that is 6 feet x 5 feet x 7 feet. She has baby sitters, little girls that come in for a couple hours a day to talk to her while they do their homework and earn the five bucks an hour. You’d think we would feel like it’s enough. Pretty good life for a bird. Of course, because as you say, the best life for them would be in the wild, we feel inadequate. I will say, with all that, her two favorite things in life are still getting her neck skritched by us and giving us kisses and getting a bit of whatever we’re eating. We eat very healthy and we have cut down drastically on the almonds we used to give freely now that the vet has shown us the hardening of her little arteries on the x-ray but, as you say, special food makes her happy. Very. She sees us fill our plates and says “hey shark” waiting for her tiny plate to come to her. Just as occasionally I used to present popcorn for dinner to my sons to their great delight. Ain’t love grand! Rules are meant to be (intelligently) broken.

My scarlet Macal PEANUT loves mac&cheese and unsalted peanuts ( there go her name) and she is thrving. She will squeech if she doesn’t get them at least 4 times a week.. so if this doesn’t hurt her, why not let her have it.