As I get to know more non-bird people as I move through life, or as they get to know me, they quickly learn about my passion for parrots. I am almost always referred to as “the bird lady”.This is not a term I relish because I wonder if, when out of earshot, the word “crazy” doesn’t get added to that phrase. I’m pretty used to it and I don’t expect most people to understand my “thing” for birds.
When I do happen upon another bird owner I get very excited and could talk forever. Sometimes, though, I meet an owner that just doesn’t get it, doesn’t understand birds and is clueless about their needs. I have to try hard not to lecture about the error of their ways. It serves no one if they walk away feeling reprimanded, having learned nothing.
I met one such person the other day. She has a young cockatiel, one of my favorite species. I have two that I cherish. We talked for a while about their wonderful personalities and trusting natures.
We got on the subject of feeding and she was shocked to learn that I prepare fresh foods for my birds everyday. Her bird is on a seed only diet. I explained to her why a bird requires more than seed to sustain good health and offered her assistance in converting her bird to a fresh food diet. Her response was: “Thanks, but he’s fine on the seeds. He’s healthy.” An opinion reached based on the fact he isn’t dead, I guess.
As we continued talking she mentioned that his favorite food is chocolate. I felt my jaw drop – feeding a bad diet is one thing, feeding your bird a toxic substance is quite another. I told her that chocolate ranked high on the list of most toxic substances to birds. I explained that it contains theobromine, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, and can progress to cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks, seizures, internal bleeding and eventual death. The darker chocolates, with the higher the percentage of cacao, are the most dangerous.
She snapped at me: “Well, you’re wrong! My bird has been eating chocolate for months now since he’s been with me!” I suggested that she google unsafe parrot foods where she would find chocolate listed right below avocado. She rolled her eyes and said: “My bird is totally fine eating chocolate.” All I could do at this point was issue a stern warning: “You are going to kill your bird if you don’t educate yourself on how to take care of him.” I felt bad that she walked away angry, but I felt worse knowing that her poor bird would suffer because of her ignorance.
Chocolate is unsafe. Unfortunately, it is sweet and yummy, and most birds, given the opportunity, would eat it all day long. The cockatiel owner I met has gotten lucky so far, but I’m betting that it’s only because she buys cheap chocolate that has a low cacao percentage. Her, or more precisely, her bird’s luck will run out. Resist the urge to share any junk foods with your birds and don’t eat them in their presence if they are persistent in wanting to share.
Author Patty Jourgensen specializes in avian health, behavior and nutrition and has been working with and caring for rescue birds since 1987.
7 comments
birds are fairly hardy and if on average your berb eats decent they will probably survive ingesting something deemed bad/toxic. much depends on your pet’s state of health at the time. Keep in mind that if they get chemical exposure or ingestion or vapor exposure such as PTFE, that that advice could go out the window. Better safe than sorry. Best to all.
I was eating my chocolate Ben and Jerry’s ice cream when my bird flew over it and got some on her tail she doesn’t like baths so sometimes I have to force her to take one I don’t like forcing her but it needs to be done sometimes if she ends up getting that off her tail and eating it will she die she’s a one year old cockatiel that is perfectly healthy with yearly vet visits
I was standing in the waiting area of a veterinary office one day as my daughter applied for a job there. In the room was a gorgeous Amazon who stood in the open door of his cage seemingly enjoying seeing all the people and pets coming and going. As I stood there I noticed a little girl hand the parrot something, which he took a bite of and then dropped. I casually took a look and was shocked to see it was a mini Milky Way candy the parrot had been given. I turned to the mom of the child and told her in a friendly way that chocolate is toxic tol birds and she rolled her eyes and said, “We give him that all the time.” Later I called the vet’s office and told the receptionist what I had seen and why choc. should never be given to birds, and I suggested maybe they could put a sign by the cage asking people not to feed the parrot. She sounded concerned about what I told her, I had talked to her in a friendly and helpful way, hopefully it helped.
I deal with this mentality every day of my life, not with birds but with dogs, ….I know where you are coming from, they just don’t listen, they don’t care how long you’ve been at this and how experienced you are and how much you know, they know nothing but they know whats best. I routinely have people come to me with their very first puppy, they say “this is my first dog, I know nothing” and when I try to educate them they argue with me, they start spouting off ridiculous, nonsensical, false info they read on the internet, it’s very frustrating, …but that said we have to concentrate on those that appreciate our help and want to learn, not those that are too full of pride to listen to anyone about anything. You help and inspire A LOT of people, don’t forget that :)
At a pet store the other day I heard a man ask a sales person “what’s the cheapest pet you have”. I was thinking… wow, that’s an interesting way of deciding what pet to buy! I’m the “research queen” before i buy anything living, I make sure I know everything I can about it. I feel bad for the pets that are purchased on a whim. I could never work in a pet store.
That’s sad that she would be so arrogant to think that just because the bird isn’t dead yet means it’s not killing the bird… Because of the many tasty human treats that are deadly to bird even our smallest child knows to ask permission before sharing any treat with our parrot.
Unfortunately bad bird owners are a dime a dozen. The saddest part of this statement is that the bird loses out. Bird owners learning the hard way translates to bird loses it’s life or at the very least suffers. If the bird owner were to suffer the same consequences as the bird did, I would venture to guess that the lesson would be alot quicker and easier to learn, saving the bird much grief.
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