Are you a parakeet owner? If yes, it is usual for you to wonder- “Can parakeets eat strawberries?” Strawberries are one of the most luscious fruits in the world. Most of us are hardcore fans of this juicy fruit, so you may wish to share this delicacy with your dear parakeet. But, can you feed your parrot this berry? Wait a bit, we will be revealing everything in this very article.
Parakeets require varied nutritional requirements, and introducing a variation in their diet is a good idea. Strawberry is a healthy fruit for the parakeets, so you can feed them these red succulent items while adhering to precautions. To know about these in detail, stay with us and read the article until the very end to fully understand how you can keep your bird healthy.
Table of Contents
Can Parakeets Eat Strawberries?
A short and simple answer to this question will be a ‘yes.’ You can feed your parakeets strawberries as these make for a healthy food item for your pet bird. After all, this sappy fruit is packed with antioxidants, essential vitamins, and minerals.
The taste of strawberries makes the parakeets fond of these fruits. So, whenever you provide them with strawberries, they will love it and get delighted.
But, you have to be a bit stern in not allowing them to eat this fruit in excess. Else, your parakeets may fall sick, and their health will be affected adversely.
Nutritional Benefits of Strawberries for Parakeets
Strawberries come with loads of benefits for the parakeets if you feed them these luscious fruits in moderate amounts. This juicy fruit contains low calories and comes with a low glycemic count.
Therefore it won’t let the blood sugar level in the body of a parakeet rise above normal. The fruit has a high nutritional content and aids in reducing cholesterol and blood pressure level in the budgies.
First, let’s look at the nutritional content of the fruit before we delve deep into the benefits that each nutrient offers.
Nutrition Present In Strawberries- Amount/Percentage (Per 18 g= 1 large strawberry)
Carbohydrates- 1.4 g
Proteins- 0.1 g
Vitamin A- 0.18 μg
Vitamin C- 10.6 mg
Fiber- 0.36 g
Sugar- 0.88 g
Folate- 4.32 µg
Sodium- 0.2 mg
Potassium- 27.5 mg
Calories- 6
Magnesium- 2.34 mg
Let’s now see the benefits of the essential nutrients of strawberries in the bodies of the parakeets.
Fiber
The fiber in the strawberries aids in enhancing the digestive system functioning of the parakeets. The bacteria in the gut of the parakeets draw nutrition from the fiber present in the strawberry and facilitate the gastronomical health of your pet bird.
The leaf, stalk, and seeds of the strawberry are rich in cellulose which further help in the bowel movement of the parakeets.
Vitamin C
Just like citrus fruits, strawberries are rich in Vitamin C. It boosts the immunity of the parakeets as it is a powerful antioxidant.
Immunity is a great health factor as it shields this bird from any kind of illnesses, in general, and heart or neurological diseases, in particular. Your parakeet can now get a strong immune system
Potassium
The small amount of potassium in the strawberries is sufficient to initiate regular muscle contractions and ensure the proper fluid balance in the parakeets.
This mineral also helps keep the blood pressure of your bird in check and make sure that the nerve signals are transmitted properly.
Manganese
This essential mineral aids in fastening the metabolism rate of the parakeets and performs the role of a coenzyme.
Folate
Folate is an essential element in the strawberries that ensure the parakeets have proper functioning of the cells and development of the tissues. Moreover, it aids in producing white and red blood cells in the body of the parakeets.
The water content of the strawberries also aids in the regulation of body temperature in the parakeets and helps them have sound health.
Since strawberries come with several health benefits for the parakeets, you can feed them these but only in moderate amounts, say, once or twice per week.
Health Benefits of Strawberries for Parakeets
Strawberries are packed with a lot of health benefits to offer to the parakeets. Let’s see what these are!
Excellent & Improved Bowel Movement
The rich fiber content of the strawberries aids in a better bowel movement in the parakeets as the condition of the gut bacteria is improved when it absorbs the fiber. As a result, your parakeet will suffer from no digestion-related problems.
Proper Development Of The Tissues
The presence of folate in strawberries aids in the maximum cell and tissue development of the parakeets. This element also enhances the proper development of your pet bird.
Keeping Diseases Away: Boosting The Immune System
The rich concentration of Vitamin C in strawberries ensures that the parakeets will be shielded from any kind of infection, illness, and toxins, as their immune system will be boosted to a great extent. Their body defense mechanisms will be improved so that they will stay healthier and more fit.
Keeping The Blood Pressure In Check
Strawberries contain potassium that aids in maintaining the heart rate of the parakeets and thus ensuring that their blood pressure level stays under control. This is essential that the parakeets have a healthy heart because it determines they will have good longevity.
Are Strawberries Good for Budgies?
Strawberries are one of the healthiest fruit choices for your budgies because of the several health benefits that these fruits bring to the table. However, just check that you are not feeding them with this fruit in significant amounts.
Prepare the diet chart in a way so that you feed the strawberries to them only in moderation. In this way, the health of your budgies will be preserved properly.
Are Strawberries Dangerous For Parakeets?
Strawberries are a safe fruit choice for your parakeet, but an excess of this fruit may lead to complicated health problems in your little birdie. If not fed in moderation, strawberries may lead the bird to fall prey to obesity.
It is better to feed the parakeets strawberries once or twice per week. Or, you may also offer them these red luscious fruits once or twice per day.
Just like in the case of bananas which you should never offer your birds more than the prescribed limit, the same rule goes for feeding strawberries to your birdie.
Strawberries are also rich in fructose. An excess amount of this fruit will lead the birds to absorb fructose to a great extent.
Do note that strawberries contain salicylic acid, so an excess of these fruits may prove to be fatal for your bird.
Moreover, an excess of strawberries may make your parakeets excrete soft or loose stools, and though it is not something fatal, you will have a hard time cleaning all these up. For this reason, try to adhere to the moderate limit while feeding strawberries to your pet bird.
How Many Strawberries Should I Give My Parakeet?
The healthiest habit is to feed your parakeet strawberries once or twice a week. However, it is better to choose the ‘once in a week’ method to keep your bird healthy.
How To Feed Strawberries To Parakeets?
Remove The Pesticides From Strawberries
The first step involves thorough washing of the strawberries so that no trace of pesticide remains on the fruits.
Take a small bowl and prepare a saline solution in it. Now, add the strawberries to this bowl of salt water solution for about 2 minutes. In this way, you will stay assured that all the dirt, pesticides, and chemicals are removed from the strawberries.
Cut The Strawberry Into Small Pieces
Offering your parakeets small bits and pieces of a strawberry instead of a large whole fruit is a good idea as small fruit pieces help in better digestion.
You may also soften the fruit a bit by placing it in the microwave oven. Ensure that the fruit is cold and not hot before serving it to your pet bird.
Offer A Varied Diet To The Parakeet By Including Greens With Strawberries
Initially, your parakeet may not like to have strawberries because of these fruits’ red color. Do you know that the parrots are somewhat scared of the red color?
If you combine some greens with these red luscious fruits, say, strawberry leaves or any other green vegetable during the first time you are introducing your bird to this fruit, they won’t be afraid of it and will soon grow fond of it.
Hand-feed Your Parakeets
Though it is not at all mandatory, it would be a lovely thing to hand-feed your parrots because they are surely going to like this sweet gesture. After your bird has completed eating the strawberry, remove the container that you had used to keep the water.
Yes, it is essential to keep water nearby as your birdie may wish to drink water after finishing its treat!
Hopefully, these methods will help you in getting an idea about how can parakeets eat strawberries.
What Other Fruits Can Parakeets Eat?
Let’s have a look at the fruits that parakeets can eat apart from strawberries.
- Apples
- Lemons
- Bananas
- Pineapple
- Melon
- Mango
- Tomato
- Raisins
- Plums
- Oranges
- Raspberries
- Pear
- Kiwi
- Grapes
- Apricots
Fruit To Avoid Feeding Parakeets
As a pet owner, you might get a natural instinct to share the food that you are having with your dear parakeet.
But, do you know that not all foods dear to us may suit the health of the budgies? So, it is crucial for you to be aware of the fruits that may negatively affect your bird’s health.
Avocado
Feeding your parakeet avocado is simply not a good idea because the leaves of this fruit contain persin (a substance like a fatty acid) that is used to remove fungus from the plant.
Now, when the parakeets intake avocado, it is obvious that a part of this substance goes into their bodies. This then results in severe heart damage, breathing or respiratory difficulties, and in most cases, imminent death.
Though certain parakeet species may have the power to tolerate this fruit, why take the risk when you can offer them several other healthy and tasty fruits. Don’t delay in removing avocado from the diet of your dear birdie.
Onion & Garlic
We, humans, absolutely love adding onion and garlic to almost all the delicacies that we prepare. Having these provides us with significant health benefits.
However, these very onions, when fed to your parakeets, may lead to the creation of ulcers in the food pipe and also anemia, as a result of the rupturing of red blood cells. This happens because of the element of sulfur in the onions.
Garlic also contains a harmful chemical- allicin, that may cast the exact effects of anemia and exhaustion in the parakeets. Therefore, you should eliminate these food items from their diet chart.
Certain Fruit Seeds & Pits
Specific fruits containing pits such as peaches, apricots, plums, etc., and seeds such as apples, pears, etc., may not be conducive for the bird’s health if you don’t remove the pits and seeds from these fruits before offering these to your parakeet.
Do you know why? This is because of a toxic compound called cyanide in the seeds and pits of the fruit. Cyanide may cause heart-related diseases or sudden quick death of the parakeets.
As a result, it is on you to remove these seeds and pits from the fruits and then offer these to your pet bird.
Can parrots eat strawberry seeds?
Your parrots can eat the seeds of strawberries and these won’t have any adverse effect on their health.
Strawberry seeds contain a high percentage of fiber, so having these will lead to an improved bowel movement of your parakeet and ease them from the worry of suffering from digestive problems.
And, guess what? Your dear budgie will absolutely love pecking at the strawberry seeds and will nibble on these happily. You may also offer your pet bird a healthy food item of birdseed and ensure the proper maintenance of their physical health.
Can parrots eat strawberry leaves?
Strawberry leaves are safe food options for your parrots, so you can provide them with these green items. Ensure that these are properly cleaned and washed to eliminate the intake of pesticides and chemicals, usually present in the leaves, by your birdie.
Take into consideration if your pet bird is loving to feed on these leaves. This is because, in most cases, it has been observed that the parakeets dislike the taste of the strawberry leaves and enjoy having the fruit solely.
You can include other leafy green vegetables in their diet chart but abstain from offering them strawberry leaves if they don’t find it tasty.
Can parrots eat strawberries and cream?
No doubt, strawberries, and cream are some of the tastiest dessert items on earth. It is usual for you to have the desire to share this delicacy with your dear parakeet. And, do you know what the best thing about this is?
You can feed your budgies this super creamy dessert but only in small amounts. This is because the cream is rich in fat and sugar. So, you need to make sure that you are not offering them this food item in excessive amounts.
You can offer strawberries with their beautiful red color along with cream to your birdie once in two weeks.
The problem with this combination of food items is that the parakeets may grow fond of this dessert item and may pick up a habit of having these daily. So, you should offer them only the strawberry fruit once or twice a week.
Can parrots drink strawberry juice?
Strawberry juice is a healthy drink option for your cute parakeets but make sure to offer this only in small amounts. Since strawberry juice is costly, many parakeet owners find it convenient to offer the birds a single large piece of the fruit instead.
Funnily enough, providing your parrots with strawberry juice is unnecessary because they usually eke out the juice by constantly nibbling on the strawberry fruit.
Conclusion- Strawberries Are Safe For Parakeets
The bright red juicy strawberries are sure to become a favorite of your pet parakeets. Now that you know these are safe health options for the birdies, you can stay worry-free and offer these fruits to them by adhering to the correct strawberry-feeding frequency.
So, what are you waiting for? Go, and give a check on what your budgie is doing! Start prepping to offer them strawberries today. They are surely going to love this treat from your end.
FAQs
Can Parakeets Eat Strawberries And Blueberries?
Both strawberries and blueberries are good fruit choices for your pet parakeets. Just as the case with strawberries, make sure not to let your parrot have more of these fruits but only in moderation.
Can Parakeets Eat Tomatoes?
You can feed your parakeets small tomato pieces only occasionally, in moderation. Owing to the high acidic content of the tomatoes, you need to ensure that you are offering this fruit to them only in small amounts.
Can Parakeets Eat Parsley?
Since parsley contains calcium-binding elements, you need to ensure that it is offered to them only in tiny amounts, else your bird may suffer from calcium-deficiency diseases.
Can Parakeets Eat Coconut?
Coconut is a healthy food option for your parakeet. It is rich in essential vitamins and minerals such as magnesium and iron. All these elements have significant health benefits for your parakeet. So, you may consider including coconut in the diet chart of your parakeet.
