Can Parakeets Eat Strawberries?

Parakeets are rewarding, beautiful creatures that make exceptional companions. The fun part of owning one is seeing them gobble a wide range of snacks daily. Therefore, you always want to share your snacks with it, including strawberries, but have you ever asked yourself if parakeets can eat strawberries? Are strawberries safe and healthy, or should I avoid them?

Yes, parakeets can consume strawberries, but it should be part of their recommended 5% fruit intake in moderation. But you should first wash the fruits and serve them properly. Don’t worry too much about their seeds which are not a choking hazard for our pets despite their size.

Do parakeets eat fruits? And if they do, have you ever wondered if they can eat fruits with high sugar levels like strawberries? In this article, we’ll answer the question, “can parakeets eat strawberries?” We’ll also show you how to feed these berries and in what proportion.

Can Parakeets Eat Strawberries?

It’s a known fact that parakeets love to eat or snack regularly; every meal is considered a celebration. Therefore, you should constantly monitor their diet and give them the right food at the right time and in quantity. But most importantly, you should never let their enthusiasm trick you into overfeeding them or giving them snacks. After all, some fruits have high sugar levels, which can increase your pet’s sugar level and cause health issues.  

Parakeets consume fruits, grass and tree seeds, leaf buds, worms, and beetle larvae in the wild. But in captivity, they can’t fend for themselves; therefore, it’s up to us to ensure they get a balanced diet. Unfortunately, determining the correct diet type can be challenging, especially for first-time parrot owners.

Therefore if this is your first bird, you should ensure that its meal is composed of:

• 40% seeds
• 10% herbs and greens
• 50% veggies and fruits (source)

There are several manufactured treats for birds, but the safest snacks for birds are fruits, which make up 50% of their meals together with the veggies. But their high sugar level has left most parrot owners wondering, can parakeets eat strawberries? Can the strawberry seeds choke the parakeets, and how many strawberries can your parakeet consume safely?

Are Strawberries Healthy for Our Parakeet?

Yes, fruits are a necessary part of the parakeet’s diet, and strawberries are some of the healthiest treats for parakeets. But you have to feed them in moderate amounts and appropriate serving sizes. Most experts recommend that you should give your pet a small amount of fruit a couple of times every week. (source)

Fruits should be given as treats, not as a meal replacement. Luckily, you can feed parakeets fruits in different forms; you can feed them as a whole or chop them into small pieces. But make sure you don’t leave the fruits in the aviary for too long since they can get spoiled.

What Is the Nutrient Content in Strawberries?

Raw strawberries are 1% protein, 8% carbohydrates, 91% water, and some negligible fats. In fact, 100g of strawberry can supply 33kc of nutrients, including vitamin C, manganese, and several other dietary minerals and vitamins. (source) It is also a great source of unsaturated fatty acids.

Strawberries contain flavonoids like phenolic acids, flavonols, and anthocyanins. Strawberries have more flavonoids than any other fruit on the planet.

Table: (source)

Therefore, these berries have more than enough nutrients to help improve your parakeet’s health. Some of the health benefits of strawberries include:

1. Improved Immunity

Your immunity is the primary determinant of how long you and all the other living organisms will live. Therefore, when you feed your parakeet strawberry, you give your pet vitamin C, which plays a crucial role in improving your pet’s immunity.

Vitamin C is a known antioxidant required for several enzymes to function in the body. Vitamin C can also improve your bird’s immunity system. (source) After all, strawberries can be an excellent source of vitamin C for your pet.

2. Improved Bowel Movement

Strawberry is rich in fiber; therefore, it’s the best option for your pet. The strawberry will improve its overall health and digestive system. Thanks to the poor digestive system, this will also ensure that no illness will affect your pet.

3. Controlled Blood Pressure

Uncontrolled heart rate can be pretty dangerous, especially for a parakeet. Therefore, to keep your pet safe, you should give him some strawberries rich in potassium. Potassium can regulate your heart problems by regulating your blood pressure.

4. Tissue Development

As aforementioned, strawberries are rich in vitamins, including folate, which can help in tissue development. Vitamin B9 can help your pet heal faster in case of an injury.

Other benefits

Strawberry is rich in essential minerals and vitamins that have been linked with lowering the risk of chronic illnesses. The high water content can go a long way to keeping your parakeet hydrated while supporting certain functions and feathers.

On the other hand, strawberries have a meager GI score (glycemic index of 40) and low-calorie levels. The low Glycemic Score guarantees that strawberries won’t increase your pet’s blood sugar level, leading to consistent energy all day long.

Why Should I Feed My Parakeet Strawberries in Moderation?

Other than the benefits mentioned earlier, consuming too many strawberries can be detrimental to your pet’s health. Remember, strawberries have high sugar levels (fructose) in relation to their size. Therefore, if the only fruit you’re giving your parakeet is strawberry, you should give it at least one or two every week. The quantity can be reduced when mixing it up with other fruits.

As much as you can manage the fructose level in your pet’s diet, you’re good to go, but too much carbohydrate can adversely affect its health. It is why fruits should only make up about 5% of the bird’s diet.

Are Strawberries Dangerous?

As long as your pet can eat strawberries without getting choked, then these fruits are in no way dangerous to them. Also, strawberries have tiny seeds that cannot choke your parakeet, but you have to be cautious if it’s still young. Remember, just because your pet doesn’t consume the berries doesn’t mean that they are unsafe.

If not washed properly, they can be very dangerous to our birds, but overeating can result in loose stool, which shouldn’t worry you.

Can Eating Strawberries Cause Diarrhea?

Strawberries have a high water content that can force the parakeet to start producing softer stool resembling diarrhea. This condition is known as polyuria and can be considered harmless to the bird. But there are cases when strawberries are dangerous to the parakeet, and some of them include:

What Will Happen to Your Parakeet if It Feeds on Unwashed Strawberries?

As with any fruit, the first thing you should do is wash it to get rid of pesticides or dirt and debris. Pesticides, in particular, can be hazardous to animals and can leave your parakeet feeling sick. Remember, farmers use a lot of fungicides, pesticides, and chemicals when planting and taking care of the fruits.

Some of the most successful harvests are always done using many chemicals. A considerable percentage of them can be toxic to our pets. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) discovered over 30 pesticides on these berries, with only apples having more chemicals. (36). Therefore, most experts recommend that you should give your parrots non-organic strawberries. (source)

Therefore, as the parakeet owner, it’s your responsibility to feed your pet healthy non-toxic foods. And knowing that they usually hop to their feeders frequently, you should ensure that there is a healthy treat there, so make sure you always go for organic strawberries. Plus, make sure you give them a wide range of fruits, but don’t forget to wash them.

Can Rotten Strawberries Harm Our Parakeets?

When left in the aviary for a few hours, the strawberries can become moldy; therefore, you should replace them with fresh ones. After all, the presence of mold on the surface means that it can penetrate the soft flesh of the strawberries without knowing that it has happened. The moldy strawberries can end up making your pet sick.

Moldy strawberries can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and food poisoning in human beings; therefore, it is not safe for our pets, and they have been known to cause death in some pets.

Generally, you should only keep fruits in the aviary for a maximum of 8 hours; any longer will result in mold formation, which is not ideal for parrots. The consumption of moldy fruits can kill your parrot, so you have to be very careful.

How Many Strawberries Should a Parakeet Consume?

It is always good to offer your parakeet fresh strawberries as part of their balanced and healthy diet. We recommend that you give your parrot strawberries at least once every week, and when it comes to servings, you should give it one or two berries per serving.

Like any other fruit, you should know the basics of parakeet foods. Therefore, if you are feeding it strawberries for the first time, you should start by offering your parrot a small amount of the fruit and then monitor it for any reaction and adjust accordingly.

If your bird doesn’t eat the fruit, you can improvise many effective methods to get it interested in the new fruit. One critical method that always works is eating the same fruit in front of the parakeet and showing it that the fruit is delicious, even if it’s not. Keep doing it until your parrot becomes curious and comes near your hand, and takes a bite. (source)

If you plan to feed your pet some fruits, you should chop the strawberry into small pieces and mix them with other fruits. This method will ensure that your pet gets a balanced diet and still enjoys this delicious fruit. (source)

How to Feed Parakeets Strawberries?

The best way to feed strawberries to parakeets is by giving them raw. Therefore, you can split it into small pieces or give it a whole strawberry. You shouldn’t even bother removing the seeds if you have a mature parakeet.

After all, mature parakeets prefer picking these attractive seeds, nibbling them, and chowing down on the fruit’s flesh. Remember, the seeds can be a great source of fiber for your parakeet to consume.   

Therefore, when dealing with a young parrot or one that has never seen a strawberry before, you should chop the strawberries into tiny pieces. Some bird owners tend to mash up these berries before giving them to their birds.

Some parakeets love leaves, while others prefer fruit. Unfortunately, most folks are not sure if strawberry leaves are safe for human consumption, leave alone birds. Therefore, you should rest assured that they can be safe for your pet as long as they’re washed thoroughly.

You can also give the parakeet strawberry juice in small amounts. Still, it has to be freshly pressed juice and not the processed ones, rich in additives and sugar, which is not healthy for birds.

Can Parakeets Eat Dried Strawberries?

It’s always a great idea to give your pets fresh fruits, but if you love dried fruit, I’m sure you have always wondered if your pets can consume dried fruits. Well, the answer is yes, you can give your pets dried fruit, but don’t replace them with fresh ones completely.

Dried strawberries may seem easier to prepare since they don’t have seeds. Still, they contain preservatives like sulfur dioxide, which are toxic to your birds. So it would be best if you were cautious when dealing with dried fruits and only offer them in small proportions.

Final Verdict

Even though fruits like strawberries have high fructose levels, they are still safe for parakeets. Still, you have to give them berries in moderation. Before you give your parakeet strawberries, wash them thoroughly, especially if they were not grown organically. After all, most farmers grow their berries using pesticides that can harm your pet.

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