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TOXIC Foods - Do NOT Feed these to your birds

49K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  eickhorn 
#1 ·
The following is a list of foods that are TOXIC to birds. Please do not feed any of these to your birds. It is also a good idea to post a list of toxic foods on your fridge or on the inside of a kitchen Cabinet so it is available for other family members or anyone who may care for your birds while you're on Vacation, etc..

High-fat/salty/high sugar junk foods (potato chips, doughnuts, etc.)

Avocado (including guacamole)

Chocolate

Alcohol or caffeine

Fruit pits ( Peach, Apricot, Et..Contain trace amounts of Cyanide )

Persimmons

Table salt

Onions (prolonged exposure can lead to a blood condition called hemolytic anemia, which is followed by respiratory distress and eventual death. )

Apple seeds (Contains trace amounts of Cyanide )

Mushrooms (a type of fungus, and has been known to cause digestive upset in companion birds. Caps and stems of some varieties can induce liver failure)


Tomatoes (stems, vines, and leaves; the actual fruit is fine to feed birds...wash well)


Dried Beans (Uncooked beans contain a poison called hemaglutin which is very toxic to birds)
 
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#7 ·
Glad to know about the persimmons. We have a persimmon tree and I had often wondered if our birds could eat them. I have never fed one to them because I didn't know for sure.

Thanks for the list.
 
#9 · (Edited)
No junk food, eh? (sigh) My birds have gotten so insistent on getting a share of whatever I eat that I feel like I'm in a "lesser of two evils" situation. Little BooBoo the budgie just looks so pitiful and sad if I don't share the Cheetos or whatever. Krikkit the conure's attitude is more of a "You might as well give me some of that -- you know I am NEVER going to give up until I get some, so cut your losses and let's just get it over with, eh?"

The various other birds run a basic variant on the "Hey, are you giving them something? I only ask because I noticed you're not giving ME anything. Am I not good enough or something? Wow -- I am really depressed now. You have hurt me very deeply!"

That angle is hopeless I suppose, so... I assume that unsalted popcorn is OK, right? I mean, my birds absolutely LIVE for canned cooked kernel corn (say that 6 times fast) and the larger ones are pretty much always up for a chunklet of good, hard "jimmycrack" corn.

And I don't care.

Well, what I mean to say is, I don't mind that I get completely covered with jimmycrack corn "shrapnel" when Krikkit is crunching furiously away at it -- it's easy enough to sweep it off of my clothing with no harm done -- assuming she doesn't think to come back for a second "cleanup" pass, which I do greatly appreciate when she does. In any case, it's certainly a far cry less unpleasant than what the little 'keets do after I've generously provided them with a quarter cup of canned cooked corn kernels. Those little peckers are amazingly adept at emptying the "skin" of the corn kernel completely, guzzling every molecule of tasty mush out and leaving a little hollow sort of corn bag, for lack of a better word. So you'd imagine they should be equally adept at disposing of these slimy little yellow membranes... right? Wrongo!

I can't help but wonder how it is that such a large percentage of the time, as soon as a given kernel has been scooped out comletely and rendered useless, within the next few seconds there will be a tiny, quiet sort of "fthwapp" sound, and I'll be smacked on the cheek or directly in the face with a cold wet slimy emptied-out cornbag!?! It is an indescribably icky feeling -- well, actually I guess "icky" described it as well as anything, now that I think of it. Well, disgustingly icky or not, it's definitely not "according to Hoyle" by any stretch of the imagination. (it stings a bit sometimes as well!)

Personally, it is a deeply-held belief of mind that if the birds were not purposely "fthwapping" me in the cheek and/or face area with their hollowed-out husk hoohahs, they never would've developed the skill of being able to slap such exquisitely perfect and precise "What? Are you looking at me? Did something happen? Cuz I have NO idea why you're looking at me. If you are. Looking at me, that is. I mean, I don't want it to seem like I'm overthinking this or anything." looks across their smirking little beaks!

I seem to have gone off on a bit of a tangent.

Now, as I was saying before, popcorn with no salt must be perfectly healthy for avian consumption. Of course, I can't stand eating popcorn that's unsalted, which immediately renders a number of points moot. However (take note of this!) I've found that noone has yet perfected the whole popcorn seasoning equation. No matter what, you always get some kernels that have no salt on them, or at the very least you can find a piece of a kernel that didn't get seasoned and break that off for the bird. It's a pain in the tailfeather for such an unrewarding result, but it beats the alternatives. ("Fthwapp", remember?)

Well, anyhow, I better down this Triple Vodka & Red Bull and get back to my "Dumbo's Jumbo Rainbo" cotton candy before someone tries to stick their nosy beak in the bag. Again. (Trust me, if you can get through life with out ever having to un-stick an Upper Lobelian Rock Ptarmigan from a Swiffer-Tufted Florida Scrub-jay when they're both completely tangled up in a morass of multicolored spun sugar, consider yourself lucky).

-- mf
 
#12 ·
haha, like with people, junk food is fine in moderation. Whatever I eat, Goober has to have some or she pouts and eats her own food with me. I should probably make her do the latter more often, but she almost always gets a small piece of what I eat, usually as healthy as possible. Ex: if I'm eating a sandwich, she gets some of the veggies or bread with no sauce, usually crust. Pizza - crust with almost no sauce or cheese. Chips, a tiny little taste, enough for her to feel like she ate some and I usually wipe as much salt off as possible.
 
#13 ·
My birds don't beg at all. Except Daisy - who came to us as a 12 year old. Begging is her only character flaw. She doesn't just beg, she will jump right into the food if given half a chance.
 
#16 · (Edited)
My conure flies at me for food, he'd do anything to eat that chocolate but he shall NEVER get the chance :lol:
 
#18 ·
This list will definitely come in handy. I was wondering about feeding my conure persimmon the other day, and I see it's on the do-not-feed list! :eek: I'll be posting this on my fridge.

Thanks!
 
#19 ·
I read up on this there are a few more that are toxic:
dairy products(except yogort)
Rhubarb
raw meat
garlic
chocolet
uncooked rice and beans
seeds of pears oranges papaya grapefruit grapes and some melons
mayo products and caffine
not trying to act like I know it all but I wrote that all down when I fostered my first cockatoo:)
 
#20 ·
my budgie does the same to me, he always wants crisps or cookie, I do give a tiny nibble of a crisp but once he's finished off he must not have anymore! When I'm eating chocolate or cookies or anything totally inedible, I always put him in his cage because every chance he gets he will try to get a peck! This will be very helpful for any new owners on here!
 
#21 · (Edited)
my budgie does the same to me, he always wants crisps or cookie, I do give a tiny nibble of a crisp but once he's finished off he must not have anymore!
Yeah, I figure in the long run, a tiny niblet off of an occasional sugarplum is probably less threatening to my birds' health than engaging in a loud, traumatic "keep-away" brawl every timeone of 'em catches me stuffin' myself with a fresh papaya-seed muffin.

On the other hand, whenever I'm in the mood for a nice juicy rhubarb, raw meat and persimmon hoagie slathered in mayo and topped with a generous garnish of dried beans and jellied mushrooms, I pretty much have to lock myself in the downstairs closet for the duration of my meal. If Krikkit the conure were to catch even a whiff of such a coveted delicacy she would go completely batsh!t until she manged to nab herself a big feathery face-full of it!

Errr... I was just kidding on that last one, of course*.

-- chef mf

PS: A bigger issue with Krikkit is her uncanny ability to snatch pills in a flash if one gets dropped or left on the counter or whatever. Here's a thought regarding that: Are you familiar with the LD-50 guide? It's a directory of medicines, poisons and other substances, all indexed by the amount of each one that is lethal to rats. When one of my old pet ratties chomped down a pair of Klonopins, I used our handy-dandy LD-50 book to determine that Spoticus was still far short of ingesting a likely-fatal dose.

Since birds and rats are in roughly the same size/weight range, it seems to me that the LD-50 might turn out useful if your feathered pal chose to abruptly swoop down and scoop up a beakload of Drano, for example. At the very least, you'd have something to occupy your attention while you waited for the official report from your avian vet. (Right, folks?)
____________________________________________________________

*(Who ever heard of ruining a raw meat/rhubarb/persimmon gyro with MAYONNAISE
instead of MUSTARD?!? Why, the very idea is nothing less than epicurian heresy!)
 
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