African greys can eat raw tomatoes but remember to keep it to a moderate amount (A quarter of a thin slice once a week) due to tomatoes’ acidity level. Usually, green tomatoes are less acidic, although birds prefer tomatoes just as they start to ripen!
Be careful of feeding your bird tomatoes that you have cooked with oils and other ingredients. Some of the ingredients used could potentially cause issues for your bird, even if it just means an upset tummy! Teflon is another major issue to be wary of. Skip through to Can African Greys Eat Too Much Tomato to find out why!
Here is another article that will have some useful information! “Can African Greys Eat Pomegranate?“
Table of Contents
- Can African Greys Eat Tomatoes?
- The 80/20 Rule For A African Grey Diet
- The Health Benefits Of Tomatoes For African Greys
- How Much Tomato Should African Grey Eat?
- Can African Greys Eat Too Much Tomato?
- The Dirty Dozen
- Recap
Can African Greys Eat Tomatoes?
Not only can African Greys eat tomatoes, but they can provide some pretty great nutrients for your grey too! Although I wouldn’t make tomato a regular snack, from time to time, a little treat can give them new flavors which can really excite your bird, releasing dopamine which can help reduce stress!
Tomatoes are 94% water which is great for hydration but bad for keeping a well-balanced diet! I would usually keep an eye out for how much water my bird has been drinking lately and adjust their diets accordingly. Another great high water-content fruit is watermelon! Here is a link for more information! “Can African Grey Eat Cucumber (Everything You Need To Know)”
**Remember to feed tomatoes in moderation, or the high water content can quickly turn from a healthy snack to a watery mess for you to clean up!**
The 80/20 Rule For A African Grey Diet
African Greys should really stick to the 80/20 rule. Usually, 80% of your Greys’ daily diet will be pellets and 20% fruit and vegetables.
Fruit and Veg will provide your grey with new tastes and flavors! Not only will this help you bond with your bird by introducing them to new fun foods, but you will also be adding different nutrition to their diet that may not be in the pellets!
The Health Benefits Of Tomatoes For African Greys
Vitamin C
- This is an important vitamin for your bird to have. Vitamin C is great at reducing stress.
- Having a Vitamin C deficiency can be detrimental to your little guys’ overall mental health.
- Vitamin C is great for the immune system and creating antibodies! Which will keep your birdie healthy!
Vitamin A
- A deficiency of vitamin A leads to the overgrowth of your bird’s beak and nails! Make sure to keep these levels in check!
- Not only does a deficiency of vitamin A lead to overgrowth, but also chipping and flaking of the beak and nails. If left unchecked, this could lead to their nails and beaks breaking (which isn’t pleasant)
Vitamin K
- Vitamin K helps coagulate blood! Hopefully, your bird doesn’t get a cut, but vitamin K helps to clot the blood and slow down the bleeding if the worst does happen.
Antioxidants
- This is a great compound for helping to fight free radicals! Which damages cells over a period of time.
How Much Tomato Should African Grey Eat?
Although tomatoes have great properties, they should only be fed in moderation and in small amounts. Usually, once a week and no more than a quarter of half a slice of tomato to keep things healthy. There is just too much acid in tomatoes to be fed regularly, unfortunately.
The good news is that Greys really like tomatoes, so there are many ways tomatoes can be useful besides for food. For example, good behavior, you can use small bite-sized amounts of tomato as a positive behavior treat!
Can African Greys Eat Too Much Tomato?
African Greys can eat too much tomato, unfortunately. Due to the acidity levels in tomatoes, they can cause minor to serve stomach problems. The two main issues that come with overfeeding tomatoes are as minor as an upset tummy to something more serious as a stomach ulcer. Just remember to keep it down to a quarter a slice of tomato a week, and you shouldn’t have any troubles!
Another factor to be aware of is tomato leaves and vines. Unfortunately, these are incredibly toxic to birds and should be avoided at all costs!
Now, for cooking tomatoes. I would strongly advise you not to feed your bird anything cooked on Teflon, as Teflon emits a harmful toxic that can be poisonous to your bird! Since humans are much larger and can filter these chemicals efficiently, we aren’t at risk. However, birds can get incredibly sick from Teflon smells!
The Dirty Dozen
A CNN article linked “here” says, “After strawberries, the “dirty dozen,” in order, are apples, nectarines, peaches, celery, grapes, cherries, spinach, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers.” This article is definitely worth a read!
In short, pesticides are used during the growing process to keep bugs and pests off the fruit to keep them fresh for you and me. Usually, buying organic can greatly reduce this issue, but if you can’t find organic, all you need to do is rinse your fruit and vegetables before use!
Recap
If you’ve made it to the end and are now reading the recap! Thank you. In this section, I like to cover the article’s highlights and go over the necessary information!
Can African Greys Eat Tomatoes?: African greys can eat tomatoes in very small quantities due to the acidity levels. In larger quantities, tomatoes can cause stomach problems! Anything from an upset tummy to a stomach ulcer in a more serve scenario!
The Health Benefits Of Tomatoes For African Greys: Tomatoes have great benefits for African Greys! Due to the high water content(94%), Tomatoes are also rich in Vitamins A, C, and K while also having good antioxidant properties! Although, remember to feed tomatoes in moderation!
How Much Tomato Should African Greys Eat?: Tomatoes should be fed in small quantities. I would usually advise no more than a quarter of a slice a week not to cause stomach problems!
Can African Greys Eat Too Much Tomato?: African Greys Can eat too much tomato, unfortunately. It can lead to stomach problems as minor as an upset tummy to something more serve as a stomach ulcer if fed too much tomato!
Any Questions you have relating to this article or just for me in general, leave a comment down below in the comments section.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert. Some parrots may react differently to different fruits. Please make sure you always slowly introduce a new food into their diet and keep an eye out for any adverse reactions. If your pet does start displaying symptoms of an adverse reaction, please contact your vet for advice.