Short and sweet answer. Cockatiels can eat celery! The high water content in celery is great for keeping cockatiels hydrated and has great vitamin and mineral properties to add to the mix! Celery makes for a great healthy snack that has little to no side effects! Although, everything has a downside which we will talk about in a minute!

From high water content to potassium, which helps retain water, this vegetable is great for adding a few benefits that your cockatiels’ main diet can sometimes lack! Each vitamin and mineral I will go over has incredible benefits that can do amazing things for your bird!

Although fruit and vegetables are only meant to be fed in moderation, try to change it up on a day-to-day basis for your cockatiel to get the full effect of all the many different fruit/veg out there!

Here is an article that you might like! “Can Cockatiels Eat Lettuce? (Romaine Or Iceberg Lettuce?)” Take your bird on a taste adventure!

Table of Contents

Can Cockatiels Eat Celery?

Celery is great for cockatiels! Not only can they eat celery, but they will benefit from it greatly! From the high water content to Vitamins A, C, and K as well as potassium and folate! Celery is a great healthy snack for your cockatiel to be fed from time to time!

*Read on to find out if cockatiels can eat celery leaves!*

We will cover each vitamin and mineral individually and how they actually help your Feathery friend. From stress-reducing factors from vitamin C to preventing overgrowth of beaks and nails from vitamin A! This incredible vegetable has a lot to offer!

Let’s get Into the benefits:

The Health Benefits Of Celery For Cockatiels

Having pellets being the only food your cockatiel eats is not going to cut it. So feeding your cockatiel other nutritional foods is going to be necessary! Here is why celery should not be skipped when considering what to feed your bird as a healthy snack!

Here is a list of the vitamins and minerals that celery has and why this vegetable does wonders for your cockatiel: Vitamin A, C, and K, as well as Potassium and Folate!

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 C

  • This is an important vitamin for your cockatiel 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 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. 

Potassium

  • Potassium is great for aiding the speed of their metabolism, as well as helping strengthen bones.
  • This mineral is great for reducing blood pressure while at the same time helping to retain water!
  • High Potassium diets help prevent strokes as well as keeping diseases like osteoporosis and kidney stones at bay.

Folate

  • Folate is needed to make red and white blood cells in the bone marrow. This helps protect against illnesses and carries nutrients around the body.
  • Folate is responsible for converting carbohydrates into energy and keeping your bird chatty and playful!
  • Not only is it important during infancy but during pregnancy too! Folate is a fantastic vitamin that is responsible for the rapid growth they experience during adolescence.

How Much Celery Should Cockatiels Have?

The great thing about celery is you can’t really feed your bird too much of it in the sense that it will have negative side effects like oranges or grapes. But cockatiels are still quite small, so their size does need to be taken into account so that they still have room for pellets!

Remember, Celery is a snack and not a meal replacement!

Now, How much celery should cockatiels eat? Once you have rinsed and de-leafed your celery stick, I would recommend no more than 2-3 cm of a celery stick as this should be ample for your bird to have as a snack!

Any more than this, and you risk wasting space for more important foods like pellets that should cover the majority of their diet.

As a Quick Recap:

  • Roughly 2-3cm of a celery stick as a snack.
  • Rinse, De-seed, and De-leaf your celery before. (find out why in the next sections!)
  • This will keep them satisfied until their next meal.

Can Cockatiels Eat Too Much Celery?

Cockatiels can eat too much celery in the sense that it would ruin their well-balanced diet and may even upset their little tummies! Which may lead to a “watery” clean-up (Which no-one wants). Celery is 95% water, so the risk of turning their stool into a liquid mess is there.

Not to worry, as this is an easy fix that doesn’t usually require a vet. Here are some steps to harden things up again.

  • Reduce the amount of watery food your cockatiel is eating.
  • Feed your cockatiel food that is higher in fiber, like pellets, as they are dry.
  • Continue this for a day or two, and their stool should get back to normal in no time.

Quick reminder: Don’t completely cut off all watery foods. Just reduce it and add more fibrous food. Your bird still needs water to run their bodies correctly.

Can Cockatiels Eat Celery Leaves

Celery Leaves may be covered in pesticides. To be safe, I usually de-leaf my celery first and then rinse the sticks to eliminate any unwanted pesticides that may still be on them from the farms.

Buying organic produce is a great way to reduce pesticides but not always 100% free from them. So regardless, I always rinse my fruit and vegetables before use. Plus, this adds a fresh watery taste to the food that birds absolutely Love!

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, remember to wash your celery first to get rid of any nasty pesticides that could be harmful to your cockatiel! Buying organic can help reduce this, but I usually wash them regardless, to be sure!

Which leads me onto my last and final section.

The 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 Cockatiels Eat Celery?: Cockatiels can eat celery! The high water content in celery is great for keeping cockatiels hydrated and has great vitamin and mineral properties to add to the mix! Celery makes for a great healthy snack that has little to no side effects!

The Health Benefits Of Celery For Cockatiels: The list of the vitamins and minerals that celery has does wonders for your cockatiel: Vitamin A, C, and K, as well as Potassium and Folate!

How Much Celery Should A Cockatiel Eat?: Once you have rinsed and de-leafed your celery stick, I would recommend no more than 2-3 cm of a celery stick as this should be ample for your bird to have as a snack!

Can Cockatiels Eat Too Much Celery: Cockatiels can eat too much celery in the sense that it would ruin their well-balanced diet and may even upset their little tummies! Which may lead to a “watery” clean-up (Which no-one wants). Celery is 95% water, so the risk of turning their stool into a liquid mess is there.

Can Cockatiels Eat Celery Leaves?: Celery leaves may be covered in pesticides. To be safe, I usually de-leaf my celery first and then rinse the sticks to eliminate any unwanted pesticides that may still be on them from the farms.

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.

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