Grapes are great for Cockatiels! Although, remember to deseed them first as they may be a choking hazard for your feathery friend! However, if you forget to deseed a couple, it’s not the end of the world as one or two seeds shouldn’t be a problem!
In this article, you will find out more than if your Cockatiel can eat Grapes, so read till the end to find out how many grapes your cockatiel should be eating and what happens if your cockatiel eats too many grapes!
In this article, I’m going to blow the whistle and tell you everything you need to know about Grapes and your cockatiel!
Table of Contents
- Can Cockatiels Eat Grapes?
- The Health Benefits Of Grapes For Cockatiels
- How Many Grapes Should Cockatiels Eat?
- Can Cockatiels Eat Too Many Grapes?
- The Dirty Dozen
- Recap
**Fun Fact** Brought From Spain. Spanish explorers introduced the fruit to America about 300 years ago.
Can Cockatiels Eat Grapes?
The great things about grapes are, they have a whole host of benefits that are incredibly beneficial to your bird! From increasing kidney health to helping your bird’s mental state to keep them healthy!
We will cover the vitamins and minerals in this article: Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Thiamin, Potassium, & Antioxidants. Each one of these vitamins and minerals is essential in its own right!
With that being said let’s get into the next section!
The Health Benefits Of Grapes For Cockatiels
Grapes are packed full of nutritional goodness. Although grapes are not meant to be part of your bird’s main diet, the vitamins and minerals that come from this juicy berry have been known to help prevent chronic diseases!
If that’s not enough, how about reducing stress? Grapes have a good Vitamin C content which is great at helping your bird stay mentally stable. Sounds pretty great right, but the list of beneficial nutrients doesn’t stop there.
Let’s look deeper into the nutrients found in grapes, and what they can do for your Cockatiel!
Vitamin C
- This is an important vitamin for your budgie 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!
I have a great article about bananas! Bananas have a great supply of Vitamin C and Potassium! Click “can cockatiels eat Bananas” to find out, exactly how much you should be feeding them!
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.
You may be surprised, but strawberries have a great potassium supply! Here is a link to my “Can cockatiels eat Strawberries”
Thiamin (Vitamin B1)
- Thiamin keeps your bird’s nervous system in check! Keeping their coordination and motor controls working the way they should be!
- A deficiency in Vitamin B1 can be a miner as a loss of appetite to something more serious as seizures and even in some extreme cases loss of life.
- Don’t worry! Many foods have enough vitamin B to keep them happy and coordinated while clambering from curtains to cages!
Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B6 is great for breaking down proteins, which is incredibly important for healthy living!
- Lack of Vitamin B6 is known to stunt growth and cause a lack of appetite.
- Egg production can be harder with a lack of vitamin B6. Grapes help in many ways!
Antioxidants
- This is a great compound for helping to fight free radicals! Which damages cells over a period of time.
If you want a complete article about everything Cockatiel diet-related, Including: “What cockatiels can eat“, “what a cockatiel diet should consist of“, and “what foods should cockatiels avoid“. Here is an article on “What can Cockatiels eat”
How Many Grapes Should Cockatiels Eat?
The thing to remember with grapes is moderation is key! As grapes have a high percentage of fructose and are berries at the end of the day so they should not be part of your bird’s main diet anyway. Birds need various nutrients to have a stable diet, and fruits and berries should only make up 10% of this.
As to how much they should be eating and how often. A couple of grapes once a week is the ideal amount to maintain a stable diet. Trust me, your bird will appreciate the restraint for a healthy balance, and you will appreciate the lack of water poos!
Can Cockatiels Eat Too Many Grapes?
Unfortunately, yes. Grapes contain 12grams of fructose (natural sugars) which is fine for humans. However, birds don’t create enough of the enzyme necessary to break down the sugars and could lead to problems down the line which could be minor as upset tummies (which could get messy) to more serious problems such as obesity and diabetes!
Easy fix, which leads me onto my next topic of how much grapes you should be feeding your cockatiel daily and weekly! Remembering moderation is key when it comes to grapes.
Let’s get into it!
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!
Recap
We have reached the end of the article. In this section, I like to cover the article’s highlights and go over the important information!
Highlights of the article:
- Grapes are great for your bird!
- We have covered that grapes include: Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Thiamin, Potassium, & Antioxidants.
- Grapes are a snack and should not be fed daily to your cockatiel!
- What if cockatiels eat too many grapes?
- The Dirty Dozen
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 Birds 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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