Can Cockatiels Eat Honey? (+Honey Treats You Can Offer!)

Cockatiels can eat honey, yes. These birds can enjoy a wide range of food. However, when it comes to this sweet treat, limit it to only a few drops. While honey isn’t that toxic to cockatiels, they still shouldn’t eat too many sweets. It would be best to occasionally do it and mix it with other treats instead of giving it alone.

Honey isn’t an ideal snack for most birds. Thus, even though cockatiels can eat it, you should limit it only to minimal amounts.

Let’s take a good look at honey.

Is honey toxic for cockatiels?

Honey isn’t as toxic to cockatiels as it is to other birds. For this reason, you can feed your pet some of this sweet treat, but only in minimal amounts.

The thing about honey is that it can be a place where bacteria and molds can grow. Such things can do quite a significant harm to many birds.

Now, it doesn’t mean the same thing for cockatiels, but at some point, it applies as well.

For this reason, you won’t see honey in a list of recommended food for cockatiels. At the same time, it’s not on the list of toxic foods either.

As a general rule of thumb, consider honey only as a sweet treat that shouldn’t be regular. 

It would be best to drop or mix it with other treats such as nuts and seeds.

As long as you feed this sweet liquid in small amounts and only on certain occasions, you can be confident your pet stays on the safe side.

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How much honey can cockatiels eat?

Like other snacks, popcorns are nutritious and safe for consumption. Still, it shouldn’t make up more than 10% of your pet’s daily meals.

Popcorns and other fruits and snacks should only serve as treats and not a part of their meal. For this reason, snacks and treats should only make up 10% or less of their meals.

In general, cockatiels should eat 30-40 grams of food per day. Thus, you should limit popcorn to 3-4 grams per day.

Like all other birds and animals, cockatiels should have a balanced diet of a few things.

The most significant percentage should be pellets, making up a total of 60% of their daily diet. The remaining 30% should be for vegetables like carrots and fruits like grapes or raisins.

The key to a good diet is always balance. For this reason, you should limit feeding cheese to once or twice a week.

Further, it would be best if you didn’t feed popcorn as the only treat or snack. Consider getting a variety of options for your bird’s snacks.

Having a list of other vegetables gives your bird balanced nutrition.

Risks of feeding your cockatiel honey

As I said earlier, honey isn’t one of the recommended foods for cockatiels. However, it’s not something safe either. Before feeding such food to your pet, remember the following risks.

Honey can have bacteria and mold.

Honey, no matter what the quality is, has the potential to harbor bacteria and contain mold. Since it’s something that can be fatal to most birds, it can also take a toll on cockatiels.

For this reason, it would be best to limit honey treats to minimal amounts. It would be much better if you would even pass the honey treats for cockatiels.

Beware of impure honey.

Today’s market offers many kinds of honey, and almost all of them claim that theirs is pure. However, some mix sugar into honey to produce more.

While sugar isn’t lethal to birds, taking in sugar and honey at the same time will likely cause an issue. Thus, when feeding this treat, make sure it’s pure and high-quality.

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Do cockatiels like eating honey?

honey

Cockatiels love to eat any sweet food. Thus, feeding honey to these birds won’t be much of a problem.

Still, as I said, it doesn’t mean you can give honey treats as much as you want.

As for treats, honey shouldn’t take up more than a couple of drops. If you overfeed your pet with this food, you put it at risk of taking in too many sweets.

To avoid such unwanted incidents, always make sure you limit the honey treats you offer.

For a variety, you can also offer other snacks or treats other than honey.

Treat with honey you can give to your cockatiel.

If you want to be creative, you can take your cockatiel’s snacks for an upgrade by mixing it with honey.

Since you should only give honey a couple of drops, it would be best to maximize it by mixing it with treats and snacks your cockatiel will love.

Let’s take a look at some ideas.

Nuts with honey

Cockatiels eat a variety of nuts. Thus, you can use some drops of honey and mix it with these nuts. As long as you limit nut treats to only a couple of pieces, your pet should be alright.

Fruits with honey

Another treat that you can use honey is fruits. Fruits are one of the treats your cockatiel will love, and adding a pinch of honey can be quite unusual for them.

Seeds with honey (Honey Seed Stick Treats)

Seeds with honey is a popular treat for birds, and it can also be something you can give your cockatiel. It is available at online stores, and it is also easy to make. Thus, you can purchase it, or you can make it yourself.

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Summary

Cockatiels can eat honey, but it doesn’t mean you can give it all the time. While it isn’t as toxic to cockatiels that it is to other birds, you still shouldn’t let your pet snack on it regularly.

Honey can foster bacteria and grow mold that can be fatal to birds. Thus, it’s not a good idea to give your cockatiel in large amounts. Of course, a single drop of a honey mix in other treats shouldn’t cause any harm. As long as you only give small amounts of honey occasionally, your cockatiel should be alright.

Resources

Image Credits:

  • Photo by Arwin Neil Baichoo on Unsplash
  • https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Brevard_Zoo_-_Flickr_-_Rusty_Clark_%28158%29.jpg
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