Cockatiels can eat pineapple, yes. Cockatiels enjoy eating a variety of food, and it includes fruits of many kinds as well. Pineapples are rich in a lot of nutrients that are healthy for your pet. You can even feed the skin and core together with the flesh. Just remember to feed it in small pieces and in small amounts.
Pineapples are easy to access, and it’s one of the fruits packed with a lot of nutrients. Thus, as owners, it can be quite tempting to know how they can affect our pets if we feed them.
For this reason, I answered a few questions you might have in mind about feeding pineapples.
Let’s take a look at it!
Contents
Is pineapple safe for cockatiels?
Pineapples are highly nutritious, and such nutrients are not only for us. It can also be for our pet birds.
According to HealthLine, a cup (165 grams) of pineapple chunks contains the following:
- Calories: 82.5
- Fat: 1.7 grams
- Protein: 1 gram
- Carbs: 21.6 grams
- Fiber: 2.3 grams
- Vitamin C: 131%
- Manganese: 76%
- Vitamin B6: 9%
- Copper: 9%
- Thiamin: 9%
- Folate: 7%
- Potassium: 5%
- Magnesium: 5%
- Niacin: 4%
- Pantothenic acid: 4%
- Riboflavin: 3%
- Iron: 3%
Just by looking, you can already tell how much nutrients your pet can gain if you feed it some pineapples.
What stands out for pineapples is that it is rich in vitamin C and manganese.
Vitamin C aids your bird’s growth, development, immune system, and iron absorption.
On the other hand, manganese aids growth and maintains a healthy metabolism. Further, it also has antioxidant properties.
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How much pineapple can cockatiels eat?
Although it’s highly nutritious, your pet shouldn’t eat too many pineapples.
Like other birds, cockatiels need a balanced diet, and pineapples alone won’t suffice.
Pineapples, with other treats, should only take 10% of their daily consumption. Such food treats also include seeds and other food like peanut butter and bread slices.
The most significant percentage should be pellets, making up a total of 60% of their daily diet.
The second one is 30%, which should consist of a variety of vegetables for their nutrition.
As a general rule of thumb, always keep a balance when it comes to feeding. For this reason, you should never feed too many pineapple bites for a day.
Further, it would be best if you didn’t feed pineapples as the only fruit. Consider getting a variety of options like apples, grapes, blueberries, and watermelons.
Having a list of other vegetables gives your bird balanced nutrition.
Do cockatiels like eating pineapple?
Cockatiels would love to eat pineapple. It has a unique fruity scent, and it’s delicious. For this reason, you won’t find it hard to feed such fruit to your pet.
Aside from cockatiels, other birds like to eat pineapples as well. This fruit grows in the wild, so it’s something other birds can eat as well.
Since it comes packed in nutrients, it can be both a healthy and tasty snack for birds.
If you have other birds around aside from your cockatiel, you can offer pineapples to them as well.
This fruit shouldn’t cause any issues, and it should even be beneficial for other birds.
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What fruits can cockatiels not eat?
Most fruits are safe and healthy for cockatiels to consume in small amounts. However, there are fruits with seeds and pits that you remember.
While the fruits themselves aren’t toxic, they can be harmful if fed with the seeds.
It would be best if you also were careful when feeding pears and apples. These fruits contain seeds that are toxic to cockatiels.
The fruits with pits are cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums. Like the apples, the holes should get removed first before feeding.
Without the pits and seeds, these fruits are safe for your cockatiel’s consumption.
Seeds from other fruits such as grapes, citrus fruits, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, melons, mango, pomegranate, and berries are safe for bird consumption.
Thus, you can feed these fruits without removing the seeds.
What fruits can cockatiels eat?
Fruits also play a significant role as treats and snacks. You can offer almost any fruit you can access.
Aside from pineapples, there are other fruits and vegetables that you can give. If it’s your first time handling a pet bird, here is a list of fruits you can offer:
- Kiwi
- Papaya
- Cucumber
- Grapes
- Apple (remove seeds)
- Banana
- Cherries
- Oranges
- Mangoes
One thing you should remember is to offer fruits in bite-size pieces. Another thing is to keep the fruit snacks in moderation.
Aside from the fact that it should only be a treat, most fruits also contain sugar. Thus, too much consumption can be harmful to birds.
Can you give your cockatiel some raisins or rice? Check it out!
Summary
Cockatiels can eat pineapple, and it can be a great snack to offer if you want to boost your pet’s immunity. Since pineapples are rich in vitamin C and manganese, it can be an ideal snack for your bird once in a while.
Another great thing is that you can feed both the core and skin, together with the flesh. Thus, you wouldn’t have to worry about separating such. Many nutrients come from those parts.
Still, it would be best if you always remembered to limit the pineapple snacks. It should only make a small part of your bird’s diet. Feed pineapples together with pellets and veggies to ensure your pet gets nutritious and balanced meals.
Resources
HealthLine’s nutrition facts on pineapples
Image Credits:
- Photo by Daniele Franchi on Unsplash
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Male_Cockatiel.jpg
