Can Cockatiels Eat Pistachios? (+Other Nuts You Can Offer)

Cockatiels can eat pistachios, yes. Cockatiels love to eat many types of nuts. Pistachios are highly nutritious, and it can be a healthy snack for your pet bird if appropriately fed. However, be sure to provide pistachios without added salt or seasonings. Simultaneously, be sure to avoid feeding too much, as nuts should only be snacks and treats for cockatiels.

Pistachios are healthy and great tasting nut for us to snack. The great thing is our pet birds can also take delight in it!

Still, before sharing some pistachio treats for your pet, it would be best to know a little bit more about it. The following information can help you be aware of some tips and risks to ensure your pet is safe.

Take some time to read on.

Are pistachios good for cockatiels?

Pistachios, like any other nuts, are rich in components that are healthy for your pet bird. For this reason, offering pistachios is a healthy and delicious snack for your bird.

To give you an idea, take a look at these nutrition facts. According to HealthLine, an ounce (28 grams) of pistachios contain:

  • 28 grams or 1 oz of pistachios contain:
  • Calories: 159
  • Carbs: 8 grams
  • Fiber: 3 grams
  • Protein: 6 grams
  • Fat: 13 grams (90% of which are unsaturated)

Aside from the said components, it also has the following vitamins and minerals:

  • Potassium
  • Phosphorus
  • Vitamin B6
  • Thiamine
  • Copper
  • Manganese

What makes pistachios known is its richness in vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 helps in mood regulation for your pet bird.

Pistachios are also high in potassium. An ounce of this nut has more potassium content than half of a large banana.

Still, while pistachios are highly nutritious, it doesn’t mean you can feed it as much as you want.

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How many pistachios can cockatiels eat?

Pistachios may be rich in various nutrients. However, it still shouldn’t make more than 10% of your pet’s daily meals.

Pistachios are one type of nuts. Thus, it should only serve as treats or snacks, along with seeds and fruits.

Cockatiels should eat an average of 30-40 grams of food per day. Thus, you should limit pistachios to only 3-4 grams.

Like all birds, cockatiels should have a balanced diet and not feed on nuts or seeds alone.

As an owner, you should be mindful that a significant percentage of your pet’s feed should consist of pellets. Accordingly, this feed should take up to 60% of your pet’s meals.

The remaining 30% should consist of different vegetables to maximize nutrient intake.

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

Further, it would be best if you didn’t feed almonds as the only treat or snack. Consider getting a variety of options like walnuts, peanuts, and others.

Risks of feeding your cockatiel pistachios

pistachios

Pistachios may be a great-tasting and nutritious snack for cockatiels. Still, it has some risks you need to be aware of before feeding some to your pet.

By knowing these risks, you can be careful to avoid unwanted incidents from happening to your pet.

Avoid giving pistachios with shells.

Pistachios are best for cockatiels without shells. While the cover isn’t exactly toxic, it can be difficult for them to eat the nuts with it still intact.

For this reason, it would be best to offer pistachios with the shells already removed.

Avoid giving salted ones.

Like other human-grade nuts, some pistachios have added salt to improve the taste. While salt is tolerable for us, it’s not the same for our pets.

The added salt could cause an imbalance in your bird’s electrolytes and fluids. It can also lead to dehydration, kidney failure, or worse, death.

For this reason, it would be best to avoid salted almonds and go for the unsalted ones instead. 

Prevent molds from growing on pistachios.

Keep the pistachios in a dry and cool area to prevent it from getting molds.

As a general rule of thumb, don’t feed pistachios or other nuts that you won’t eat yourself.

Further, keeping your almonds in a moist area can cause fungus to grow, which is also toxic for these birds.

Thus, always make sure this food is safe and secure and avoid giving it with shells intact.

Avoid feeding large servings of pistachios.

Always make sure you give pistachios in small amounts. A small serving for us is already enormous for birds. Thus, always limit the pistachio snacks to 3-4 grams.

If you think the nuts are large enough, you can crush it into smaller pieces before giving it to your cockatiel.

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Do cockatiels like nuts?

In general, nuts are great snacks for cockatiels, and they will surely love eating it.

When introducing a new type of nut, it would be best to eat some in front of your bird. Cockatiels love to eat what their owners eat as well. 

Still, always remember to feed nuts in moderation. As a general rule of thumb, treat nuts only as snacks and not a big part of their diet.

What nuts can cockatiels eat?

Aside from pistachios, cockatiels can take delight in eating other kinds of nuts as well. 

Make sure you only give a human-grade and unsalted one. If you have some, you can provide the following in the same manner as pistachios:

  • Almonds
  • Beechnuts
  • Brazil Nuts (no shells)
  • Cashews(roasted)
  • Coconuts
  • Gumnuts
  • Hazelnuts
  • Macadamia nuts
  • Palm-nuts
  • Peanuts (roasted/no shells)
  • Pecans
  • Pili nuts
  • Pine nuts
  • Walnuts (roasted and unshelled)

As I said earlier, nut snacks are nutritious and will remain as such if appropriately fed. 

You can even give your cockatiel some peanut butter, but there are risks you should know.

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Summary

Pistachios provide a healthy snack not only for us but also for our pets. For this reason, cockatiels can eat pistachios, and it can even be beneficial for them.

Still, if you are to feed such nuts to birds, it shouldn’t be too much. Pistachios and other seeds and nuts should only be snacks or treats for them.

As always, a balanced diet is key to maximizing health for your pet bird. It would be best to create a diet plan for your bird to ensure you give it the nutrition it needs.

Resources

HealthLine’s Nutrition Facts on Pistachios

Image Credits:

  • Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash
  • https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nymphicus_hollandicus_-Fort_Worth_Zoo,Texas,_USA-mating-8a.jpg
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