Fresh fruit and veg are essential to a cockatiel’s diet if you want your feathered friend to maintain its optimum health. It can be quite confusing to know what’s safe to eat and what isn’t.
Maybe you’ve eaten your salad and you have a stick of celery leftover and rather than throw it away, you’ve thought to yourself, can cockatiels eat celery?
The simple answer is yes, cockatiels can eat celery but there are a few things you need to consider before feeding your budgie celery.
How Do I Prepare Celery for my Cockatiel to Eat?
If you are going to occasionally give celery to your cockatiel, opt for the organic variety. If that’s not possible, make sure you wash it thoroughly beforehand to eliminate any pesticides.
Celery is made up of stringy fibres and you’ll need to tread with caution when feeding this plant to your bird as these can easily block your cockatiels digestive system.
If you are going to use the stalks, make sure you chop and slice both the leaves and stalks into very fine pieces and remove any excess strings.
If you are worried about any pesticides remaining on your plant, even after washing it, you can use a saltwater bath to clean them even more thoroughly.
Another good way of making sure you have rid your plant of any pesticides is to use a solution of baking soda and water. Just leave it to soak for half an hour, and you’re good to go.
Celery is one of the vegetables where preparation is of utmost importance due to the problems it can cause to a bird’s health if not carried out correctly.
As with any food you offer, it is best to serve with other varieties for added nutrition and to stave off boredom at mealtime.
Is Celery Good For Cockatiels?
It may not have the same high nutritional value as broccoli or kale but feeding your cockatiel celery does have some health benefits. Vitamin A helps support healthy-looking feathers.
Vitamin C deters birds from taking part in self-destructive behaviours such as feather plucking, tearing, and exorbitant chewing.
Vitamin K is produced naturally by birds from the bacteria in their bowels. This nutrient is also found in celery and is crucial for blood coagulation.
Vitamin B9, known as folic acid, benefits a bird’s metabolism and cell growth. Cockatiels deficient of folic acid may experience stunted growth issues, amenia, and malformations.
Foods rich in potassium are an essential part of any bird’s diet if you want them to remain healthy and live a long and active life.
Potassium is an electrolyte and helps manage nerve signals, fluid balance, and muscle contractions, whilst playing a major role in the long term and overall health of your cockatiel.
There are no major issues serving your cockatiel celery but as you have read, it is not as easy as serving other vegetables, so you may want to consider the alternatives below.