Cockatiels should eat a variety of fruits regularly. If you are a cockatiel owner, the answers may be less intuitive than those for a cat or dog. But if your question is about the cockatiel diet, mainly whether cockatiels can eat oranges, you are in luck because this article is just for you.
Can Cockatiels Eat Oranges? Yes, cockatiels can eat oranges and other fresh fruits. Cocкatiels enjoy oranges as part of a varied diet that provides them with all the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. They are suitable for the cockatiels eyesight, feathers and skin, the immune system, and the heart.
While there are foods you can not feed your cockatiel with, all parts are safe when it comes to orange. They do not contain harmful toxins or enzymes that can be dangerous. In fact, they are a great source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.
Oranges are not a staple food for wild cockatiels, but many still eat them. However, because fruits like oranges are high in sucrose, you need to be careful not to overfeed with oranges, your cockatiel, or other sugary foods.
Can Cockatiels Eat Orange Seeds?
Can Cockatiels Eat Orange Seeds? Yes, orange seeds are safe to eat for your cockatiel, like other citrus seeds such as grapefruit or lemon seeds. They do not contain cyanide or other toxins that could otherwise harm your cockatiel.
Your cockatiel can enjoy picking out the seeds individually or swallowing them whole while eating juicy fruit. The chances of suffocation are minimal, as the orange seeds are flat and small.
When you buy food for your cockatiel at a pet food store, it is mainly loaded with seeds, so it may seem natural that fruit seeds would be suitable for cockatiels. In many cases, this is true, but sometimes you can not know what is safe and what is not.
Other types of seeds that are also safe to eat include seeds of:
- Watermelons
- Cranberries
- Pomegranates
- Cantaloupes
Pumpkin seeds are examples of seeds that are not fruit, and they are also acceptable for your cockatiel.
Fruit seeds that you can not feed your cockatiel with are apple seeds. Nor can you allow them to chew on fruit pits such as nectarines, cherries, peaches, plums, and the like. All of these contain cyanide which can be fatal to your cockatiel even in small doses.
Can Cockatiels Eat Orange Peel?
Can Cockatiels Eat Orange Peel? Cockatiels can eat the orange peel. Your cockatiel may sometimes love skin most of all. The beak will easily dig in here and tear it. Cockatiel will enjoy a rich boost of vitamin C, which is found most densely in the skin. Only peeling oranges can be a source of enrichment.
However, not all peels are safe. Although not toxic in themselves, they can still be exposed to pesticides during the growing process. Due to the porous nature of orange peel, it is difficult to wash away all traces of these toxins.
Choose organic fruits if you want your cockatiel to enjoy vitamin-rich peels. These can be found in health food stores.
Can Cockatiels Dring Orange Juice?
Can Cockatiels Dring Orange Juice? Orange juice is a good source of citric acid. So your cockatiel can safely drink it from the orange while munching on it. If you squeeze oranges at home, you can also offer your cockatiel a small glass, or you can mix a little in a bowl of water.
Never give your cockatiel commercially purchased juice. Even from organic food stores, most brands often contain sugars, preservatives, or some supplements to increase the number of vitamins and minerals that are harmful to your cockatiel.
Even if you make orange juice at home, keep in mind that the liquid has less nutritional value than the body of the fruit. So your cockatiel will not get the same amount of minerals and fiber. It’s a great way to condense vitamin C, but other health benefits are neglected.
Fresh orange juice is rich in natural sugars. These are healthy, but the condensed amount in orange juice can be too much for one serving. Offer your cockatiel a few tablespoons at most. The best way is to mix a small amount of liquid with water so that your cockatiel can be drunk in moderation.
How Much Orange Can You Give To Your Cockatiel?
Fresh fruit should contain about 10% of your cockatiel meals. Oranges are healthy, but all of their nutrients are lost without the balanced diet that surrounds them. A slice of orange every two days is a safe amount for your pet.
The sweet taste of this fruit can encourage your cockatiel to overeat. Therefore, do not give your cockatiel more than the recommended dose. If it wants to play with the whole orange, offer this only once every 1-2 weeks.
Too much vitamin C at a time can also lead to the body releasing your cockatiel additionally. If you are trying to increase your vitamin levels, you can also chop the oranges or grind them. This can also be mixed with seeds or cereals to be included in several meals throughout the day. This small amount gives your cockatiel a chance to metabolize nutrients properly.
Before you feed your cockatiel with orange, be sure to rinse the fruit well and keep the food bowl clean afterward. If the cockatiel happens to smear the sugary juice everywhere, clean up the bird and the area with a damp cloth. Oranges are very healthy for cockatiels, but the resulting bacteria won’t be.
How Should I Feed A Cockatiel?
How Should I Feed A Cockatiel? The way you feed your cockatiel is just as important as the way you provide it. The most important thing is to make sure that the food is chopped into small pieces or easily broken down so that the cockatiel does not choke, does not serve hot, and does not feed your cockatiel too often if too much poses a health threat.
Keep it the Size of a Bite (for Cockatiel)
Cockatiels can nibble on certain foods with their tiny beaks, but many of the treats we like them to enjoy are too complicated, impossible, and even dangerous for them to try to chew on their own. The best idea is to cut the orange or any other fruit and vegetable into smaller pieces. For a cockatiel, this is equal to the value of about one finger.
You should chop more complex foods, for example, nuts, into smaller cubes. Cockatiels have tiny throats, stomachs, and internal organs, so it would be easy to choke or develop an impaction, which can quickly become life-threatening.
Without too Much Sugar
Oranges and other sweet treats can be very healthy for your cockatiel, as we have already said. However, please do not overdo it. Let everything be in moderation. Oranges are rich in vitamin C and many other hydrating, but they are also quite sugary as well.
Some experts recommend half a cup of fruit and vegetables a day, while others warn to limit the consumption of sweet fruits to twice a week.
Exclusively Fresh Stuff
It is best to feed your cockatiel with fruits and vegetables while they are fresh. Do not forget to remove uneaten waste from the cage at the end of the day to prevent spoilage and disease in your cockatiel. Avoid giving your cockatiel canned fruit or processed fruit because the extra sugars they contain are not healthy for them.
Make it Interesting
Cage life can be very dull. So, in addition to good nutrition, another reason to give cockatiels food choices is that the same foods do indeed bore them every day and make their attitudes and lives more difficult.
You can alleviate the possibility of boredom by changing the way you feed them to make it more challenging or turning it into a thinking exercise. You can do this by attaching pieces of food to different parts of the cage or by making kabob from pieces of fruit and vegetables.
Not Too Hot
Cockatiels like to eat hot fruit, so you might want to consider sometimes reheating it before serving. But whether you are heating food or serving freshly cooked food, be careful not to overheat it.
Hot food can burn the tongue and throat, just like in humans. Although this can mean temporary discomfort to us, food burns can potentially injure your cockatiel.
Final Thoughts
Although you should not equate general articles like this with veterinary advice, we have summarized much of the common knowledge about cockatiel diets and their feeding requirements here. Sure, oranges are fed to their birds by cockatiel owners everywhere every day, so you should feel confident feeding this fruit to your cockatiel.
Just remember to prepare the oranges well so that your cockatiel can be easily consumed. Also, moderate the amount given and enjoy while your cockatiel enjoys the enjoyment you have given it.
