Can Cockatiels Eat Bananas? Is The Skin Safe? 🍌
“Can cockatiels eat bananas?”
“Are bananas even safe for birds?”
Yes! Bananas are perfectly safe to feed your cockatiel. If you’re a banana lover like me, I’m sure you’re happy to hear that you can share your favourite fruit with your cockatiel! However, fruits must only make up 5% of your cockatiel’s overall diet, so bananas should be fed in moderation.
But what about the banana peels? Are they safe too?
Can cockatiels eat banana chips or banana bread?
The answers to your questions will be revealed right now…
Can Cockatiels Eat Banana Peels / Skin?
According to PetKeen, banana peels are safe for cockatiels to eat in moderation.
In fact, banana skin contains additional nutrients compared to the inner fruit. Be aware that bananas are sprayed with pesticides and other preservative chemicals before making their way to supermarkets.
This means any bananas you get from the shops will likely have toxic preservatives on the peels.
If you really want to serve the peel, give it a thorough wash beforehand.
Once the banana skin is clean, it’s ready for your cockatiel to devour!
Are Banana Chips Safe For Cockatiels?
Banana chips are very popular crispy snacks, but can you feed them to your cockatiel?
Unfortunately, most banana chips available in stores are made with excessive oil, sugars, and artificial flavours not safe for birds. Cockatiels should only eat foods that are fresh and natural, which many banana chip brands are not.
Banana chips are highly processed.
And according to healthline.com, the same serving size of banana chips have 250% more calories than fresh bananas.
However, you can certainly make your own natural banana chips at home!
If made without any artificial flavours or oils, you can offer homemade banana chips to your birds.
Is Banana Bread Safe For Cockatiels?
Banana bread is not the healthiest snack to feed your cockatiel.
Just like banana chips, banana bread is often highly processed, containing lots of added sugar, fat, carbs and calories while offering little nutritional value. A plain banana would benefit your bird much more than banana bread.
For this reason, I personally wouldn’t offer banana bread to my cockatiel.
Most banana breads contain the following ingredients:
- Flour
- Butter
- Bananas (obviously)
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Baking soda
Most, but not all of those ingredients are usafe to feed cockatiels.
If you can make a homemade banana bread recipe with less harmful ingredients, it’s safe to offer in very tiny amounts. But even though it’s safe, there’s no point in providing banana bread since regular bananas are much better for your cockatiel’s overall health.
What Other Fruits Can Cockatiels Eat?
As well as bananas, cockatiels can eat a whole range of other fruits. But as mentioned at the beginning of this article, fruits should only make up 5% of your cockatiel’s overall diet.
In other words, all fruits should be fed in moderation, including bananas.
Here’s a list of other fruits you can feed your cockatiel:
- Apples
- Raspberries
- Mango
- Papaya
- Strawberries
Related: Full List Of Safe & Nutritious Fruits For Pet Birds
What Fruits Can Cockatiels NOT Eat?
Honestly, there really aren’t too many fruits that are toxic to cockatiels.
Avocadoes are the main fruits you must avoid feeding your bird. Tomatoes are also a concern, but they can safely be fed in tiny amounts.
What makes tomatoes concerning are the high levels of acid and solanine.
But again, ripe tomatoes can make for an occasional treat, despite their high acidity.
Avocadoes on the other hand must not be fed at all.
Related: Complete List Of Toxic Foods For Parrots
Fruit Pits & Seeds
When feeding fruits to your bird, you need to watch out for fruit seeds and pits.
In fact, there are more dangerous fruit pits than there are toxic fruits for cockatiels. Even fruits that are safe for cockatiels to eat contain toxic seeds.
Here’s a list of some toxic fruit pits you must avoid feeding to your bird:
- Apple seeds
- Cherry pits
- Pear seeds
- Plum seeds
- Peach pits
- Apricot seeds
These fruit seeds contain small traces of cyanide, which is toxic for birds.
Please make sure that whatever fruit seeds you offer are 100% safe for cockatiels.
Nutritional Value Of Bananas For Cockatiels
A regular-sized banana weighs about 100 grams, and that banana contains the following nutritional value:
- Water = 75%
- Calories = 89
- Carbs = 22.8 grams
- Protein = 1.1 grams
- Sugar = 12.2 grams
- Fibre = 2.6 grams
Bananas are also excellent sources of potassium, vitamin B6, and vitamin C for both your bird and yourself.
Info source: HealthLine.com
4 Ways To Serve Bananas To Cockatiels
There are a million and 1 ways to serve bananas to your cockatiel, but below are 4 of my favourite presentation methods:
- Banana on a plate – Simply place a banana, with or without the peel, on a plate on top of the cage and watch your birds flock to it!
- Diced banana in a bowl – Chop up some banana into little cube shapes and place them in a food bowl, possibly topped off with a few seeds.
- Banana foraging wheels – Slice a banana into circular pieces with the skin still intact. Bury some treats inside the skin and beneath the inner fruit layer.
- Banana purèe – Mush up some bananas and put them in a bowl, season with small seeds.
What other creative ways could you present this yellow berry to your yellow birdy?
Let me know in the comments below!
Short Summary
In conclusion, cockatiels will benefit from eating banana every now and then as part of a nutritionally balanced diet. Fruit must only make up 5% of a cockatiel’s overall diet, with the majority of their diet consisting of high-quality pellets, seed mix, and vegetables.
Banana peels are also safe for cockatiels, but I wouldn’t recommend feeding banana chips or banana bread unless they’re homemade with no artificial flavours.
Hopefully, your little banana bird enjoys their banana snack!
Thank you for reading.
Read The Full Guide To Feeding A Nutritionally Balanced Cockatiel Diet
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