Food guidelines for Cockatiels

Seeds and pellets are OK but if possible it should be supplemented with a variety of fruit and vegetables in a Cockatiel's diet.

Here are some guidelines about food:

1. Most vegetables and fresh fruit are good for Cockatiels.
Our Cockatiels love the watermelon rind for one example.

2. Eggs - Eggs can be fried or boiled (no salt, no avocados)
3. Milk - food soaked in Milk (like grain breads)
Cheese also but not spicy or sharp cheeses!
Eggs, Milk and Cheese are the only non-plant proteins that are allowed as far as I know.

4. Bread - Best if not white bread but any bread that is less processed and grainy.

5. Our birds love Cereal
(any cereal with grains but not sweet cereals)
A Cockatiel probably would probably like sugary cereals but it is not good for them.

6. Stay away from anything high in sugar.

7. Stay away from foods high in sodium,
This includes No MSG and all of the sodium by-products.


8. I have also read that the tomato stems, tomato plant and fresh tomatoes can be dangerous for Cockatiels.
Well-cooked spaghetti sauce is probably OK but if even one piece of tomato did not cook well it could be dangerous and if using cans it might have sodium or sodium by-products which are also bad for Cockatiels.
So to be on the safe side we give our birds plain cooked spaghetti or plain cooked noodles for a occasional treat before we add any flavoring or sauce to our portions.

9. Toxic foods are avocados, chocolate (in any form),
anything with caffeine (including coffee and soft drinks)
Alcohol is strictly off-limits!

Some of this is from my own studying and my own experience.
Also some of the above information is from a website at:
Caring For Your Cockatiels
http://www.geocities.com/monkman338/Cockatiels.html

Since GeoCities is probably closing out their sites before the end of the year, if you want to read all the info on that web-page I recommend that you do it soon.

Sincerely,
Bill Mazzulla

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