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Poisonous fruits/vegetables

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Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby Elaihr » Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:31 am

Hi!

I've been looking around a bit and am now very confused. Some sites claim lemons and other citrus fruits are good for your bird, whilst others list lemons under toxic/unhealthy. I've also read different things about haricot verts and sugar snaps, some claim they're okay while some claim they're dangerous.

I know Penny's previous owner let her eat citrus fruits and sometimes sugar snaps, and I've let her taste haricot verts once as well :shock: She seems to be fine but it's always scary to read that you've fed your parrot something toxic... Do you guys know anything about mentioned fruits/veggies?

I'm trying to see what's okay and what isn't but it's really hard as the internet is full of contradictions :(

EDIT: I would be SO happy if all these sites would just explain why/in what way some things are dangerous. Like, "Lemon - because it contains blahblahblah". But they never do, it's just "Lemons are bad, m'kay".
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Elaihr
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Re: Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby Pajarita » Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:41 am

Some people think that citrus is too acidy for them, something I think it's crap because my birds have been eating them for over 20 years with no negative effects AND I've seen wild parrots (as well as other birds) eating oranges like there's no tomorrow. But I've never heard of green beans been bad... Mine eat the regular kind cooked and chopped in the gloop but they also eat others raw, like the mange-tout (sugar snaps, snow peas) as well as haricots verts. Some of the large species don't go for them but that doesn't mean they are bad, it just means they haven't seen them often enough so far.
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Re: Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby Elaihr » Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:00 am

Thanks! I haven't noticed anything weird with mine either even though she has eaten all those things, but it means a lot to see it coming from someone whose birds have eaten these things for a long time. One thing I could think if would be if pesticides of some sort are usually used for these greens, or something, but I couldn't see how they could be bad apart from this :S Isn't it weird when people claim things are dangerous without telling why? :/
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Re: Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby Pajarita » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:55 am

Yes, indeed it is. The 'best' one I've found so far is when people say you can't feed tomatoes to parrots because they belong to the nightshade family because it's poisonous (all my birds, from the tiny finches to the large parrot species like tomatoes and have been eating them for many years). A ridiculous claim as, although it's true that tomatoes do belong to the family, they are not closely related to the highly poisonous members of it and they are obviously not toxic because, if they were, we would all be dead by now! (You just have to make sure no 'green' is on them because of an irritant alkaloid they contain). And this makes even less sense when it comes from people who feed pellets made with soy which IS poisonous in its natural state!
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Re: Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby Elaihr » Thu Jun 26, 2014 3:03 am

That sounds a bit stupid indeed... Tomatoes was actually on the list of foods I first read was okay, then a week later or so (after Penny had already gotten some) I read they were dangerous. Thanks for clearing this up for me as well!

I think I've come to the conclusion that parrot ownership will most likely increase the risk for a heart attack (in the owner) :shock:
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Re: Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby Pajarita » Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:09 am

LOL - Yes, good bird husbandry should be added to the list of cardiovascular unhealthy habits!
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Re: Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby Wolf » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:28 am

Perhaps they need to add it to the list of traumas causing mental disorders as well.
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Re: Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby GreenWing » Thu Jun 26, 2014 12:57 pm

Pajarita wrote:Yes, indeed it is. The 'best' one I've found so far is when people say you can't feed tomatoes to parrots because they belong to the nightshade family because it's poisonous (all my birds, from the tiny finches to the large parrot species like tomatoes and have been eating them for many years). A ridiculous claim as, although it's true that tomatoes do belong to the family, they are not closely related to the highly poisonous members of it and they are obviously not toxic because, if they were, we would all be dead by now! (You just have to make sure no 'green' is on them because of an irritant alkaloid they contain). And this makes even less sense when it comes from people who feed pellets made with soy which IS poisonous in its natural state!


Ah, but there's documented articles from avian vets stating birds have been sick from eating tomatoes. It's also true that it is not an often occurrence, but, it's happened. It's just a matter of choice, I guess. If your birds eat tomatoes and it's not hurting them, great! But if you take the risk and give your birds tomatoes and they vomit and get really sick, well then, you'll have a vet bill and hopefully your bird is okay.

I do think garlic, which is perceived as a no-no, is okay in small amounts. I cook it, though.
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Re: Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby Wolf » Thu Jun 26, 2014 3:02 pm

I found a pretty decent listing of toxic and safe foods and plants and trees and woods. I made a pdf file out of it and tried to include it in my last posting but the forum won't allow pdfs.
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Re: Poisonous fruits/vegetables

Postby GreenWing » Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:30 pm

Wolf wrote:I found a pretty decent listing of toxic and safe foods and plants and trees and woods. I made a pdf file out of it and tried to include it in my last posting but the forum won't allow pdfs.


I'd like to see it. You can bbcode the pdf document. Or, if easier you can convert a pdf file to a Word doc and just copy and paste
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