can i give my parrot candy?

Question

I have a pet parrot and it always wants candy. It tries to eat it but then I take it away. I'm afraid that it will get sick.

Answer 1

Only if you want it to die.

Answer 2

Even once in a while, candy is bad for all birds. Chocolate can even kill them. If you want to give your conure something sweet, I would suggest fruit. Most parrots, with the exception of those in the lorikeet family, which require a special diet, do not need that much sugar (in the form of fruit or something processed) anyway.

Answer 3

Depends on the candy. Candy isn't good for birds, but they sometime just want a taste of it because you are eating it. So maybe you could have a healthy snack instead of the candy for your bird to try. They do have birdie popcorn. That is always a big hit at my house for snacks. A bowl of grapes is also a fun item.
Good luck!

Answer 4

Chocolate is poisonous to birds just as it is to dogs, so chocolate candy is a definite no. My one bird loves Twizlers. I break off a tiny piece for her and that all she is aloud. A small piece once in a while won't hurt her, but because candy is full of sugar it is only an occasional treat in moderation

Answer 5

Hi Cindy,

I can give you a definitive answer to your question, because I once had about 400 parrots.

I've had birds some 30 years. Experts will argue whether a bird can have candy or not, and some will say yes, and some will say no.

My comments are: Sugar is contained even in fruit, in the form of Fructose, similar to Sucrose (sugar) and that in the wild, birds will eat fruit to survive.

The differences in sugar consumption in the wild, and sugar consumption in captivity are several things.

Captive birds do not exercise as much as wild birds, therefore not burning off the energy sugar gives them, or fat that the sugar can give to them as easily.

Sugar in candy is highly concentrated, compared to fruit sugar.

Candy contains dyes. Dyes are not good for birds, and some colors cause death.

Captive bred birds often get fat, from lack of exercise, and in that, they suffer from the same things humans do...gout, arthritis, diabetes, all of which would be a major concern in the decision as to whether or whether not to feed a parrot a candy or not.

I used to let my cockatoos take a "lick" of my Hawaiian Punch...which they just loved, but I only allowed one lick, because it's just not safe enough for them.

Never give a bird carbonated drinks, because of cirtic acid and carbonation (which expands the crop and can kill).

I have a great tip, however, for sharing food...most of what we eat, we can share with our parrots and in fact, it's good for them.

I avoid tomatoes (acidic foods), avacado is deadly as is chocolate, and onions, gassy vegetables such a brocolli or dairy products, because they are either harmful to the bird or just are not easy to digest.

I do share my hamburgers, meats (yes, they love meat, but only cooked meat is recommended and not in large quantities), and I share my pasta. Parrots LOVE pasta.

:)

I truly hope this helps you decide what you feel is best for your bird. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to contact me off the site...I own 2 large parrot email lists on yahoogroups, and I'd be happy to point you into the direction to join them to learn more.

Good luck!

Answer 6

There have been similar questions on whether to feed the pet birds with human food.

I think you should look up the healthy diet information easily available in other web sites, or read the answer given to other similar questions.

In general, it is not advisable to give human food to birds, especially on a long term basis.

Substitue candy by some other sweet natural fruits. Again, look up the healthy diet for substitution available.

Answer 7

yeah, its ok for them! just remember that everything is good- in moderation. i dont let him have a ton of sugar. the only candy i let him have is those little dumdum suckers. he gets one every wednesday when we go to the bank. all the tellers there love him. he loves ripping the paper off of it. he's never eaten it really though. he just licks it, rips the stick off and drops the head of the sucker on the ground because he likes to play with the paper and the stick more than he likes the candy. plus its really cute to see him sitting there playing with a sucker. look at the really long one above this post, its got the best info so far!
goo luck!

Answer 8

Its not good for your bird, Never give it an apple core either or avocado. A slice of apple or carrot or passion fruit. They seem to luv that stuff. Aint parrots magic?

Answer 9

Refined sugars aren't any good for any animal except maybe hummingbirds. I wouldn't let him have candy... give him a piece of fruit instead, like banana or mango or whatever they like.

Answer 10

Only once in a blue moon. We make sure ours earns a treat. He has to say "I love you." Make sure to give her plenty of oatmeal and eggs (whites in particular, not so much the yolk.) According to our vet, our parrot's nutrients levels are looking good because of his diet of eggs and oatmeal.

Source: Proud owner of an Umbrella cockatoo for almost 20 years. :)

Answer 11

well i wouldnt give the bird any candy but try to hide the candy so your bird wont eat any so you can still give him some nice treats like some fruit, apple thats better than candy!