Budgie · Protein & dairy
Can budgies eat cheese?
Better not. Birds digest lactose poorly, and cheese is also salty and fatty, which suits a tiny budgie badly. A crumb is unlikely to cause harm.
- Portion
- Not recommended. At most a crumb smaller than a lentil of plain, mild cheese
- How often
- Rarely, if at all
- Sugar
- 0.5 g / 100 g
- Fat
- 33.3 g / 100 g
If your budgie already ate some
A crumb needs no action. If your budgie ate a larger amount you may see loose droppings for a day; keep fresh water available and contact an avian vet if diarrhoea persists or your budgie seems fluffed up, stops eating or drinks excessively.
How to serve it
- Offer hard-boiled egg or vegetables instead
- Never give blue, strongly flavoured, heavily salted or processed cheese
- If you offer a crumb, make it plain, mild hard cheese
- Remove any leftovers promptly
Why
Risks. Birds lack the enzyme to digest much lactose, so dairy can cause diarrhoea as the amount rises. Most cheeses are also high in fat and salt, and budgies are prone to obesity and sensitive to salt.
Benefits. Cheese contains protein and calcium, but pellets, greens and egg supply these without the fat, salt and lactose.
Questions owners ask 2
Is cheese toxic to budgies?
No, it is not poisonous. Some veterinary guides allow very small amounts of cheese for pet birds, while a leading veterinary reference advises owners to avoid milk products. Given a budgie's size and sensitivity to fat and salt, it is best left out.
Is low-lactose cheese all right for budgies?
Aged hard cheeses contain little lactose, but they are still fatty and salty. A crumb is not harmful; it just offers nothing a budgie needs.
Cheese: nutrition per 100 g
| Water | 36.8 g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 403 kcal |
| Sugars | 0.5 g |
| Fat | 33.3 g |
| Protein | 22.9 g |
| Fibre | 0 g |
| Calcium | 710 mg |
| Phosphorus | 455 mg |
| Calcium : phosphorus | 1.56 : 1 |
| Sodium | 653 mg |
| Vitamin A (RAE) | 337 µg |
| Vitamin C | 0 mg |
“Cheese, cheddar (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program)”, USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, FDC 173414). Public domain.
Sources & method 4
The sources below discuss cheese for budgies (or for pet birds generally). Confidence: medium. Rated on the JOMIZOO Feeding Scale; when good sources disagree we choose the more cautious level.
- Foods Toxic to Pet Birds — Lafeber Company (Christal Pollock, DVM, Dipl. ABVP-Avian, with Laura Doering)
- Feeding Budgies — VCA Animal Hospitals
- Nutritional Diseases of Pet Birds — Merck Veterinary Manual
- Feeding Pet Cockatiels — VCA Animal Hospitals
