Budgie · Grains, seeds & nuts
Can budgies eat walnuts?
Better not. Walnuts contain healthy fats, but they are still very rich for a bird as small as a budgie, which is prone to obesity and lipomas. A crumb will not hurt.
- Portion
- Not needed. At most a crumb about the size of a grain of rice
- How often
- Rarely
- Sugar
- 2.6 g / 100 g
- Fat
- 65.2 g / 100 g
If your budgie already ate some
No action is needed for a nibble of plain walnut. If your budgie ate a large piece, salted or candied walnuts, or a mouldy nut, watch for lethargy, heavy drinking, wobbliness or changes in the droppings and call an avian vet if anything seems wrong.
How to serve it
- Offer vegetables or a little millet as treats instead
- If you give any, use a fresh, plain, unsalted walnut
- Check the nut smells fresh, not rancid or musty
- Crumble a tiny piece
Why
Risks. The issue is fat and calories. Budgies are prone to obesity, fatty liver and lipomas on high-fat diets, and a piece of walnut is a large dose of fat for such a small bird. Old walnuts can turn rancid or grow mould, and candied or salted walnuts add sugar and salt.
Benefits. Walnuts contain omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid and vitamin E.
Questions owners ask 1
Aren't walnuts healthy for birds?
They contain useful fats, and an avian vet lists walnuts among foods parrots can have in small amounts. For a budgie, though, even a small piece is a lot of fat, so they are best left out or kept to a crumb.
Walnuts: nutrition per 100 g
| Water | 4.1 g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 654 kcal |
| Sugars | 2.6 g |
| Fat | 65.2 g |
| Protein | 15.2 g |
| Fibre | 6.7 g |
| Calcium | 98 mg |
| Phosphorus | 346 mg |
| Calcium : phosphorus | 0.28 : 1 |
| Sodium | 2 mg |
| Vitamin A (RAE) | 1 µg |
| Vitamin C | 1.3 mg |
“Nuts, walnuts, english”, USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, FDC 170187). Public domain.
Sources & method 5
The sources below discuss walnuts 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.
- Feeding Your Pet Bird a Healthy Diet (client education handout) — LafeberVet (Christal Pollock, DVM, DABVP Avian Practice)
- What to Feed Your Pet Bird — RSPCA
- 10 Everyday Items That Are Toxic to Birds — Veterinary Center for Birds and Exotics (avian and exotic practice of Laurie Hess, DVM, DABVP Avian; practice blog, no individual byline)
- Tumors in Birds: Lipomas — VCA Animal Hospitals (Gregory Rich, DVM; Rick Axelson, DVM)
- Obesity in Birds — VCA Animal Hospitals
