Cockatiel · Snacks & drinks
Can cockatiels eat candy?
No. Candy gives cockatiels sugar and fat and nothing useful, chocolate sweets are toxic, and sugar-free sweets and gum may contain xylitol, a sweetener linked to bird deaths.
- Sugar
- 62.9 g / 100 g
If your cockatiel already ate some
Call an avian vet or animal poison control line at once if the candy was sugar-free, contained chocolate, or you cannot tell, and keep the packaging. Watch for weakness, stumbling, trembling or collapse. If it was a lick of ordinary sugar candy, offer water and watch for loose droppings.
Why
Risks. Sugar-rich sweets can irritate the gut and add calories to a bird prone to obesity and fatty liver. Xylitol, common in sugar-free gum, mints and sweets, causes severe low blood sugar and liver damage in dogs; its effects in parrots are unknown, but it was the presumed cause of death in a group of wild nectar-feeding birds. Chocolate adds theobromine and caffeine.
Questions owners ask 2
Are sugary bird treats from pet shops safe?
Treats coated in sugar or honey add calories without nutrition. Vegetables, a little millet or a sliver of plain nut are better rewards.
Can cockatiels eat marshmallows or jelly sweets?
No. They are almost pure sugar, may contain colourings or sweeteners, and are sticky enough to cling to the beak.
Candy: nutrition per 100 g
| Water | 1.3 g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 394 kcal |
| Sugars | 62.9 g |
| Fat | 0.2 g |
| Protein | 0 g |
| Fibre | 0 g |
| Calcium | 3 mg |
| Phosphorus | 3 mg |
| Calcium : phosphorus | 1 : 1 |
| Sodium | 38 mg |
| Vitamin A (RAE) | 0 µg |
| Vitamin C | 0 mg |
“Candies, hard”, USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, FDC 167990). Public domain.
Sources & method 6
The sources below discuss candy for cockatiels (or for pet birds generally). Confidence: medium. Rated on the JOMIZOO Feeding Scale; when good sources disagree we choose the more cautious level.
- Nutritional Diseases of Pet Birds — Merck Veterinary Manual
- Foods Toxic to Pet Birds — Lafeber Company (Christal Pollock, DVM, Dipl. ABVP-Avian, with Laura Doering)
- 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)
- Acute, fatal, presumptive xylitol toxicosis in Cape sugarbirds (Promerops cafer) (Gardner BR, Mitchell EP. J Avian Med Surg. 2017;31(4):356-358) — Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery (PubMed record)
- Food Hazards — Merck Veterinary Manual (Pet Owner Version)
- People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets — ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
