Cockatiel · Protein & dairy
Can cockatiels eat cheese?
Better not. Some vets allow a tiny taste, but birds digest lactose poorly and cheese is salty and fatty. A crumb will not hurt a cockatiel, but it is not a useful treat.
- Portion
- Not recommended. At most a crumb about the size of 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 cockatiel already ate some
No action is needed for a crumb. After a larger amount, watch for loose droppings over the next day; contact an avian vet if diarrhoea persists or your cockatiel seems quiet, fluffed up or off its food.
How to serve it
- Choose egg, vegetables or a seed reward instead
- Avoid blue, processed, smoked or heavily salted cheese
- If you do share a crumb, keep it plain and mild
- Remove leftovers promptly
Why
Risks. Birds have little ability to digest lactose, so larger amounts of dairy can cause diarrhoea. Cheese is also high in fat and salt; cockatiels are prone to obesity and fatty liver, and small birds are sensitive to salt.
Benefits. Cheese supplies protein and calcium, but cockatiels get these more safely from pellets, egg and greens.
Questions owners ask 1
Some vets say cockatiels can have a little cheese. Why 'better not'?
One veterinary feeding guide does allow very small amounts, but a leading veterinary reference lists milk products among foods to avoid. When credible sources differ we lean cautious, and cheese adds fat, salt and lactose without adding anything cockatiels need.
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 3
The sources below discuss cheese 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.
- Feeding Pet Cockatiels — VCA Animal Hospitals
- Foods Toxic to Pet Birds — Lafeber Company (Christal Pollock, DVM, Dipl. ABVP-Avian, with Laura Doering)
- Nutritional Diseases of Pet Birds — Merck Veterinary Manual
