As a new budgie owner, you might have heard that the birds love fruits. But you should be careful what fruits you feed them. Some fruits add real nutritional value to the parakeets, while others are poisonous, and you should avoid them at all costs. So, are bananas toxic food for budgies?
Can budgies eat banana? Yes, budgies can eat the banana as one of their favorite fruits. The banana is a sweet, healthy snack to treat your budgies while providing them with numerous crucial nutrients they require for continued good health. Budgies in the wild are fond of bananas, so it’s safe to feed them to your budgies in captivity.
This post digs into more details about feeding budgies with bananas. You’ll discover important information such as the health benefits of bananas for your pet budgies, how to prepare them, how much banana you should feed them, and so much more.
Can you feed bananas to budgies?
Bananas are one of the safe fruits you can feed to budgies. The birds will happily consume this fruit any day without developing any problems. Even the wild budgies are fond of bananas, so the budgies in captivity will also eat them.
Keeping in mind that banana is a naturally sweet fruit, the budgies will rarely resist it. This fruit is also packed with multiple health benefits, from stress-relieving potassium to healthy minerals and vitamins (more health benefits of bananas are discussed below).
Since bananas are always readily available, they’ll also make a great treat for your birds if you run out of the commercial parakeet’s food.
However, you’ll need to moderately feed this fruit to your birds to prevent issues that come with overfeeding like obesity, diarrhea, etc. (more details about risks of overfeeding discussed later in the post).
Do Budgies Like bananas?
Budgies generally like bananas. But just as we humans don’t all have our list of preferences when it comes to foods, so do the birds. Therefore, you may expect that your budgie is a picky eater and may not like bananas.
If you find that your budgie isn’t interested in bananas, that’s no cause for alarm. Remember, there are a variety of other fruits you can feed to the bird, which will also provide it with the same list of nutrients and more.
However, it could be that your bird isn’t always ready to test new things. And in this case, you may try introducing bananas slowly to avoid wasting too many bananas.
After you notice the bird not responding positively to the banana for the first time, simply take it away and try introducing it the next day, and the next day, up to 3 days. If your bird completely ignores the fruit, move to other fruits.
Health benefits for budgies eating a banana?
Many health benefits are packed in a banana, including essential minerals and vitamins that the birds need for healthy bodies. Feeding budgies bananas will enable you to provide your birds with these nutrients.
Key nutrients budgies get from bananas include:
Potassium
Potassium is one of the key nutrients bananas offer for humans and budgies. It plays a big role in ensuring your budgies grow well and minimizes the possibility of stunted growth. It also helps promote good kidney health and prevent kidney diseases caused by potassium deficiency.
Vitamin A
Bananas are also packed with vitamin A, an essential mineral in budgies’ diet. It plays an important role in the bird’s body, preventing weight loss, overgrowth of beak and nails, and swelling of eyes. This vitamin also prevents the bird’s beak and nails from chipping as if that’s not enough.
Vitamin B6
This is another essential vitamin birds will get from the banana. It helps break down proteins, giving the birds more energy. It also plays an important role in producing healthy and strong eggs. Vitamin B6 deficiency in budgies can lead to reduced appetite and stunted growth.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is as important to your budgie’s immune system as it is to humans. It helps produce antibodies that fight infections and illnesses, ensuring your budgie stays healthy at all times. With this vitamin, you can also rest assured that your bird’s mental health remains great, with reduced stress levels.
Magnesium
Your budgies need a lot of energy to go about their day and other activities. Luckily, bananas provide them with magnesium, a vital nutrient that converts proteins and fats into energy. Besides, this nutrient helps relax and contract the bird muscles for a healthy body.
Iron
Bananas are also packed with iron, the mineral responsible for developing hemoglobin (the protein responsible for oxygen transportation). Iron is a key nutrient in budgie’s diet as it keeps anemia at bay. But remember that too much iron in your bird’s diet can cause health issues.
How many bananas should budgies eat?
Though we have already said that bananas are a highly nutritious fruit to feed your budgies, you should be mindful of how many bananas you give them.
Feed bananas to your budgies moderately. A medium-sized banana contains approx. 105 calories which is a good value for fulfilling their hunger. You should also NOT feed them daily. Giving them a treat of this fruit 1-2 times a week is advisable.
Once they’ve eaten to their fullest, remove all the leftovers to prevent overfeeding in your birds.
You may wonder what happens if you overfeed bananas to your budgies.
Well, one of the likely issues that may arise from overfeeding bananas is taking too much fructose (the natural fruit sugar present in all fruits). Too much fructose isn’t recommended for these birds since they lack the enzyme to break it down properly.
The high sugar content in the bananas may also make your budgies obese. This is especially harmful to your caged birds as they get little to no exercise in their confinement, making them unable to burn off most of the calories it takes in.
As this article explains, obesity in birds can lead to serious health issues like fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis, where fats get deposited in their major arteries).
Also, banana contains high levels of iron. And having too much of this mineral in your birds’ diet may result in iron storage disease.
No matter how much your budgies seem to enjoy eating the banana, always avoid the temptation to overfeed them. Just stick to the simple rule of giving them a medium-sized banana and doing once or twice every week.
How do you prepare bananas for budgies?
The best way to prepare bananas for budgies is to cut the fresh fruit into small, even slices and then leave them out for the birds to enjoy. However, you should only feed them a few pieces at a time since they can go to waste if the birds leave them for too long.
Besides slices of fresh fruits, there are other ways to prepare bananas for your budgies, as discussed below.
A whole banana treat!
Most adult budgies are usually in a position to feed themselves this fruit, so you can give it to them as whole fruit, with the peel on. While some birds may prefer their bananas as a whole, we still insist you feed them in slices. This is a great way to prevent overfeeding them with the fruit.
Frozen banana
Budgies, too, suffer when it’s hot, so giving them a cold treat won’t hurt. It is safe to cut the banana into slices and freeze them before giving them to the parakeet. This will not affect the banana’s healthy nutrients and will help keep the birds cool throughout the day.
Mashed bananas
If you like, you can also remove the peel and mash the bananas to make them a nice treat. This preparation method works well for extremely ripe bananas. Some pet owners also prefer blending the banana flesh into a smoothie, which is great for young budgies as it reduces the chances of the bananas getting stuck on their upper beak.
NOTE: We discourage feeding dried bananas or banana chips/crispies to your budgies!
The dehydration process in dried bananas increases the sugar concentration. As we disguised earlier, large amounts of sugar aren’t recommended for your feathered pets as they can lead to various health issues.
Though you can feed the chips and crispies to your birds once in a while without any issues, we don’t recommend feeding them the chips. These are processed foods, and there are high chances they carry added sugar and preservatives. These additives may be safe for human consumption but can turn lethal for these little birds.
Can you feed bananas to baby budgies?
Yes, you can feed bananas to baby budgies. The young ones will thank you for this sweet snack and all the health benefits that come with it.
However, you should take care when feeding them with bananas. The fruit is soft and mushy and tends to leave traces in the bridge of the upper beak of the young bird. This isn’t a good thing because it can prevent proper development of the beak and cause an undershot jaw, a condition known as brachygnathia inferior. The New Zealand Veterinary Journal explains that this condition can become hereditary.
Therefore, you should clean the young budgie’s beak after consuming the banana and other starchy foods. A clean toothpick will do a good job dislodging those leftover banana pieces from the beak.
Video of a Budgie Eating banana
See the video below of a lovely budgie enjoying a fresh, whole banana.
Related questions:
Bananas are not poisonous to buddies as long as you feed them correctly. The fruits contain vital nutrients your bird needs for a healthy body.
However, you should only feed the fruit moderately to your birds to prevent overfeeding, which can lead to obesity.
You should also avoid feeding dried bananas and banana chips as they contain too much sugar that can negatively affect the birds’ health.
Yes, budgies can also eat the banana peel, so you can slice the bananas without first taking off the skin. However, some budgies may not like the peel, and you’ll need to take it off before cutting the bananas.
Before you feed the skin of banana to the birds, you also want to check whether the banana is organic or not.
If the banana isn’t organic, you should avoid feeding it to the birds since the pesticides on the skin can make your birds sick. Remember, these birds have a smaller body system than humans, and toxic chemicals will prove too much.
If the bananas are 100% organic, they’re safe to feed your birds without developing any health issues. Just make sure your bird likes them before giving them.
Final Verdict
Now you know! Bananas are a safe fruit for your budgies, and you shouldn’t have any fears when feeding them. The fruit is a sweet snack that the budgies love, including the wild ones. It provides your parakeet with important nutrients that keep its body in good shape and keeps away illnesses.
Remember that bananas contain high sugar levels. You should feed your birds moderately to avoid subjecting their bodies to obesity and other health issues. Special care should also be taken when giving a banana to a baby budgie to ensure it doesn’t cause bodily harm to them.
We hope that you’re now well informed on how to feed bananas to your budgies correctly. You should now have an easy time giving this delicious treat to your cute little budgies.
Do you know if your budgies can eat cucumber or pears? Read our articles about it to learn more.
