Can Parakeets Eat Celery | 5 Benefits | Full Guide

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can parakeets eat celery

If you are an owner of a pet, you are no less than a parent! And luckily, if you have a cute parakeet as your buddy, you are concerned about its diet. Parakeets are one of the most attractive and active pets ever, and if you can make bonding with them, you will never feel bored! 

Now the important thing is their diet. If you cannot plan a suitable diet, they will suffer as well as you. Adding nutritious fruits and vegetables is the preferred food for your budgie or parakeet. 

When talking about vegetables, you might think can parakeets eat celery? Celery is one of the popular vegetables for humans for salad. But what about your parakeets? Is it suitable for them? What are the benefits or risks? 

Can Parakeets Eat Celery?

Yes, parakeets can eat celery, and they enjoy it. You can also feed them veggies like lettuce, spinach, etc. in moderation. But there are some guidelines before you serve the veggie to your bird. As your budgie has a tiny tummy, it needs to be full of nutritious foods, and celery does not have too many vitamins and minerals compared to other foods. 

You can feed celery to your budgie, but it is not their main meal. You can provide celery to your feathered pet as a snack. 

Some experts suggest not feeding celery to parakeets as it contains 95% water, and high quantities of water could lead to diarrhea. Moreover, according to others, that green veggie is fine to feed your pet in moderation. Before getting into your final thoughts, you must have complete information on celery. 

How Often Can Parakeets Eat celery?

As celery does not have many nutritious elements, you should keep it on your bird’s diet in moderation. In simple words, you can feed celery to your parakeet once or twice a week. You should not serve the veggie as their meal. But you can provide it as a snack and use the veggie as a treat. 

Coming to the quantity of the veggie, you are free to feed them one teaspoon of finely chopped celery at a time. At a maximum, a 2 to 3-cm celery stick is more than enough for your pet. 

5 Benefits of celery for parakeets

Before discussing celery’s benefits for your pet, it’s essential to know its vitamins and minerals first. Celery contains vitamins like A, C, K, B9, or folate, along with nutrients such as potassium, fiber, carbohydrates, etc. Above all, it has 95% water.

However, celery has lesser nutritious value and benefits your pet quite well. 

Vitamin A for the Growth of Nails and Beak 

Parakeets’ most attractive part is their feathers, beak, and nails. If the beak is not long and sharp, it does not look better. Also, the nails must be sharp to look divine. 

Celery contains a good amount of vitamin A. Vitamin A helps to have a longer beak and sharper nails of your budgie. Notably, your bird can have flaky nails and a shorter beak due to a deficiency of vitamin A. 

Vitamin C Enhances Mental Health and Immune System 

One of the essential vitamins of every living being is vitamin C. Celery and also kale have a good amount of vitamin C. It plays a crucial role in promoting your budgie’s mental health. Also, vitamin C helps to have a strong immune system. Alongside this, it reduces your bird’s oxidative stress. 

Vitamin K Helps to Coagulate Blood 

Vitamin K is very beneficial for every animal. That vitamin mainly exists in green leafy vegetables. 

Celery consists of vitamin K. The vitamin helps to clot blood. Unfortunately, if your budgie got any cut, vitamin K coagulates the blood and stops the runny blood. 

Moreover, if your bird suffers from vitamin K deficiency, you will find blood spots in its egg. Also, the deficiency causes hemorrhaging in the legs and breasts.  

Potassium for Various Aspects 

Potassium is one of the multiplayer nutrients of celery. Potassium helps your bird to get strong bones. Further, it assists in having metabolism in your budgie’s body. 

Also, high potassium prevents kidney stones, strokes, and diseases like osteoporosis in birds. 

Folate (B9) to Convert Carbohydrate into Energy 

Celery has a good amount of vitamin B9 or folate. That element works in converting carbohydrates to energy, and the energy makes your budgie playful and healthy. 

Above all, B9 helps generate white and red blood cells that prevent your bird from all kinds of illnesses. 

Furthermore, not only at a young age but also during adolescence and pregnancy, folate aids in the rapid growth of your bird. 

3 Risks of feeding celery to parakeets 

There are various controversies about feeding celery to your parakeet or not. The arguments state that celery is not a good veggie to feed your parakeet. As it has less quantity of nutrients, a parakeet’s diet should not have celery. 

Considering all the arguments and celery’s nutritional value, there are risks to feeding the veggie to your bird. 

Excessive Water Causes Diarrhea and Other Issues 

As mentioned earlier, celery contains 95% of water, and the quantity is excessive for your budgie. Every animal needs adequate water for hydration. But excessive water could lead your bird to diarrhea and issues like vomiting. Notably, diarrhea causes dehydration in your pet’s body. Like celery, cucumbers are too rich in water content. So, be aware before feeding these veggies.

Stringy Parts Lead to Crop Impaction 

Celery has a large number of stringy parts, and the stringy parts irritate us when we eat the veggie as a salad. So, your pet will obviously feel uncomfortable with the stringy parts. 

Notably, the strings are not only irritating, but they also cause severe issues like crop infection. 

The crop is a small body organ of your bird. The crop holds the food temporarily before digestion. When the strings are stuck into the organ, it affects digestion, which causes several severe health issues like hypoglycemia and dehydration. It could even lead to death! 

Though you can feed celery safely to your bird, you must remove the strings carefully.

Celery Leaves Harm Your Parakeet 

A moderate snack of celery sticks is fine for your budgie. But its leaves harm your pet. As there are a huge amount of pesticides in the leaves, it causes several health issues. If you wash them well, it remains in a small quantity. The small number of pesticides also harms your bird, as they are tiny and sensitive. 

How to Prepare Celery for Your parakeets?

Get Them a Vinegar Wash 

Pesticides are one of the harmful elements in every veggie until it is organic. However, there are a few quantities of pesticides in organic veggies also.

So, wash them well whenever you choose fruit or veggie to serve your pet. For celery, you can wash them with vinegar water, and it cleans the veggie very well. 

Remove the Leaves and Seeds 

Celery stems are fine to feed your bird. But celery leaves are not safe. Though the leaves are more nutritious than the sticks, it is better to avoid leaves only for the high quantity of pesticides in leaves. 

You have to remove leaves and deseed the celery. However, your bird can eat the seeds separately. Its taste is quite bitter. So, they might not like it. 

Remove the Strings Carefully 

As stringy parts are unhealthy for your bird, you must remove the strings. Only the fleshy portion can feed your bird, which is safe for your feathery friend!

Chopped into Very Small Pieces 

Your budgie is very small, and its bites are smaller. So be careful about their food pieces. It is best to chop the celery sticks carefully and then feed them.

Serve As a Beverage 

You can put the celery sticks into a mixer or juicer and give them to your budgie as a beverage. You can mix sweet fruits to sweeten the juice. But do not forget to sieve the juice.

Conclusion 

The answer to the question, can parakeets eat celery? is yes, you should never frequently choose veggies. Moderate consumption of celery is fine, although it contains very few nutrients. You can choose other nutritious veggies instead. 

If you don’t have an option to treat your budgie, you can freely serve celery. But you should also consider your bird’s preferences. If they are not interested in eating the veggie, do not worry! You can avoid them and get other nutritious, tasty veggies and fruits.

FAQs

Do budgies like celery?

Some budgies find celery tasty. Though, it depends on their preferences.

Can budgies eat celery leaves?

Celery leaves are more nutritious than sticks. But as it contains many pesticides, you must avoid the leaves.

Is celery toxic to parakeets?

Celery is not toxic if you wash those well and give them in moderation.

Can parakeets eat celery stalks?

Celery stalks are safe to feed your budgie.

Can parakeets eat celery seeds?

Parakeets can eat the seeds separately though it tastes bitter.

Can you feed celery juice to parakeets?

Celery juice is safe for your budgie; you can mix some other fruit with celery to make the juice tastier.

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