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Every parakeet deserves a treat time and again.
Most bird owners choose to make fruits a treat for their feathered friends as parakeets love fruits.
It is not included in the diet daily, but it is a tasty treat for them once or twice a week.
But can parakeets eat oranges? What are the health benefits of oranges? What are the risks to consider? What are other healthy diet alternatives to oranges?
Many people get concerned if oranges are too sweet or too bitter for their parakeet.
In this article, we will answer all your questions relating to feeding oranges to your parakeet.
Can Parakeets Enjoy Eating Oranges?
Most parakeets undeniably enjoy eating oranges. You can see a lot of videos on YouTube where parakeets eat them.
Look out this videotape for a cute example.
However, parakeets are selective eaters, and they won’t eat something if they don’t like it.
The best way to know whether your parakeet loves oranges you are giving it to them, and you will see if they want more or less of this diet soon enough.
Most parakeets, however, enjoy the taste of orange treat having something colorful and new to explore in their cage.
If your parakeet does not want to try out the delicious orange, you should not be disheartened; instead, wait for them to try it out at their own time eventually.
Health Benefits of parakeets Eating Oranges
According to nutrition statistics, oranges are nutritious fruits that contain low calories and fat while having relatively high fiber and sugar.
But this is not all; the primary reason to give oranges to your pet bird is the minerals and vitamins.
Similar to most fruits, oranges have a significant amount of these essential nutrients.
Let’s look at the vitamins and minerals contained in oranges and how they can benefit your parakeet.
- Vitamin C
Oranges have a high content of vitamin C.
vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps decrease the damage free radicals do in your bird’s body.
This means that it helps to prevent DNA damage and aging. It’s also essential for enhancing a healthy immune system.
- B vitamins
Oranges contain a significant amount of vitamin B1 (Thiamine) and B9 (Folate).
The B vitamins are essential for proper metabolic function and enable your bird to turn food into energy.
- Potassium
Oranges also contain potassium, another essential nutrient.
Potassium is good for a healthy heart. It is also suitable for their nervous system functioning.
Parakeets can hence definitely eat oranges and are good for them.
They are good sources of lots of minerals, vitamins, fibers, and antioxidants while being low in fats and calories.
Always ensure you give your bird a balanced diet, something which oranges can be a part of.
Risks to Consider When Feeding Oranges to Parakeets
Oranges and other fresh fruits provide a welcome and additional flavor to the diet of your parakeet.
However, both you and your parakeet can easily get carried away in per taking oranges, which may be harmful to your pet bird.
Oranges are loaded with the naturally occurring fructose sugar that can result in digestive system upset and foul stools in your parakeet.
Whereas orange segments may seem small to us, they are a lot for parakeets and contains a lot of fructose, which can make it hard for them the bird to digest.
The orange servings should be limited to less than two servings per week to avoid this health risk.
This also applies to other sugary and sweet fruits.
Additionally, after feeding fresh oranges to your bird, you should ensure to clear any remaining fruit once the parakeet has fed to prevent the fruits from rotting, having a foul smell, and attracting insects.
How to Feed Parakeets Oranges (Serving Size and Frequency)
The best way to ensure your parakeets are getting the right amount of nutritious oranges every week is by setting up certain days when they can enjoy the tasty treat.
This will ensure they don’t get excess of them. So let’s look at how to feed oranges to your feathered friend.
- Peel the orange
You should not give your parakeet a full orange without peeling it.
While some parakeets could try eating the peels when delivered, the peels could contain harmful pesticides.
Hence, it is right to peel the orange first, and to have extra peace of mind, try buying organic oranges.
- Slice up the orange
While it can be tempting to offer a whole orange to your parakeets, it is best to slice it up into small pieces.
This way, you will also be able to monitor how much fruit your parakeet is eating.
Oranges are high in ascorbic acid and fructose sugar and can cause problems for your pet bird.
You should hence give oranges in moderate amounts as an occasional treat.
You should give them several pieces of oranges once or twice a week, along with other veggies and fresh fruits as a salad.
Nevertheless, you should never give a parakeet spoiled or moldy parts of oranges.
- Remove at night
When it is nightfall, it is recommendable to remove all the orange pieces from their cage.
It is common for fruits to get infected with bacteria when exposed to open air for long.
The bacteria can cause your parakeet sick if they decide to eat the oranges.
To avoid this, you should remove the remaining pieces from the cage and serve them with fresh slices on another day for them to enjoy.
You can also give orange juice to your parakeet, but you should first dilute it with water.
You should also ensure that any orange juice you give your pet bird is hand pressed by you and is fresh.
It should not be from a packet because the preservatives in packed juices might cause bird problems. However, orange juice should not replace water completely.
What Are Other Healthy Alternatives to Oranges in A Parakeet’s diet?
Now that we know oranges should only be given to parakeets as treats, what are other healthy alternatives to oranges in a parakeet’s diet? One of the most nutritious diets for parakeets is to feed them pellets.
Feeding them pellets daily is the best way to get all the nutrients they require in one food.
Most skilled parakeet owners say pellets should make up about seventy-five percent of your feathery friends’ regular diet.
While most owners choose seed mixes, they can be too high in fats and carbohydrates and not including all nutrients your bird needs to be healthy.
To avoid this, around twenty percent of your parakeet diet should contain fresh vegetables.
Vegetables are not only a fun snack for your feathered pet but are also tasty and full of minerals and vitamins.
However, you should avoid feeding too much of these vegetables to your parakeets as they can cause runny droppings.
The remaining percentage of your parakeet diet should include fruits that contain critical nutrients and minerals that help keep your pet bird healthy.
Nutritionists encourage adding fresh fruit to your parakeets’ diet as up to fifteen percent of their daily intake, and orange is on the top list.
These should be given as treats and only fed in small amounts.
While you can feed them some orange pieces, you can switch them up with other fruits, including; watermelons, raspberries, bananas, cherries, apricots, mangoes, pineapples, apples, and tangerines.
Just ensure you don’t feed them seeds when you give them apple and watermelon pieces to ensure their safety.
It’s also recommendable that you avoid lots of citrus fruits as the citric acid might be difficult for parakeets to digest.
FAQs
Can Parakeets Eat Orange Peels?
Parakeets cannot eat orange peels.
You should not give a whole unpeeled orange to your parakeet. Instead, you should first cut it in slices.
You should provide your parakeet an orange in small portions with the peel still on it.
However, you should wash the fruit before getting rid of any chemicals and pesticides on it.
Anyway, they will only eat the juicy fresh and leave the peel.
Can Parakeets Eat Orange Seeds?
Yes, parakeets can eat orange seeds if not removed from the fruit.
However, orange seeds can cause cyanide formation in the intestines of your parakeet, which can be dangerous.
You should hence always ensure you remove the orange seeds to avoid feeding them to your
pet friend.
Do Wild Parakeets Eat Oranges?
Parakeets are mostly granivores, and when living in the wild, they eat grasses and seeds, which accounts for most of them being ground feeders.
However, in the wild, they also enjoy eating fresh fruits to meet their nutritional needs. Oranges are one of their favorite fruits.
Conclusion
Oranges are one of the healthiest and safest fruits to give your parakeet.
It contains lots of vitamins and minerals that provide many health benefits to your bird.
However, you mustn’t overfeed oranges to your parakeet.
Oranges are high in fructose and ascorbic acid, so as a treat and in moderation is best.
I hope this article has answered your questions concerning feeding you parakeet with oranges.
If there is anything you feel we have missed or need more information, please let us know by leaving a comment below.
