Yes, it is entirely safe. Due to cheerios, low-sugar and low-sodium contents can be fed to cockatiels. Also, cockatiels love cheerios. It is preferable to feed them the unsweetened and natural plain cheerios. Any other cereal with high sugar content may be harmful to your bird. Other than that, cheerios should be given in moderation and only a few times a week.
What Are The Different Types Of Cheerios Available On The Market?
You should only feed certain types of Cheerios to your bird. Also, don’t make Cheerios a part of its meal but rather feed it as a treat.
Plain and unsweetened Cheerios are not unhealthy, and cockatiels enjoy eating them. Feeding a small amount sometimes should be okay.
There are a lot of varieties of Cheerios available on the market other than the plain and unsweetened cheerios.
These are not necessarily healthy or unhealthy for your bird. Therefore, it is important to understand better what should be fed before offering cereals to your cockatiel.
Plain Cheerios
When feeding it to your cockatiel, thee plain and unsweetened cheerios should be your preferred choice. It has low-sugar and low-sodium content, which can harm your bird’s health.
It has almost no artificial flavorings, and that’s a very positive thing if you want to feed cheerios to your cockatiel.
Honey Cheerios
Honey available on the market has a high sugar content and is harmful to cockatiels.
They feel like a change of taste for your bird but are not a healthy source. Also, feeding it regularly to your bird may be fatal. So if you do feed honey cheerios to your bird, we will recommend you stop and switch to the plain cheerios.
Honey Nut Cheerios
Even though honey is not healthy for your cockatiel, honey nut cheerios have the least amount of artificial flavorings. Also, nuts are a healthy food source for your cockatiel.
Therefore, if you want to experiment with feeding flavored cheerios to your bird, honey nut cheerios would be a better choice than the others.
It still doesn’t have a high nutritional value, so it is permissible only small amounts of it once or twice a week.
Chocolate Cheerios
Chocolate is extremely harmful to your bird. Avoid feeding it to your cockatiel at any cost. Chocolate cheerios should not be given to your cockatiel.
The presence of theobromine makes it fatal for cockatiels and other birds as well. On top of that, it contains high sugar levels and lots of artificial flavoring. Always ensure no cocoa or chocolate in the food item you are feeding to your bird.
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
Apple cinnamon cheerios are not necessarily unhealthy for your bird. It is recommended to feed cinnamon to your cockatiel due to its nutritional value, such as fiber, iron, calcium, and manganese. Cockatiels also love eating cinnamon and find it tasty too.
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But talking about Apple cinnamon cheerios, it might not be an excellent choice to feed to your cockatiel. Even though cinnamon is excellent for birds, the amount of artificial flavorings present makes it unhealthy for your cockatiel to consume.
Strawberry Cheerios
Strawberry Cheerios contain high quantities of sweeteners added to make them more appetizing. Sweeteners are no good for your cockatiel’s health. Usually, any food item with high sugar levels should be avoided.
Multigrain Cheerios
Multigrain cheerios may sound healthy, but you should not feed them to your cockatiel. Before purchasing multigrain cheerios for your bird, make sure you check the nutritional content.
If the sugar levels exceed even 2gms, you should avoid it altogether. High sugar levels combined with artificial flavorings are not suitable for your cockatiel’s health.
But grains are a healthy food source for your cockatiel, and you should make them a part of their diet. By mixing varieties of grain, feed them to your bird regularly.
How Do I Feed Cheerios To My Cockatiel?
Feeding cheerios to your cockatiel is easy, but you need to keep some points in check. These are:
- Always ensure that the type of cheerios you are feeding is not harmful to your cockatiel. It is preferable to go for unsweetened and plain cheerios.
- Make sure you are feeding a small amount of cheerios. Usually. 4-5 small chunks are more than enough.
- Cheerios do not add to the nutritional value. Therefore, feeding them to cockatiel once or twice a week is okay.
- Never add milk to the cheerios you are feeding to your cockatiel, as birds are lactose intolerant. You can add some water with the cheerios or without any liquid.
- For smaller birds such as the cockatiel, crumble the cheerios into small pieces to make it much easier for them to eat them.
- Avoid feeding cheerios to baby birds as it doesn’t add to the nutritional value, and they require lots of protein to grow.
Why Are Sweetened Food Items Harmful to Birds?
Birds can eat sugar in small amounts and if given occasionally. Feeding too much sugar content to your pet bird can affect its physical and mental health.
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- It doesn’t add any nutritional value, and to process sugar, the body takes nutrients from itself to metabolize this food.
- Digesting sugar puts a lot of effort on its digestive, endocrine, and pancreas.
- It also weakens the bird’s immune system making it susceptible to infections, and causes various health problems such as diabetes, heart damages, gout, hyperactivity, etc.
- It affects the White blood cells present in the body to fight off illnesses negatively.
Conclusion
A cockatiel can be fed cheerios in moderation about twice a week. Also, only plain and unsweetened cheerios should be offered to the bird. Any other type of cheerios which uses artificial flavorings can be detrimental to your bird’s health. Also, cheerios do not add much nutritional value; therefore, they should be used as a treat sometimes and not be made a regular part of their diet.
