10 grain cerial question

[urigard]

I had a question about 10 grain cerial for the people who know what that is. it is basically like cream of wheat but more healthy for us and i was wondering if it would be ok to give my parrot some in the morning when i am eating it in the morning or would that be somthing i would do like every other week unless he steals some from me when im not looking

 

[justwingingit]

I don't know of any reason why that would be harmful to your bird as long as he has his own dish, which is cooled. As long as your bird is not eating any of the forbidden foods, then what is generally healthy for you will be okay for your bird. As with humans, the dark orange and dark green fruits and vegetables are good. Talara, my Hyacinth LOVES mashed potatoes and applesauce. She would knock me down and run over my back to get some. She also loves steamed carrots. I will peel and cut carrots into thirds and steam them for various carrot salads. I will save some of the steamed ones and give them to her. She can hold it and she really enjoys it. Hope this is helpful.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Yup, that would actually be a healthy snack, and good bonding time sharing breakfast. Just, as JustWingin' pointed out, make sure it's cool enough.

 

[Elena]

Ditto to Auggie's Dad's comment. Sounds like a great snack. With always trying to serve healthy and organic when possible, the serous foods you should avoid are anything with chocolate, caffeine, avocado, and then limit things with salt, sugar, fatty or saucy items. I hope that helps.

Elena

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I do let Auggie cheat on his diet a bit. You should be careful with dairy as they cannot digest lactose - the effects of it are very similar to human lactose intolerance - but since birds store much less fat and have a higher metabolism this can be potentially more severe for them. Yet Auggie LOVES dairy. Milk and mozzarella cheese are his favorite things he's ever had. So everything in moderation (except for the truly toxic things that Elena has mentioned (any xanthines: chocolate, caffeine, avocado, etc). 10 grain cereal though would not even be an indulgence, it has good nutrition for them - though it likely is low on many vitamins so it should not be a major part of their diet, but for sharing breakfast it would be great.

 

[justwingingit]

Speaking of dairy...I had also been taught that birds are lactose intolerant and while yogurt is okay and a good source of calcium, cheese was a no-no. One of my friends says she keeps reading that Cockatoos should have cheese daily. Does anyone have any information on this?

 

[Auggie's Dad]

They cannot digest lactose, but there is much less lactose in cheese and yogurt than in milk. I don't really understand the recommendation to give it daily. In small quantities I couldn't imagine it'd be a problem, but other than calcium I could not see any reason one would need to give them cheese. Obviously birds do not eat cheese in their natural habitat.

 

[BlueToast]

Why have 10 grain cerial when you can have just 1 bowl of Total?.....rim shot.......i'm out.