Cheese

[thegars]

I keep seeing posts by people who share bits of cheese with their bird...now I thought that “dairy” was bad for parrots because they really have no way to digest dairy ...I don’t want to give Debbie anything that’s bad for her...
Hopefully someone with a lot more knowledge than I have can give advice..

 

[itzjbean]

Cheese can be fed as a treat sparingly, I would not recommend it for using during training but parrots have been known to share their food with their owners which includes the occasional bite of bread and yes, cheese. Some people swear against it and would never serve it to their birds but others are more lax about it. It's not techcnically in the wild but hey, it sure it tasty. Fed sparingly like I said I don't think it is bad for them to have small bits every once in a while.

Cheese and Parrots

Another one

They can digest it, but not a lot at a time. A few bites, then they should be cut off.

There's a difference between 'bad' food and 'toxic' food. I feed my birds potato chips, Cheetos and French fries as treats, it's not toxic but just bad for birds to have in big doses, just like it is for humans to have large doses of potato chips. They sure are tasty though!

I highly encourage you to feed a variety of foods to your bird, this includes an array of veggies, fruit, sprouts are also excellent. Pellets can serve as a good base for parrots to eat too.

 

[chris-md]

Everything said above.

I’m one of those who use treats in the initial phase of training, when I first introduce a new trick or introduce a new object I want the bird to like. That’s for the first couple training sessions, and in small amounts (he plays with the cheese and takes forever to eat it, it’s a texture thing, so For that reason alone it doesn’t make a good treat!)

After a couple sessions when he knows somethings up, I’ll revert back to

 

[thegars]

I feed vegetables, fruit, Harrison’s High Potency, ZuPreem Fruit Blend, occasionally some egg, pasta and some almonds in their shell on occasion. I try very hard to watch her diet and make sure she gets plenty of flight time...until I started reading the forums, I had always heard NO dairy...guess in moderation it’s ok, if not the best...thanks for the input..

 

[Valyndris]

My macaw loves cheese. I give it to him very rarely, maybe a little piece once a month and it doesn't harm him, his poop stays normal. It isn't good for them but it's also not good for us either and we eat it. Like stated above, it can be used rarely as a treat.

I have a recipe book from BirdTricks (experts on parrots) and one of the recipes I've made has a tiny bit of cheese as a topping to entice the bird to eat the rest of the food.

 

[chris-md]

I feed vegetables, fruit, Harrison’s High Potency, ZuPreem Fruit Blend, occasionally some egg, pasta and some almonds in their shell on occasion. I try very hard to watch her diet and make sure she gets plenty of flight time...until I started reading the forums, I had always heard NO dairy...guess in moderation it’s ok, if not the best...thanks for the input..

Stick with no cheese. Safer. They are essentially lactose intolerant. Also, excess meat products can contribute to atherosclerosis as well.

Tiny doses, a small bite is fine. As a dietary treat staple? No...just monitor your bird for any changes in case they have a lactose intolerance reaction.

 

[cnyguy]

Stick with aged cheeses, like sharp or extra sharp cheddar. They have little to no lactose. They should still be restricted to small pieces as an occasional treat.

 

[Scott]

I feed my flock a tiny piece of string cheese every 7 to 10 days. Paired with bits of dense whole grain bread.

 

[DRB]

I feed Perjo cheese in small amounts weekly or bi weekly. She loves it. I usually let her take a bite from a bigger piece or hunk or let her grab shredded cheese from my hand.

The biggest issue Perjo and I have with cheese is I always repeat the name of what I feed her so since she does eat some cheese it gets confusing when I take her picture. I can’t say “say cheese”.

 

[SailBoat]

The serious problem is neither the cheese nor the Parrot! Its the Human that provides it.
The sad reality with Humans is that if a little bit is okay... Another will go for a bit more and than etc, etc, etc, happens and some poor Parrot is getting extensive volumes of it! A tonic level occurs and the sad results is a very sick Parrot or worst.

 

[Inger]

I feed my flock a tiny piece of string cheese every 7 to 10 days. Paired with bits of dense whole grain bread.

Why do I suddenly want a cheese sandwich?


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[noodles123]

3 things-- high fat, high salt, possibly high lactose (w/ hard aged cheese, lower lactose but higher salt).

I have given Noodles cheese maybe 1x every 6 months---tiny bit. I know she loves it but I would rather not rock the boat in terms of digestive flora etc.