Quaker parrots onion poisoning?

[quakerparrots]

Hi all,

I have 2 male quaker parrots (1yo & 3yo). They have been eating a new frozen vegetable mix for the past 2-3 days. I only just noticed that the mix contains onion pieces. They have been leaving behind these pieces (thought they were cauliflower scraps or something before) in their bowl so I am hoping they have not ingested much of it, if any at all. I have now removed all onion from their cage and given them fresh cucumber to hopefully increase their fluid intake. There have been no changes to their eating or behaviour, and their stool looks normal from what I can tell. They're still flying around and seemingly happy as usual.

I just called an emergency general vet and they don't think this is an emergency, but recommended I see a bird vet in the morning. Just wondering how likely onion poisoning is in this case and if there is anything I can do to help my birds in the meantime. I would also like to know how long it takes for onion poisoning symptoms to manifest in quakers. Thank you!

 

[HeatherG]

I might consider myself and birds lucky and just keep an eye on them. I think a problem is unlikely.

I sometimes will let my bird sample something that has cooked onion in small amounts as I am pretty sure the enzyme is dead. I just didn’t THINK of it☹️

I will see if I can find info about onion toxicity in birds.

 

[HeatherG]

Zupreem.com website states that alliums, cooked or raw, are toxic to birds. Merck veterinary manual doesn’t include birds in the animals to which alliums (onions leeks garlic) are toxic. Lafeber.com lists anecdotal evidence that large doses of onions have been toxic to a goose and a conure. Bestbirdfoodever.com reminds us that toxicity is dose dependent and concludes that these foods are best avoided.

While I hate to decrease the variety in my birds diet, it seems like sharing food cooked with onions and garlic is dangerous and I won’t do that any more.

 

[HeatherG]

Concerns of allium toxicity in birds could be mouth irritation, or hemolytic anemia which would be observed as general un-wellness.

This toxicity is dose dependent so if your birds only got a tiny bit or none I think they’re probably ok. Of course if they act sick or lethargic they need prompt assessment!

 

[quakerparrots]

Concerns of allium toxicity in birds could be mouth irritation, or hemolytic anemia which would be observed as general un-wellness.

This toxicity is dose dependent so if your birds only got a tiny bit or none I think they’re probably ok. Of course if they act sick or lethargic they need prompt assessment!

They still seem perfectly fine so I'm not too worried anymore. Thank you for your help!