Budgies are actually the common nickname of the budgerigars, small-sized and long-tailed parrots that are also called parakeets.
Budgies make adorable pet birds and like many other pet birds, they eat a wide range of fruits in their diet. And this can make you curious to know about whether budgies can eat blueberries or not. Let’s not make any more delay and find out the answer.
Can Budgies Eat Blueberries?
Budgies can have 1-2 blueberries every week because blueberries are packed with Vitamin C, Vitamin K, manganese, fiber, and other several valuable nutrients which make blueberries a healthy snack for them. Also, blueberries improve budgies’ many health conditions too and reduce age-related diseases.
Table of Contents
Hence, these days for our convenience, Blueberries are now found in frozen and dried conditions. Thus, while thinking of feeding your little budgie buddy, you may want to know can you feed the budgie frozen or dried blueberries or not.
To let you know about this fact, below it has been explained.
Frozen Blueberries:
Budgies absolutely can eat and love eating frozen blueberries both in defrosted and in thawed condition because frozen blueberries make a cold, delicious treat for them.
However, budgies are seen to prefer frozen blueberries more than thawed ones as the frozen blueberries have a crunchiness that enthralls their beaks.
Frozen blueberries are considered to be more healthier in the frozen condition because most times, frozen blueberries are collected at their peak ripeness and sold in frozen condition.
And in frozen condition, almost all their valuable minerals and vitamins are retained whereas fresh blueberries lose nutrients on their way from the garden to the shelves of grocery stores.
Therefore, it’s good to treat budgies with frozen blueberries packed with almost all the nutrients.
Dried Blueberries:
Budgies can enjoy eating dried blueberries as well. In fact, budgies are seen to prefer dried blueberries over fresh ones.
However, dried blueberries have a high sugar level than the fresh ones, thereby, if budgies eat dried blueberries more, it may cause them harmful health issues like obesity and diabetes.
So it’s better to feed dried blueberries to budgies in moderation. And it’s suggested to encourage budgies to eat fresh blueberries than dried ones as fresh blueberries have low sugar levels and are healthier than dried blueberries.
Do Budgies Like Blueberries? Is It Safe For Budgies To Eat Blueberries?
Although budgies are relatively much picky eaters and each of them has its own preferences and dislikes, the majority of them are seen to like snacking on blueberries in both fresh, frozen, and dried conditions.
It’s because blueberries are too succulent and burst tons of sweet flavors and bits of tangy flavors in their mouth which budgies relish.
Moreover, blueberries are small and have very soft skins that budgies effortlessly can grab with their class and peel away to gobble up which makes blueberries amusing to them.
Some budgie owners also like to play with/train their budgies with blueberries which is another reason that makes budgies like blueberry as they are playing and getting a delicious treat at the same time.
Besides, the blueberries have a dark blue color skin which adds color to a budgie’s meal making it really enticing to them.
And as far as it’s concerned about the safety in budgies’ eating blueberries, know that blueberries for sure are absolutely safe for budgies to consume as they contain zero harmful elements.
In fact, the nutritional values blueberries offer budgies that can help in improving their health, plus blueberries are easy on their digestive system.
Thus, if blueberries are fed in moderation and the correct portion, budgies can get multiple health benefits.
6 Reasons Why Budgies Can Eat Blueberries?
The reasons why budgies can eat blueberries may still be unknown to many of you, therefore, the main 6 reasons that make blueberries edible to budgies have been disclosed below.
To Prevent Oxidative Stress:
Budgies can eat blueberries because it prevents their oxidative stress issue.
The bodies of budgies require antioxidants like us, in fact, antioxidants are a prevalent buzzword in terms of budgie’s health because it prevents their oxidative stress that can occur to their cells.
Thereby, when budgies eat blueberries, the antioxidants will help them chronic and many age-related issues caused by oxidative stress.
To Maintain A Healthy Heart:
Budgies can face a poor heart issue like any other birds, so to maintain a healthy heart, budgies should eat blueberries.
As per vets’ statements, budgies can have heart disease like other birds due to inflammation. And not to mention, blueberries are highly enriched with antioxidants that are known for reducing inflammation effectively.
Blueberries are found to prevent atherosclerosis and promote cardiovascular health as well. They also can lessen stiffness in budgies.
To Lesson Muscle Damage:
Budgies are energetic birds so they can face muscle soreness or fatigue that later can lead to chronic inflammation. Thus, to lessen muscle soreness and prevent this type of injury at molecular levels, budgies should eat blueberries.
To Boosts Immune System:
No to mention, blueberries are packed with Vitamin C which highly improves the immune system of budgies. Thus, budgies can eat blueberries to build a strong immunity to fight against infections and retain good health in their old age.
Besides, Vitamin C stabilizes sugar as well as cholesterol level in a budgie’s body. Not only that, Vitamin C can help them in their bones and muscles development. Plus, Vitamin C helps budgies in regulating their heartbeat.
And all of these facts ate enough to say why budgies can and budgies should eat blueberries sometimes.
To Develop Bones:
Bone health is important for budgies because their energetic birds, and it is known that blueberries have Vitamin K that can give their body the necessary amount of Vitamin K so that their bones develop.
This makes clear reasoning why budgies can eat blueberries in their diet.
To Promote Feather Growth:
Blueberries have manganese which is an important mineral for budgies to improve their feather growth. Besides, manganese is such a mineral for budgies that helps them to strengthen bones as well as their beaks. So budgies should eat blueberries.
What Are Blueberry Nutrition Facts For Budgies?
Among all types of berries, blueberries are one of the highest nutrient-dense ones. They are small-sized berries with only 0.3 grams per berries.
Blueberries are rich in fiber among all nutrients and Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and manganese among all vitamin compounds.
However, still before feeding blueberries, you may wonder what exact nutritional values blueberries offer to little budgies. Thus, two tables are presented below that will show the mutational facts of blueberries per 1 blueberry.
Nutritional Facts Of Blueberries For Budgies
| Nutrients | 1 Blueberry (0.3 gm) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 0.17 gm |
| Fiber | 0.01 gm |
| Sugar | 0.03 gm |
| Carbohydrates | 0.043 gm |
| Protein | 0.002 gm |
| Fat | 0.001 gm |
| Vitamins And Water Content | Percentage In 1 Berry |
|---|---|
| Water | 84% |
| Vitamin C | 24% |
| Vitamin K | 36% |
| Manganese | 24% |
Can Budgies Eat Blueberry Skin?
Budgies can eat blueberries’ skins as well while eating blueberries because blueberries’ skins contain absolutely no harmful element that can be proven toxic for budgies or cause any health issues to them.
However, blueberries’ skins can contain pesticides that surely can harm them, so before feeding your budgie blueberries, you must wash the berries very thoroughly.
And the best method to wash the blueberries to clean all pesticides is to soak them in a bowl of baking soda mixed water for a few minutes and then rinse them well.
If you wash the blueberries adopting this method, be sure that your budgie can eat blueberry skin too while snacking on them.
How To Feed Your Budgie Blueberries?
There isn’t any certain way of feeding a budgie blueberries as most owners feed their budgies whole blueberries. However, the ways most budgie owners feed their budgies blueberries are shortly described below for your better understanding.
As Whole:
Feeding budgies a whole blueberry is the most common way that the majority of budgie owners follow while feeding their budgies blueberries.
All you need to do it soak the blueberries (be it fresh, frozen, or dried) in baking soda mixed water for 10 minutes, and then rinse them. After that, you can simply give them the berries to eat.
As Chunks:
Another way of feeding your budgie blueberries is by cutting the blueberries in chunks. First, wash them and then cut them into bite-sized chunks. After that, you either can feed the blueberry chunks only or you can mix them with seed and pallet-based food.
If your budgie is a baby, cutting blueberries in chunks is a good way to feed them.
Hand Feed:
Many budgies hesitate eating blueberries on their own, if your budgie hesitates too, after washing you can hand feed it.
Final Thoughts
As a nutritious snack, every week budgies can eat 2 blueberries max along with their regular diet. Blueberries are a great source of several necessary nutrients, vitamins, and minerals for budgies that helps them to prevent many health diseases and maintain good health.