Can Budgies Eat Celery? 

If you are introducing veggies to your bird’s diet, celery is the best choice to start with.

Surely, budgies (Aka Parakeets) can eat celery.

But whether your budgie eats celery or not is entirely up to its personality.

However, celery is more like a snack for your budgie rather than a complete meal.  

Somehow, whenever it comes to birds and celery,

People often ask:

Is celery toxic to birds?

Let’s find out..

Is Celery Toxic to Birds?

Quite the contrary. Celery is among the safest foods for your budgie.

Now I know you heard that the celery leaves are toxic for birds, but that’s not completely true.

The thing is that residual pesticides stick to the celery leaves and may even get absorbed within these.

So, it’s pretty hard to get rid of them even with vigorous rinsing.

Therefore, most bird breeders advise you to only give celery stalks to your bird as a safe choice.

So, I agree,

You should only give the celery stalks to your budgie and avoid the leaves.

But, if you buy 100% organic celery, then it won’t have any chemicals like pesticides.

And so, you can give the stalk, the leaves, and even celery seeds to your bird. 

Are you wondering, “why should I give celery to my budgie”? 

In that case,

Let’s look at the benefits of celery

The Benefits Of Celery For Your Bird

Now I wouldn’t go as far as calling celery a superfood because 95% of it is just water.

But,

Celery can provide nutrients in such a balance that your bird will neither be dehydrated nor malnourished. 

These include vitamins A, C, K, and folate as well as potassium. Here is how these benefit your bird:

1. Vitamin A

Vitamin A is essential for the eyes.

For birds, vitamin A usually means healthy growth of beaks and nails.

You can tell a bird is Vitamin-A-deficient by:

1. Overgrowing beaks and nails
2. Chipping and flaking beaks
3. Easily breaking nails 

Since a bird explores its world through beaks and nails, therefore, vitamin A is quite important.

And so, I emphasize feeding your bird the foods like celery that are rich in vitamin A.

2. Vitamin C

All birds love peppers as they are rich in vitamin C.

Consequently, breeders accentuate giving vitamin C to your bird. It’s not like your bird will experience scurvy without it.

Nevertheless, for a bird vitamin C signifies:

1. Mental health and reduced stress 
2. Development of the Immune system and antibodies against infections 

Since you cannot just feed peppers to your budgies, thus, I recommend giving them celery. 

3. Vitamin K

Birds especially budgies are prone to injuries.

Vitamin K helps assemble platelets and therefore, in blood clotting.

So, in case of injuries, a diet like celery containing vitamin K will slow the bleeding.

Hopefully, that will save his life. 

4. Folate (B9)

Folate or vitamin B9 is found in most green leafy vegetables. The folate in celery will contribute to your budgie’s health by:

1. Acting as a raw material for red and white blood cells
2. Assisting in metabolism and energy production
3. Increasing overall growth rate

Also, if your birds are preparing for breeding then do add celery to their diets.

The folate will aid in supporting pregnancy and thereby, in producing healthy eggs.

5. Potassium

Did you know that bananas are called happy fruit because they are rich in potassium?

Well, celery also contains a fair amount of potassium.

So, I reckon your bird will be more than happy eating it. Also, potassium is crucial for your bird’s health as it: 

1. Speeds up the metabolism
2. Strengthens the bones while reducing osteoporosis
3. Decreases blood pressure
4. Retains water minimizing dehydration
5. Prevents strokes and kidney stones

Check out my article – Can budgies eat bananas?

Now, you may be thinking,

How To Feed Your Parakeet Celery? 

To avoid any issues, simply follow these steps:

1. Carefully wash and rinse the celery with water
2. Using a knife de-leaf and de-seed the celery
3. Now cut 2-3 cm long pieces of the stalk
4. Put the celery in the birdcage or directly feed your budgie by hand

Again, if it’s 100% organic celery then you can also feed seeds and leaves to your bird.

However, celery is a low-calorie diet and your bird needs high-energy foods for its fast metabolism. 

So, if you want to give leaves to your bird, I recommend you give something greener say, spinach or cabbage.

Its cause, the greener the leaf is, the higher the energy value it contains.

But, 

How Frequently Can You Feed Celery to Your Budgie?

Since celery is more like a snack, you can only feed it as a treat.

And so, you must always feed your bird foods other than celery.

Therefore,  

You can feed your budgie celery, no more than thrice a week and only 2-3cm long piece a time.

Besides, celery is 95% water and over-consuming celery can lead to runny droppings or even diarrhea.

However, eating in small portions on alternate days won’t harm your bird at all. 

But, if diarrhea continues for 3 days even after reducing moisture-rich foods, then it’s high time to see an avian expert cause it may be an indication of some other issue.

Wrapping It Up

Budgies can eat celery as a snack.

The celery consists of mainly water and nutrients such as vitamins A, C, K, and folate along with potassium.

All of these are essential for a budgie’s health.

If you want to feed celery to your budgie, try giving him only stalks and avoid leaves or seeds.

As I always mention

Before you introduce any new food to your bird, always take advice from your avian vet 

Related article – Can budgies eat broccoli?