Budgies (Aka Parakeets) love eating cucumbers, to the extent that you can even feed these as their favorite treats.
The flesh of a cucumber contains water and essential nutrients that your budgie needs for its growth and development.
I must admit that feeding your budgie a cucumber for the very first time feels a bit odd.
If you are new to this, then don’t worry
Why
Because in this article you’re going to learn…
Everything You Need To Know About Budgies And Cucumbers
Budgies in the wild eat all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and seeds.
However, the food varieties for a pet budgie are often limited.
And so, they may become sick because of nutritional deficiency.
Therefore,
A budgie’s diet should always contain a portion of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Thus, you ought to feed cucumbers to your budgie for his health.
I know what you’re thinking
Why Are Cucumbers Healthy For Budgies?
Cucumbers are rich in vitamins essential for growth including vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K.
These also contain potassium and magnesium for the proper functioning of nerves and blood, respectively.
The trace amounts of copper help in strengthening your bird’s immune system.
Cucumbers also contain calcium that helps in maintaining the bird bones.
Furthermore, cucumbers contain water.
But most importantly, they provide silicic acid that is essential for the development of beautiful feathers.
But you may be wondering..
Can Budgies Eat Cucumber Skin?
They can, but I discourage feeding cucumber skin to your budgie.
Why?
Well, wild budgies can easily poke through cucumber skin and eat its flesh. However, it may be hard on domesticated budgies especially baby budgies.
Also, the cucumber skin may contain residual fertilizers or pesticides, which can be extremely harmful to your budgie. But peeling the cucumber skin can eliminate all such risks.
So,
Can Budgies Eat Cucumber Seeds?
Nope, most budgies cannot.
Cucumber seeds are quite big for a budgie to engulf.
Baby budgies can even choke on them, so it’s best to avoid cucumber seeds.
Question is..
How Do You Feed Your Budgie Cucumber?
It’s pretty easy. Technically, you should feed only the flesh of cucumber to your budgie.
Just follow these steps and you will be fine:
- Carefully wash and rinse the cucumber with water, like you normally would do. It will remove both dirt or any infectious agents from the cucumber.
- Peel off the cucumber skin. I recommend using a potato peeler as it will remove the skin evenly.
- Cut the cucumber in a vertical half to reveal the seeds and inner light green flesh.
- Completely eliminate the seeds, using a knife.
- Cut thin sections of the cucumber.
- Feed it to your bird using your hands. You can also put a pot of cucumber inside the cage. Otherwise, just clip a section of cucumber to the birdcage.
Since cucumbers are rich in water and they release it, after being cut.
Therefore, you can only feed fresh cucumbers to your budgie.
Just make sure you discard the uneaten cucumber portions after a while.
So there you have it – How you can feed your budgie cucumber
Another question that may arise is…
How Often Can a Budgie Eat Cucumber?
Of course, cucumbers are healthy and rich in nutrients, but they are also rich in water.
So, you can feed cucumbers to your budgie no more than twice a week and never more than few slices.
Any more than that, and you risk your budgie having runny droppings or diarrhea.
At this point, new bird breeders tend to wonder,
“But aren’t food supplements far safer than vegetables like cucumbers?”
Of course, you can give your bird vitamin drops and mineral bars.
However, food supplements may not always be safe.
Why?
You see, people directly feed vitamins to their birds, which is difficult to do so if you are not properly trained.
Some even add vitamins to water pot and that only increases chances of bacterial growth and therefore, infection risk.
As for mineral bars, if your budgie eats lots of these then they may change the blood mineral balance drastically.
And so,
Adding fresh vegetables and fruits to your budgie’s diet is far safer than dietary supplements.
But, if you are still into food supplements, make sure you get them prescribed from a vet.
And not just any vet but an avian expert.
In this case, you must strictly follow the prescribed supplement dosage otherwise, you may harm your budgie’s health.
Wrapping It Up
Budgies can eat cucumbers as it is rich in nutrients essential for their growth and development.
These nutrients include vitamins, minerals, and silicic acid.
However, you can only feed the flesh of cucumber to your budgie.
Just don’t feed him cucumber more than twice a week.
Keep it moderate
And remember to always speak to your avian vet before adding any new food to your budgie’s diet
