Of all the parrot species that you can keep as pets, budgies are your best choices. These birds have a bright appearance that is easy on the eyes and are a perfect blend of cheerfulness and docility.
As far as trainability is concerned, you’d never have trouble with them, particularly if you’ve brought them home at a young age. But what about feeding them? It is common knowledge that budgies, like most of the other parrot species, are fond of fruits. But which fruits can you offer to them safely? What about grapes?
Can budgies eat grapes? Yes, they can. Being both sweet and juicy, grapes are a total hit with your feathered pets. If you look at these fruits from a nutritional standpoint, they also make a healthy snack for your budgies. However, the high fructose content of grapes can prove to be detrimental to these birdies when fed in excess. That’s why you should only feed these fruits to them as an occasional treat.
In the wild, seeds, fruits (including grapes), berries, and vegetables make up the bulk of the budgie’s diet. Therefore, there’s no reason why grapes would be harmful to them in captivity. However, if you want your feathered pets to be in the best of health, you should feed them a well-balanced diet that can fulfill all their nutritional requirements.
This article will discuss everything you need to know about feeding grapes to budgies, including their nutritional value, health benefits, risks involved, and more.
What can grapes offer to budgies?
For any concerned pet parent, the health of their pet is always on top priority. If you’re one of these parents, you would want to explore the health benefits of grapes for your little birdies before you proceed to feed them these fruits, wouldn’t you?
Before we talk about what grapes can offer to budgies, let’s take a glance at the table below, which contains information about their nutritional value:
| Nutrients | Quantity |
| Vitamin A | 66 IU |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) | 0.069 mg |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | 0.070 mg |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | 0.188 mg |
| Vitamin B4 (Choline) | 5.6 mg |
| Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) | 0.05 mg |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) | 0.086 mg |
| Vitamin B9 (Folates) | 2 mcg |
| Vitamin C | 4 mg |
| Vitamin E | 0.19 mg |
| Vitamin K | 14.6 mcg |
| Sodium, Na | 1 mg |
| Potassium, K | 191 mg |
| Calcium, Ca | 10 mg |
| Copper, Cu | 0.127 mg |
| Iron, Fe | 0.36 mg |
| Manganese, Mn | 0.071 mg |
| Magnesium, Mg | 7 mg |
| Zinc, Zn | 0.07 mg |
| Carbohydrates | 18 g |
| Protein | 0.72 g |
| Total Fat | 0.16 g |
| Dietary fibers | 0.9 g |
| Sugar | 15 g |
| Water | 84.29 g |
| Calories | 69 kcal |
Serving size: 100 grams
The table is evidence of the fact that grapes are nutrient-packed fruits. Now, let’s explore how your feathered pets will benefit from eating them.
Grapes are rich in Thiamin (Vitamin B1)
Thiamin is a B-complex vitamin that is crucial to the smooth functioning of your pet’s nervous system. Moreover, it also promotes a healthy appetite in them. A lack of this vitamin in their diet could result in inappetence in your budgies and lead to occasional seizures.
Grapes contain Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6)
The most critical function of Pyridoxine in your budgie’s body is to aid their protein metabolism. The deficiency of this vitamin can be fatal to their health in the following ways:
- It can reduce their appetite, making them appear dull and impoverished.
- It can harden the eggs they produce.
- It can lead to stunted growth in them.
Grapes can improve both the mental and the immune health of your pets
As you might’ve noticed in the table above, grapes contain 4 mg Vitamin C per 100 grams. This vitamin is not only essential for strengthening your pet’s immune responses but can also improve their mental health by helping to reduce their stress levels. If your budgies do not consume enough of this vitamin, they will be vulnerable to several diseases and infections.
Grapes contain resveratrol
How many of you have heard of “resveratrol”? It is a plant pigment that can be found in a handful of fruits and cherries and in peanuts and pistachios. Resveratrol is present in both green as well as red grapes, although its concentration is higher in red grapes.
This plant pigment displays strong antioxidant properties and can enhance your pet’s health in the following ways:
- It produces nitric oxide inside their body, which leads to the relaxation of their blood vessels and reduces the risk of increased blood pressure levels.
- It increases the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in their body, which improves their cardiovascular health.
- Studies have shown that resveratrol can activate genes that can fight ageing and lend your pets a longer lifespan.
- It also happens to have anti-inflammatory properties that can protect your budgies from all kinds of inflammatory diseases and infections.
- It reduces oxidative stress in their cells.
Grapes contain all the macronutrients in abundance
Your feathered pets need all the macronutrients in their diet just like we do. Carbs and protein are the primary energy sources for them; fibers promote their digestive health; fats help them in the metabolism of the fat-soluble vitamins.
Risks involved with overfeeding grapes to budgies
If there’s something you should know about budgies, it is that they can overfeed on anything you serve them. And if you’re offering them something sweet, they’re even more likely to overeat these treats.
Although grapes have a lot to offer your feathered pets, these fruits can also be problematic for their health when consumed in excess. Let’s talk about the health issues from which your pet might suffer if they’re eating too many grapes:
Too much water
It’s no surprise to us that grapes are watery fruits, containing about 84% of water. And while budgies do need water for hydration, too much of it is not healthy for them. Ideally, they should consume a high-fiber, low-water diet that can promote their digestive health; grapes are quite the opposite.
If your budgies are eating grapes frequently, they will have more water in their bodies than they need, which always results in a watery stool. If this continues for a long time, they might even end up having diarrhea.
Excess fructose
Because grapes are fruits, they’re bound to be sweet due to the presence of fructose (a natural sugar) in them. While the fructose content of grapes is what draws your pet birdies to these fruits, ironically, it can prove to be detrimental to their health.
It might come as a surprise to many, but budgies are incapable of producing the enzymes that are required in fructose metabolism. That’s why they have difficulty digesting too much sugar, which often upsets their stomach. Moreover, over time, the excess fructose they consume can also make them obese or diabetic.
So, now you know why feeding too many grapes to your pets is not such a great idea. If you want your budgies to enjoy these treats without any negative impact, it would be best to feed them grapes in moderation (once a week).
Should you peel grapes before feeding them to budgies?
Although the thought of peeling grapes before eating them doesn’t usually cross our minds, when it comes to our little birdies, we’re always more concerned.
So, are unpeeled grapes safe for your budgie’s consumption, or do you need to peel them beforehand? Well, it depends on whether you’ve bought them organic or non-organic grapes.
While the grape peels contain the highest concentration of nutrients, they’re also often sprayed with pesticides and herbicides.
That’s why, if you feed your budgies non-organic grapes, it is best to get rid of the peel and feed them only the inner flesh. However, if you purchase organic grapes for them, there’s no threat of pesticides, which means you needn’t peel them for your feathered pets.
Is it safe to feed seeded grapes to budgies?
When you go to the market to buy grapes, the likelihood of you finding seeded grapes is far less than seedless ones unless, of course, you’re looking specifically for them. But, if you’ve already bought seeded grapes and are wondering whether or not they can be fed to your pets, we’ll recommend you not to.
Although the small seeds present inside grapes do not usually create a problem for your budgies, some budgie owners have claimed that their pets had difficulty digesting them. Therefore, it is best to go with seedless grapes for your little birdies as a safety measure.
Frequently asked questions
Can I feed raisins to my pet budgie?
Yes, you can but only in strict moderation (a single raisin per budgie, once or twice a month). These dehydrated versions of grapes have a much higher fructose concentration than fresh grapes.
And since budgies already struggle with digesting fructose, feeding them high-fructose foods like raisins too often would not be wise. If you have to choose between grapes and raisin, always go with the former.
Is it safe to feed grapefruit to budgies?
Yes, you can feed your budgies grapefruits safely in moderation, as long as you’ve carefully removed all their seeds. These seeds can pose not only a choking threat for your pets but also contain Amygdalin.
Amygdalin is a harmful chemical compound that degrades into hydrogen cyanide when broken down and can poison your little pets, often killing them.
Conclusion: Can budgies eat grapes?
In this article, we have learned that grapes can be both healthy and delicious treats for your feathered pets in moderation. They’re sweet and juicy and have soft flesh.
Preparing them for your budgies is an uncomplicated task as well. However, like all the other fruits, grapes should also be fed to your budgies in moderation. It is because they cannot digest large amounts of fructose properly and can end up suffering from digestive problems.