Can Parrots Eat Garlic? (Read This First)

Garlic may be the most vegetable used as spices or herb ingredient in many dishes worldwide, sauces, soups, and many food types. And it’s believed that garlic can help with diseases related to blood and heart in humans. The chemical that causes these positive effects is called Allicin.

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So, Can Parrots Eat Garlic?

No, parrots can not eat garlic as an ingredient in their daily meals, nor as a treat. The allicin and other sulfur compounds found in garlic can destroy the red blood cell, leading to anemia.

However, you can use garlic as an ingredient in some homemade remedies to treat sick parrots suffering from certain illnesses.

Besides that, onions and celery relate to garlic as well, and they are all not recommended for parrots. They contain several toxins that may harm your parrot if they eat large amounts of it regularly.

Small occasional amounts won’t probably harm your feathery friend, hopefully.

What Toxins Are In Garlic?

Garlic Contains about 33 sulfur compounds, (aliin, allicin, ajoene, allylpropyl disulfide, diallyl trisulfide, sallylcysteine, vinyldithiines, S-allylmercaptocystein, and others), several enzymes (allinase, peroxidases, myrosinase, and others), 17 amino acids (arginine and others), and minerals (selenium, germanium, tellurium and other trace minerals).

As you see, there are many beneficial nutrients for parrots, you can find in garlic, but the problems are with the sulfur compounds.

Cooked garlic also contains the same toxins as raw garlic. Although, in fewer levels, they are still not good for parrots.

When Garlic Can Be Beneficial For parrots?

If your parrot is suffering from any diseases related to his digestive or respiratory system, or his overall immune system, then garlic can help with that.

If you prepared the garlic in a certain way, it can help to boost the immune system, enhance liver function, and help to kill the bacteria in the digestive and respiratory systems.

However, you will not give your parrot a clove of garlic hoping to help him while sick. Instead, you are going to soak one clove of mashed garlic in at least 300ml of water, and then let your parrot drink from that water after filtering it and squeezing lemon in it.

I only do that when I am sure that my bird is suffering from common diseases like flu or fever (I won’t serve this solution for over 3-5 days).

Sometimes the vet consultation is important before preparing any kind of homemade remedies for a sick parrot. Especially since some serious infections and diseases may show the same symptoms like flu and fever, and won’t heal without prescribed medication.

Is The Smell of Garlic Bad for Parrots?

No, the smell of garlic is not necessarily bad for parrots, chopping and cooking garlic around your parrot, may actually attract them to find what is this smell, as some parrots will think that this is a delicious food they can enjoy, not realizing that garlic is bad for them.

So be careful, especially if you are keeping your parrot without a cage. Your parrot may fly and snatch a clove of garlic and eat it.

What if Parrot Eats Garlic?

These Compounds found in garlic are proved beneficial for people, but for parrots, they can be very harmful. The sulfur can irritate your parrot’s mouth, esophagus, or crop, causing ulcers, and can induce rupture of red blood cells resulting in anemia.

But, if you mean what if a parrot ate garlic accidentally, the answer is probably nothing. Nothing serious is going to happen. Your parrot might feel irritation in his mouth and his digestive tract, but it will probably go away after a while.

The actual harm of garlic comes when the parrot eats garlic regularly, or when the owner thinks that garlic is beneficial for his bird. This routine of feeding garlic to your parrot will induce the development of anemia, causing your bird to be weak and die, eventually.

However, you don’t want to risk your parrot health. So, it’s better to keep the garlic away from your parrot, especially when you are cooking.

Can Parrots Eat Garlic Bread?

Neither garlic nor bread is among the natural food for parrots, and it’s better to avoid them at all costs. Bread is a heavily processed staple food. That may contain different ingredients that are harmful to your bird.

The same goes for garlic as well. Garlic is proven to contain many toxins that can pose a serious threat to your parrot’s overall health.

Although cooked garlic is the ingredient in garlic bread, and has a lesser amount of toxins than raw garlic, is still harmful to your bird to eat.

Toxic ingredients and heavily processed food are a terrible combination, and it’s better to avoid them.

Can We Give Garlic to Budgies and African Greys?

Before writing this article, I was searching online, and shockingly, I found a website suggesting that garlic is good for pet budgies.

And it’s healthy because it contains many anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-biotics. That can be beneficial for them. It may be right.

But the owner of that website didn’t mention the sulfur compounds that pose the actual harm to parrots. Especially when they eat garlic regularly.

And in a short answer, No. You can’t give garlic to budgies, African Greys, macaws, or any other breed of parrots. All parrots are sensitive to the sulfur compounds found in garlic, leading them to develop anemia by destroying the red blood cells. It’s always better to avoid giving it to them.