Can cockatiels eat chocolate?

Do not feed
Chocolate · for cockatiels

No. Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, both toxic to birds. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous — but no amount is safe.

What it means for cockatiels

chocolate is toxic to every parrot, and cockatiels are no exception. Never offer it — see the emergency steps below if your bird already had some. And because cockatiels are so small, even a tiny amount is a dangerous dose.

The full picture on chocolate

Birds metabolize theobromine and caffeine far more slowly than humans. Even a small piece can cause vomiting, hyperactivity, tremors, seizures, and cardiac arrhythmia in a parrot. Dark and baking chocolate carry the highest doses, but milk chocolate and cocoa drinks are dangerous too.

My cockatiel already ate some — what now?

Remove all remaining food from the cage, note what and roughly how much was eaten, and call an avian vet or an animal poison control hotline immediately. Do not wait for symptoms — early treatment makes the difference.

See the full chocolate guide →
See the Cockatiel diet guide →

← Back to Cockatiel diet guide
Know your flock, not just the food
Join the Pro waitlist