Parakeets should not eat sausages. Parakeets are herbivores and have no real capacity to digest meat. While a small amount of sausage every now and then might not do much harm, it wouldn’t have much benefit, either. Try to avoid feeding your parakeet anything that isn’t raw plant matter of some kind.
While it’s often tempting to share everything we eat with our parakeets, the truth is that they have very different dietary needs than ours.
Sausages simply do not fit into what they should or would normally eat.
Try to give them a diet that’s the closest approximation to what they would get in the wild.
Let’s break this down.
Are sausages good for parakeets?
Sausages are not good for parakeets as they really contain virtually nothing of nutritional value to parakeets.
That said, it is worth considering the one or two benefits they may have to further highlight why they should still not be given.
Parakeets love a treat, as I’m sure you know.
Most parakeets probably will enjoy a bit of sausage every now and then, and it will make a nice change to their diet and keep them interested in the things they’re eating.
You shouldn’t underestimate the value of a good treat, and the knock-on effect it can have on your parakeet’s overall mood and temperament.
However, there are plenty of ways you can get this benefit from lots of other foods that are healthier and safer for your parakeet.
Virtually any raw vegetable, with a few important exceptions, will make an interesting and nutritious treat for your parakeet.
Sausages might be something your parakeet enjoys, but they won’t get any other benefit out of it.
They would, for example, hugely enjoy eating broccoli in the same way and there would be plenty of nutritional benefits in it.
Many argue that parakeets, like any animal, need protein for their diet.
Sausages are certainly rich in protein. So, however, are nuts and the plant matter that parakeets eat.
If sausages contain protein, then they only do so because the animal the meat came from spent its life eating plants.
Your bird is a small thing and its digestive system is fairly delicate.
Most animals that eat large quantities of meat have guts that are equipped with a very specifically adapted microbiome for the purposes of breaking down and digesting meat.
Your parakeet, obviously, has no such system.
Let’s turn our attention to why sausages might be bad for parakeets.
Are sausages bad for parakeets?
The short answer is that sausages are bad for parakeets because any meat is going to be bad for your parakeets.
They have no need for it in their diets, and naturally, the vast majority of parakeets live their whole lives without ever eating any meat.
Parakeets, as mentioned, are herbivores.
In the wild, they survive on a diet consisting entirely of raw plant matter.
This includes seeds, nuts, berries, and any fruit and veg they are lucky enough to find.
Sausages are obviously not found in their wild, native environment.
The first and most important problem is a simple fact that sausages are meat.
Sausages will cause digestive troubles for a small parrot like a parakeet, potentially causing severe pain and discomfort.
Beyond that, though, there’s the problem of how the sausages are produced.
Depending on where they’ve come from, they may well be very highly processed.
This could mean they contain large quantities of sodium or other substances which are fine in those quantities for us, but not for parakeets.
High quantities of sodium in your parakeet’s diet can be extremely detrimental to their health.
Even the most carefully made, additive and preservative-free sausages are still going to be made for our consumption, and not a parakeet’s.
While highly processed sausages are much worse and should definitely never be anywhere near your parakeet, any sausages are not a good idea for a parakeet.
The main takeaways, then, are essentially twofold.
Meat, in general, is not a good or necessary thing to feed your parakeet.
They have plenty of other, safer sources of protein that will be much better and healthier for them.
The other issue is that they are made and processed for human consumption.
We have very different diets to parakeets.
Can parakeets eat raw sausages?
Parakeets should not eat raw sausages.
Raw sausages contain many bacteria and other potentially harmful microbes that need to be destroyed in the cooking process to make them safe.
They will, for the most part, probably not be interested in eating raw sausages, but you should keep any raw meat well away from your parakeets in any case.
Can parakeets eat cooked sausages?
Cooked sausages are going to be somewhat safer than raw sausages for a parakeet, but this doesn’t mean they are safe.
Your parakeet may be more interested in cooked sausages, and you’ve certainly eliminated some of the problems associated with the harmful microbes.
All the issues we’ve discussed so far remain, though.
Cooked sausage boasts no real benefit for your parakeet that you could not get elsewhere, and poses a great many risks to their health.
Do not take the chance—give them some fruit instead!
Can parakeets eat meat?
The simple answer is that parakeets cannot eat meat because they are herbivores.
Parakeets can, of course, physically consume meat, and doing so will not instantly harm them if it’s only in small quantities.
However, there remains no specific health benefit to giving them meat.
They will not enjoy it any more than they would other raw vegetables.
As I mentioned, carnivores have complex gut biomes which aid in the digestion of meat.
This is what makes carnivore feces so much more dangerous to us than herbivores.
The microbes are a huge part of their overall health, and without them, animals like parakeets struggle to eat meat.
Again, in the wild, they would not choose to eat meat.
Try to give them your best approximation of their wild diet.
Do parakeets like meat?
You may find that your parakeets do seem to enjoy small quantities of meat like sausages.
However, this really should not influence your decision.
Again, they will like plenty of other, safer foods just as much if not more.
There’s no reason to feed them meat even if they seem to like it.
Your parakeet will probably like a lot of things that it is not particularly advisable for them to eat in large quantities.
It is your responsibility to take care of this for them.
Can parakeets eat pork sausages?
Parakeets should not eat pork sausages.
Pork sausages are by far the most common form of sausage, and were in all likelihood the kind of sausage you were thinking of.
Pork sausages are not safe for a parakeet to eat in any large quantity, indeed no more so than any other form of meat sausage.
Pork is obviously not an important part of a parakeet’s diet, no more than any of the other things you might find in a pork sausage.
Don’t give your parakeet pork sausages.
Can parakeets eat vegetarian sausages?
Of all the kinds of sausage that might be safest to give to your parakeet, vegetarian sausages are certainly the best.
However, this still doesn’t really mean you should give your parakeet vegetarian sausages.
You’ve eliminated one half of the problem with giving parakeets sausages—namely, the meat aspect of it.
However, the issue still remains that vegetarian sausages are highly processed.
They contain a lot of preservatives and other complex ingredients that are great for us, but not for them.
Beyond that, vegetarian sausages tend to be made out of things like soya protein.
While this is not inherently bad for your parakeet, it’s also something it should really not eat in large quantities.
So, while small amounts of vegetarian sausage are probably the safest way you could give your parakeets sausages, they still are not exactly safe and should be avoided.
Conclusion
Even if your parakeet appears to enjoy small quantities of sausage or meat in general, then, it’s not a good idea to let them have it.
They are herbivores, and their diets are very simple and fairly strict.
They only need raw plant matter like seeds, nuts, berries, fruits and vegetables.
Even the complex carbs of raw vegetables are a bit much for them in anything more than small quantities.
Don’t give them things they wouldn’t find in the wild.