Tomatoes?

[Mek0060]

They are my favorite. I could live off of them. Somewhere I read that I shouldn't give my Linnie's tomatoes? I don't know why.

 

[JLcribber]

Tomatoes are fine

Parrots and tomatoes. They belong to the Nightshade Family along with potatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers and eggplant. This is a strange group. You can do a search for Nightshades which is a huge Family (Solanaceae) and contains many deadly plants. This is what I have found out about the Genera we are most concerned about, for feeding parrots:

• Tomatoes (the fruit) is fine for parrot diets. All green parts of the tomato vine are toxic and should never be fed. The dangerous alkaloids are in the stems and leaves, not the fruit.
• Potatoes. Have you ever noticed a thin green layer under the skin of potatoes while peeling them. This is a layer of the toxic alkaloids. Potatoes should always be well peeled and cooked. Cooking reduces any residual alkaloids.
• All peppers are fine for parrots, once again, do not feed stems and leaves. I used to feed these before I learned better and never had any bad reactions? Luck?
• I never feed eggplant although have fed a few bites of cooked eggplant without ill effects. Cooking a peeled eggplant should destroy residual alkaloids.