Ask Lafeber

5 month old Parrotlet choking on Millet

Hi there,

Last night I was giving my untamed Parrotlet, Rango, some millet through the bars. I do this each day (only for a few weeks since he’s a new bird) and he’s usually fine but this time while he was eating it he paused and had a very weird expression on his face, he was trying to act normal but started gagging (?) and making small cough sounds, very different to when he adjusts his crop – I could tell the millet was probably stuck. I couldn’t sleep properly because I was afraid that he was slowly choking to death, I could occasionally hear him choking while he was sleeping or making a slight squeak out of discomfort.

He seems to be back to normal now but after looking online I found multiple places that talk about how millet can be dangerous.

Would be grateful for any advice on whether I should stop giving Rango millet? I’m afraid to see him choking again.

Hi Manisha,

Choking is very rare in birds, although it can happen. The thing to keep in mind is that accidents do happen. But that doesn’t make one item unsafe for all birds. I’ve known birds that got injured on a toy that is supposed to be 100% safe. I’ve learned that nothing is 100% when it comes to birds. There are some things we know are unsafe in general. But sometimes we hear about something that has always been thought of as being safe, but a bird hurt itself with it. So you have to look at the numbers. Millet has been fed to pet birds and is a diet for many wild species, and they eat it with no problems. But with the internet, if a bird has a problem with something, the owner is quick to jump online and warn everyone. Now you get others jumping on that one post, swearing to never feed millet again. A bird can choke on any food item. If it was a pellet, you would have someone telling other owners that pellets can make your bird choke. You have been safely feeding millet to Rango for weeks, but this one time he possibly choked. Maybe he was excited and grabbed it too fast, or he was vocalizing at the time. Maybe he didn’t get a good enough grip with his beak before you let go. It was likely an isolated incident that won’t happen again. If it makes you nervous, find a different treat item. But I wouldn’t deem millet to be dangerous, or any food could be labeled as dangerous. Dr. Lamb did discuss choking in her webinar last month if you want to hear what she had to say. You will find that question and her reply at about the 57 minute mark on the video below.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda