Why

Chocolate is genuinely dangerous to budgies and should never be given. It contains theobromine and caffeine, stimulants that birds cannot process safely. In a creature as small as a budgie these compounds can cause a racing heart, tremors, seizures and death, and darker chocolate is the most toxic because it contains the most theobromine. There is no safe amount, and the risk is far too high to ever take.

What to do

Keep all chocolate, cocoa and chocolate-flavoured foods well out of reach, and never share them, even as a tiny taste. If your budgie has eaten any chocolate, treat it as an emergency and contact an avian vet or an emergency service straight away rather than waiting to see if symptoms appear.

How much & how often

There is no safe amount of chocolate for a budgie. Even a crumb is a serious risk, so it must be avoided completely.