I received an email today from a member of one of the parrot forums I am on, she was sharing a warning about the dangers of feeding raw almonds to out pets.

They are going based on the circumstances of their parrots death, that he died from eating a bitter almond from a tub of raw almonds they had purchased from Whole Foods. The almonds are the Whole Foods brand and are imported from Italy.

Their parrot had a horrible end. He went into respiratory distress, lost consciousness and died within 15 minutes of eating a small amount of the almond. They took him to the vet, but there was nothing they could do.

After he died, the woman tasted the same almond he had been eating and she stated that it was very bitter and made her tongue feel numb and strange.

They did some research and have discovered that Italy still has bitter almond trees mixed in with the sweet variety grown here in the U.S. in their orchards. It is possible to have the bitter, poisonous type, mixed in with Italian sweet almonds imported into this country. Pasteurizing the almonds makes them safe to eat, but raw bitter almonds are so poisonous, that perhaps as few as 10 almonds can kill a 150 pound person, less for children.

I researched and found that bitter almond is a cousin to the sweet almond and contains traces of lethal prussic acid (Cyanide) in its raw state. Although the toxicity is destroyed by heat, the sale of unrefined bitter almonds is prohibited in the United States. Fifty unprocessed bitter almonds can be lethal to a human.


Please make sure that any almond you feed to your gliders as a treat is cooked or roasted!

Thank you for sharing that Feather! I would have never known there could be a potential danger with raw almonds.

I had no idea either, glad I am a member of so many parrot groups.

Thank you for that info!

I am so sorry that happened to her beloved bird

A few may remember I posted something similar that happens with pine nuts from china.

More and more I try to buy foods grown here in the US

I eat raw almonds from Whole Foods ALL THE TIME

Thanks for the info!

I never feed almonds since I almost lost a glider in the very beginning from choking to death on a sliver almond.

I myself don't feed almonds or any nut to my sugar gliders. But I do on occasion feed them to my parrots.

Thankfully I always purchase roasted unsalted nuts for the parrots.