7 Animal Species That Eat Sweet Potatoes: Birds, Mammals & Others

Sweet potatoes are a starchy, sweet-tasting root vegetable grown in tropical and warm temperate regions around the world today. Aside from serving as a prominent food for humans, different animal species eat sweet potatoes raw, cooked, or fried depending on their preference. Sweet potato is highly nutritious and can serve as feed ingredients, treats, whole, and supplement feed.

The nutritional composition of sweet potato makes it an excellent feed for different animals. Sweet potatoes contain vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin C, manganese, copper, fiber, and antioxidants. The orange-fleshed varieties are particularly high in beta-carotene. In addition, sweet potatoes are also relatively low in fat and calories and have a low to medium glycemic index, making them a healthy choice of ingredient in pet food.

While it has been established that animals can eat sweet potatoes due to their high nutritional value, we need to specify these animals to avoid feeding sweet potatoes to the wrong animal. Animals that can eat sweet potatoes without any detrimental effects are:

1. Mammals

Pigs eat sweet potatoes as part of their diet. Sweet potatoes offer a good source of digestible energy and vitamins to support their growth and weight gain. Farmers often incorporate sweet potatoes into pig feed. Cooked sweet potatoes are best for pigs, they can be fed whole or mashed. The beta-carotene in sweet potatoes contributes to better piglet health and survival rates. Sweet potatoes are often included in pig rations before breeding and farrowing.

Goats enjoy mashed or chopped sweet potatoes as an occasional treat. The beta-carotene improves milkfat and butterfat. For meat goats, sweet potatoes offer energy for growth and weight gain. Overall, sweet potatoes provide key vitamins and minerals to strengthen immunity and promote goat health.

Cows can eat sweet potatoes whole or mixed into a silage. The natural sugars help increase palatability, while the fiber aids in digestion. The beta-carotene in sweet potatoes gives a boost to dairy production and cream color. The potato’s high starch content also provides readily fermentable energy for cattle.

Rabbits can eat sweet potato leaves, vines, and tubers. The moist, nutrient-dense vegetable makes for quality food and rabbits will seek it out in vegetable gardens or farms.

2. Wildlife

Rodents like mice, rats, squirrels, and porcupines will nibble on sweet potatoes in the wild or on farms. As omnivores, they consume a diverse diet including sweet potatoes for nutrients.

Deer will graze on sweet potato plants and eat the roots in the wild. The leaves, vines, and tuberous roots provide substance for deer. They can forage and find patches of wild sweet potatoes or feed on cultivated sweet potato crops.

Many primate species consume sweet potatoes including monkeys, lemurs, gorillas, and chimpanzees. They utilize the root vegetable as an important food source in tropical regions where sweet potatoes grow abundantly.

Bears like American black bears will eat sweet potatoes when they come across plants in the wild. The roots provide nourishment and energy to supplement the bear’s omnivorous diet.

Slugs and snails like to eat sweet potato tubers and leaves, especially when the potatoes are young sprouts.

3. Birds

Many species of birds are known to eat sweet potatoes and thrive on this food source. Some notable bird species that eat sweet potatoes include:

Chickens love to eat sweet potatoes. The natural sugars in sweet potatoes increase palatability. For egg-laying hens, the beta-carotene enriches the color of egg yolks. The vitamin A content also promotes bird health and productivity. Sweet potatoes can be fed to chicken raw, boiled, or dried. Some Commercial chicken feed may also contain sweet potatoes.

Ducks, domestic geese, and wild geese enjoy eating pieces of sweet potato as part of a balanced diet. A baked or boiled sweet potato can be chopped up and fed to ducks as a nutritious treat. Wild ducks such as mallards may also forage on sweet potatoes in gardens or fields.

Turkeys kept on farms or homesteads will eat both the flesh and skins of sweet potatoes. They are an excellent source of nutrients for growing turkeys. Commercial turkey feed may contain sweet potato ingredients as well.

Quail enjoys pecking at cooked sweet potato scraps and it can supplement their regular diet. Natural sugars provide quick energy.

Pheasants are known to forage on root vegetables including sweet potatoes when available to them in the wild or in gardens. They are an appealing, high-energy food source.

4. Frogs

American Bullfrogs have voracious appetites and will consume small pieces of boiled sweet potato provided in captivity. Their powerful jaws allow them to bite off chunks of the fibrous tuber.

Small frog species that inhabit the tropical freshwaters of Africa. They will readily accept mashed or pureed sweet potatoes when living in aquariums. The natural starches and sugars help provide energy.

Arboreal frogs are found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. They occasionally consume pieces of sweet potato in the wild and when supplementing their diet as pets.

A docile and beautiful tree frog native to Australia. They can be fed diced sweet potatoes to provide more variety in captive diets. Vitamin A helps with skin health.

The plump, tomato-red frogs earned their name from coloration. In captivity, they can be fed boiled sweet potato which helps them gain weight and nutrition.

When prepared properly, a small amount of cooked sweet potato can give captive frogs important vitamins while adding excitement via a new food item. With supervision, even wild frogs will consume pieces of discarded sweet potato in their freshwater environments.

5. Fish

Tilapia fish will eat sweet potato leaves and vines. Tilapia farming operations often incorporate sweet potato vegetation into their ponds.

Koi carp are opportunistic omnivores and will eat sweet potato vines and foliage. Both ornamental koi and koi raised for food production will feed on sweet potato plants.

Catfish are omnivorous bottom feeders. Farm-raised catfish may eat fragments of sweet potato plants along the pond bottom.

Grass carp may occasionally snack on sweet potato vines and leaves if available.

Goldfish are omnivorous and will eat bits of sweet potato plants along with other vegetation in ponds.

Most fish that consume sweet potatoes are omnivorous species commonly raised in aquaculture systems. The vegetation provides supplemental food and nutrients when intentionally cultivated in ponds containing these fish.

6. Pets

Dogs like sweet potatoes as a nutritious treat or supplement food. Sweet potatoes can be an excellent alternative to fatty or processed treats for dogs. Many dog owners find that baking or dehydrating sweet potato slices makes a crunchy, satisfying treat that most dogs love.

Guinea pigs also enjoy munching on small pieces of sweet potato. Sweet potato also provides guinea pigs with vitamin C, beta carotene, potassium, and other key nutrients. As with any treat, sweet potato should be fed in moderation as part of a balanced diet for guinea pigs.

Other pets like rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, and bearded dragons can also eat sweet potatoes in moderation. Owners should introduce new foods slowly and monitor the pet for any adverse reactions. Just be sure to cook it thoroughly and cut or dice it into appropriately sized pieces for the species consuming it.

7. Reptiles

Aquatic turtles such as Red-eared sliders and Yellow-bellied sliders will eat both raw and cooked sweet potatoes as treats. Other turtle species like Box turtles and Painted turtles will eat sweet potatoes when available as part of their varied diets. Sweet potatoes can serve as an important source of beta-carotene for these reptiles.

Land tortoises like the Sulcata tortoise will readily eat raw sweet potato. When feeding, it’s important to cut the sweet potato into bite-sized pieces and avoid feeding them moldy or rotten potatoes. Sweet potato can be a healthy supplement for many omnivorous turtle and tortoise species.

In summary, sweet potatoes are enjoyed by many animal species, both the wild and domesticated animals. Sweet potato is a major ingredient in pet and livestock feeds. We’ve covered a wide range of animals that eat sweet potatoes and the nutritional benefits they tend to derive. If you find this article insightful, do well to share!