Tea for Parrots

[GreenWing]

I use expensive organic tea roses I buy from my aunt who gets them in bulk from a few different places. She is also big into herbs. I really need to find a new source since we live a few hours apart. Lol Roses are parrot safe and TOPS uses rose hips in their ingredient list. I have not seen many different types of roses for tea, just one. Little pink ones with the rose hips attached. Maybe that's the same one you have in your garden? I hope so! I would look up what rose is used commonly for tea and flower eating...like a raw foodest site? Fresh rose hips are so nutritious! My mom used to give her Joseph's Coat climbing rose to her teils. She still has the bush, but the neighbors use horrible things on their lawn near the bush. :/

I don't actually make a tea for Emmi, I just put enough water in a small dish to touch (not cover) the flowers so the water is soaked up. There is always a little water left at the bottom and she licks it up sometimes. I just use cold water. She will eat both flowers dry, but I just like to wet them so she gets enough water.

Thanks so much for this info, can you find out from your aunt what rose it is? I'm wondering if it is the Damask rose but it's good to be sure. If you can't find out, I'll check in with herbal shops and ask which roses they sell in bulk for teas. This way, I can grow it myself and dry it! Also, I think it's really great you do this for Emmi, it sounds like she loves it, and that it's really healthy for her. That link I provided above (the tea link) includes hibiscus in that specific tea blend. I wonder if they use the same tea rose for all teas? That may be a daft question but I'm just curious lol

I am the 4th generation herbalist in my family and learned from my grandmother. Mind you, none of them ever study anything -there was no such thing as formal classes, books or even references back then, you had to learn from somebody else. What I use for my birds are always herbs that are not only absolutely not toxic in any form, preparation or concentration (but they are all herbs that are infused and I always make the teas as mild as I would for a baby), they are also impossible to overdose and have no contraindications whatsoever.

It's funny that you mention the 'apple' smell of chamomile because, in Spanish, its name is 'manzanilla' which means little apple.

I absolutely love that you're an herbalist, and it's true -- most herbalists are indeed self-taught (as I am as well). I think we should talk more about herbs... do you have a blog?

And I love what you said about the Spanish word for Chamomile.

One of my absolute favorite herbs is Melissa (Lemon Balm) which is an incredible herb. If you make a tea from the leaves, it leaves you feeling very relaxed and "sunny"... which makes sense because many herbalists recommend it for depressive states of mind. I am not sure parrots can have it, though, do you happen to know?

[KimberlyAnn]

http://www.landofvos.com/articles/kitchen8.html

Your rose is on this list under it's scientific name. I would think it would be safe, I don't know of a rose that is unsafe...yet anyway.

[KimberlyAnn]

And I just sent off an email to my aunt to see what type they are.

[Pajarita]

Michael, with all due respect, parrots in the wild do not have to perform for their food so that would be highly unnatural and stressful.

Actually it's the other way around. Eating out of a food bowl straight in front of them is unnatural. In the wild they do "HAVE TO" perform for their food or they starve and die (at least in the home if they don't perform they still end up getting to eat). They perform for their food by flying long distances, climbing trees, devising ways to extract the food, and consuming it. Making it so parrots have to do nothing to get their food is unnatural, boring, and counterproductive.

They have a natural drive to do stuff to feed themselves. What are birds supposed to do with this natural desire to do stuff to get food if they get it too easily? I have yet to see an overworked parrot that is suffering. I see countless birds suffering from boredom or insufficient exercise.

Lately my guys fly about a mile a day for all their feeding and I haven't seen them happier. They are eager to fly and just as eager to hang out after. Their behavior is as good as ever, their weight/condition optimal, and they have plenty more to do than just sit around.

Yes, in a way, they do 'work' for their food but that's foraging, a flock activity they certainly do not regard as 'work'. And it's completely different from training them to do a trick that has no practical use to the bird and only has meaning to the human. Flying is great and mine are all flighted but, of course, they don't fly a mile or anywhere near that distance. True foraging is real hard to accomplish in captivity despite all the toys and gimmicks we use for them. I try to provide opportunities for this (communal dishes, fruits, veggies and greens stuck in different branches, nuts wrapped in paper, etc) but they can't even begin to compare to what they do in the wild. And you have seen 'overworked' parrots suffering, all of Dr. Pepperberg's are/were overworked and suffering (just look at how young they died, all ragged, barbered and plucked plumage and suffering from stress-induced conditions).

[Pajarita]

All roses are edible, there isn't a single cultivar that is not. As to lemon balm, I don't use it for the birds because, sometimes, it causes drowsiness.

[Michael]

Yes, in a way, they do 'work' for their food but that's foraging, a flock activity they certainly do not regard as 'work'. And it's completely different from training them to do a trick that has no practical use to the bird and only has meaning to the human. Flying is great and mine are all flighted but, of course, they don't fly a mile or anywhere near that distance. True foraging is real hard to accomplish in captivity despite all the toys and gimmicks we use for them. I try to provide opportunities for this (communal dishes, fruits, veggies and greens stuck in different branches, nuts wrapped in paper, etc) but they can't even begin to compare to what they do in the wild. And you have seen 'overworked' parrots suffering, all of Dr. Pepperberg's are/were overworked and suffering (just look at how young they died, all ragged, barbered and plucked plumage and suffering from stress-induced conditions).

No one is suggesting overworking parrots. There's no point in that in the pet environment and frankly I don't think you, I, or anyone who keeps them as pets even has enough time to do something like that. If picking up their foot is the new secret to foraging a nut out of you, they're thrilled to figure it out and do it. There's no such thing as foraging.... it's just a collective term for problem solving food out of the environment. Training is just foraging food out of a person. It applies to the exact same natural thought process except it allows us to shape the parrots behavior to be more suitable in the home than in the wild.

Even flighted birds in homes are barely flighted. Unless they are freeflown outside or actively flown indoors, they aren't getting much flight. Basically they don't have to and it's hard work for a bird that isn't in great shape. In the wild they HAVE TO fly from tree to tree looking for food. Nobody really knows how much they fly but for various species I have gotten the impression from local experts that 10-30 miles a day is pretty typical. Does that mean they have to fly 10 miles at home? Not really. The wild parrots may be overworked. But flying 2 laps doesn't really cut it either. I set up the same kind of flying/foraging opportunities for my parrots through flight recall training. They fly from tree to tree (perch to me) to check if there's food there and if there isn't they move on to another tree (again me, but using VR) where there is food. It's the ultimate household foraging experience because it not only makes them use their brain but also their wings. My guys are less exhausted flying a mile these days than they used to be flying a couple lengths of the room when they weren't actively flight trained. They are in much better physical condition as a result. It's like a birdie treadmill to make up for the fact that it's too cold to fly outside and indoor space is limited.

[KimberlyAnn]

I went to the bird shop and took this picture of the "tea." It's being sold with a tea strainer.

[KimberlyAnn]

I will try to resize that so it's not cut off...

[KimberlyAnn]

[KimberlyAnn]

Omg...really?