Raw Honey

[LJ4RockPebbler]

I purchased a 100% Certified Organic raw honey and wondered if it was safe to give my bird in small amounts mixed with his greens. Any suggestions?

[Pajarita]

It would be OK in terms of safety but why would you want to feed it something so sweet when there's no need for it? Doesn't he eat his veggies?

[LJ4RockPebbler]

I saw something online that said that raw honey contains Botulism which can hurt birds in some cases be fatal. Something else to do with digestion. Pasteurized honey is what they said was acceptable. He does eat his greens but very minimally. I've tried all different types yet he doesn't go crazy with it, that's why I thought that honey might help.

[liz]

Humming birds love honey but if you give it to them it causes sores in their mouths to the point that they are not able to eat and it kills them.

[Wolf]

I don't recall what you decided to give him as his primary diet although I am hoping that it was gloop as it is, in my opinion, the best that I have found to feed my birds. From this point you need to bear in mind that parrots can be very particular when it comes to their food and just as it takes time to change them from a poor diet to a good diet it may take some time to get them to accept any one food and that even when they begin to eat it that there will be periods of time when they will even refuse their favorite foods for something that they hardly even touch at other times. Keeping them eating a good diet can be as time consuming and as interesting as getting them to try it in the first place. As always your best tool for getting them to eat anything is for you to share the food with them. They learn both what to eat and how to eat by watching us and then the shareing of food is both a social activity and a bonding activity for them at the same time. I am recommending patience and just keep offering him the greens and his eating of them will improve.

[Pajarita]

Forget the honey - botulism scare, see this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Botulism#Honey

[LJ4RockPebbler]

I threw out the food and made him a new batch. Thanks

[Wolf]

Sometimes you have to accept that like the rest of us that there are some foods that they don't care for even though they are good for them. Under those circumstances all you can do is keep giving them a little and showing them that it is good food by eating a piece of it with them occassionaly and be happy that they are at least eating some of it. You might be able to increase the amount of the greens that he eats by providing it to him differently than how you do it now. Perhaps he only likes the big central stalk of the leaf so you could try offering him more of that portion of it to see. Perhaps you should try grating it or shredding it or mixing two or three kinds of leafy greens. Maybe the best way is to turn it into a foraging toy by wrapping something that he likes a lot in it and hanging it on his cage bars. It can be so hard to figure out how they might like their food offered to them.