Nervine herbs

[Pajarita]

A nervine is an herbal (like a tea, for example) that has a beneficial, calming effect on the nerves thereby reducing anxiety and stress. Now, my birds adore warm drinks and often try to 'steal' a sip of whatever I am drinking so I often make a cup of herbal tea (I use demitasses - like the ones for espresso) for them so we can have tea together. Here is a list of them that you can use for yourself AND your bird (I use chamomile, linden, marcela and lemon verbena and, sometimes, I add a star anise for my birds because they seem to like the taste):

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-fo ... ing-herbs/

Warning, don't play around with passionaria or valerian, they can be too strong.

[Luke.Telfer]

Dont you find any side affect? Just wanted to understand because I have two birds and if it is really good, I can also try to do this with my birds.

[Pajarita]

Well, I learned about herbs from my grandmother who was very knowledgeable in herbal remedies (her mother was a known herbalist and one of her brothers owned the largest 'herboristeria' in my country -and his children and grandchildren still own it) and, if there was one thing she always underlined when it comes to using herbs is NEVER to use them UNLESS you need them. I do use herbs almost every day (I do it for about 4 or 5 weeks and then rest for a week) with my birds but they are liver cleansers and tonics that have a very mild side effect (slightly diuretic) and the amounts I use (I mix them in the gloop) are very small (the ones that have liver damage get supplements in their water - but I also allow them to 'rest' from them twice a week). The tea I make for my birds is almost all warm water (for some reason, parrots LOVE to drink warm beverages) and what I use is also very mild (I raised my kids on a slightly different version of this tea since they were babies) and safe.