Yes or No

[mackjack]

Can someone tell us definitively whether birds can or cannot drink tea!! I've had conflicting advise and as I would not like to give anything harmful to them I need to know one way or the other. We never offer coffee as everyone says thats a definite no no.
Also can parakeets & cockatiels eat most fruit: strawberries, mango etc....again have had conflicting advise. Our princess quite likes to suck the juice out of orange segments if we're eating them - an acquired taste. Thanks for any feedback.

[AcaciaWattle]

Well I think it depends on the tea! If the tea has Caffeine in it then NO.
If it's herbal or decaffeinated then only in small amounts...it's not something natural for them so you don't know how there system may react.
Don't feed you birds Avocado, alcohol, Rhubarb, fancy beans like snake beans etc and boil carrot for a couple of minutes to release most of the vitamin A. Strawberries, citrus, mango, apples, celery, silver beet, melons, cucumber, chilli's and capsicum etc are all wonderful foods and if your birds eat them then definately give it to them.
I hope I've helped some

[vankarhi]

My eclectus loves to drink tea when I allow her to. I put a little bit in a very small container and let her have a bit. She tries to take my cup of me other wise ;D. It is not something she does every day, but if she is on my shoulder while I am having a cup of tea (not coffee..........I don't drink coffeee anyway but it is not good for them) then I allow her to have some when i have finished or put a little bit in a separate container.

If you own an eclectus it is best not to boil carrots either because they need the vitamin A. I give my birds grated or chopped carrots and cooked sliced carrots quite a few times a week. Just thought I would share that snippet of info. ;D

I feed my birds almost anything. Do not feed apple/apricot/peach etc seeds, they are extremely poisonous to the birds.........full of arsenic I think (someone might correct me on that one). I do not think the oranges or seeds are too bad as I see the wild 'toos loving to eat the neighbours citrus fruit that they leave on the trees to drop off and rot (such a waste). But being acidic I probably would not feed too much citrus. ;D

[Eagle]

i feed my birds anything and everything in the way of fruit and vedge and they are happy and healthy ive never had a problen
I feed my birds 2 pices of each fruit i serve every second (carrot, strawberry, apples green, colli fliwer, brockaly, peas , beans, celariy, grapes green, oranges, bannas and wot ever else is lying around in the fridge with the eception of half a cob of corn every day i dont cook anything everything is fed fresh
AVACARDO will KILL your birds in hours it is a big NO NO !!!!!!!!
Rhubarb is ok as long as only give them the stem with none of the leaf on it at all the leaf is wot kills them not the stem but recomended in small doses


not too sure about tea

hope this helps

[AussieBirds]

I have a Cockatoo that drinks tea and he is over twenty years old, I think, like Amanda said, it depends on the tea and the quantity of tea they drink, I have to admit don't know a real lot about this subject and I have been told it is the caffeine that is not good for the bird.

John

[mackjack]

Thank all for your input - that has put my mind to rest somewhat. Our princess loves sharing our tea and we just let him have a little (I'm sure he'd drink to the bottom of the cup if he had 1/2 a chance) so I don't think it will do too much harm if his diet is otherwise healthy.
I knew to avoid the avocado, coffee, fruit seeds, etc but thanks anyway. We're always trying to vary their diets as much as we can to have healthy pets and to make it more interesting for them if anything.
Cheers. ;D

[petiel]

Tea is alright to give to your bird. I have read that some handrearers give their birds tea to speed up their crops when they are slow.

[vankarhi]

Petiel, I am a bit late in reading your reply but that is very interesting. You learn something every day. What type of tea do they use??? I have heard (and used) apple sauce (baby food) to speed up the crop.