Clay bars...good or bad?

[junglenutcracker]

Stopped by my local pet store today and saw they had some clay bars for sale. On the package, they claim it is genuine Amazonian clay. Being unsure if it was good or bad, I left it on the shelf even though the sales representative was raving about them. Any of you macaw owners given some to your feathered friend?

I read that in the wild macaws gather on these clay cliffs and that is supposed to neutralize some of the toxins they ingest (there seems to be diverging theories about this...). But, that is in the wild and perhaps a different ball game altogether with captive macaws. What do you think?

 

[Solo]

I don't have any advice for you on this, but would love to hear about others thoughts and experiences on the matter.

 

[Christinenc2000]

First time I have heard about this. Kinda interesting.

 

[Mekaisto]

I suppose there might be minerals in the clay that could be beneficial, but I wonder if the claim of 'genuine Amazonian clay' is true, and if so, how is it collected? How does this collection affect the wild parrots that rely on the clay?

 

[BreakinNewz]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaw

Scroll down to "Diet and clay licks"

 

[rowdy]

from the research i've done macaws only need clay if they live in the wild as it settles their stomach if theyve ingested something toxic. Your macaw will most likely try to consume the clay bar which I don't think is good for him, i would just be better safe than sorry and leave them on the shelf