Raisin alternatives

[Grenage]

Hi guys!

I've started clicker-training our GCC, and I have been using pieces of raisins as a reward. He goes absolutely nuts for raisins, and I've always given him one in the morning when I leave for work.

That said, now that he's eating that much more, I did some quick reading online. Recommendations seem to be to avoid raisins due to sodium preservatives. Bugger.

Would you consider one a day safe for a little bird? Is a better alternative sunflower seeds, and if so - do I need to worry about preservatives there?

Advice much appreciated!

 

[Allee]

One raisin a day shouldn't hurt, you could cut the raisin in tiny pieces instead of offering the whole raisins. You could try a small piece of millet, a sunflower seed, a small piece of fresh apple, a pine nut or a piece of almond. If you use treats as training rewards, you may want to reserve his absolute favorite treat only for training and no other time.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Just a suggestion, but if you could get a food dehydrator (even a small cheap one) you could dry him his own raisins instead of buying them. If you bought organic grapes and cut them in half they usually dry in my dehydrator in about 12 to 24 hours depending on size, and I can choose red, green or black grapes for variety.

I dry lots of fruits and veggies for Zilla including grapes, cranberries, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, pears, and even our own herbs from the garden for use over the winter.

 

[kozykitty]

While we're on this topic--Can a BFA eat dates that are cut up? I'm trying to share what we eat with our new family member. One of my personal favorite snacks is dates stuffed with peanut butter. I figured I could give her pieces of dates with almond butter to see if she likes that. There are no preservatives in the dates.

Also--I love organic dried cranberries from Trader Joes. The ingredients are cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil. Would that be okay for an occasional treat?

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Not sure about the dates, but I'm leaning towards the side of "I've never heard dates are bad" I would watch the peanut butter or almond butter just because of the sugar and preservatives, but a little bit on occasion shouldn't hurt.

Dried cranberries. Zilla loves them dried or fresh, or defrosted from frozen, or a little organic cranberry juice or baked into her birdie bread muffins or off my plate, pretty much any way she can get a cranberry is a treat for her!

 

[kozykitty]

I can get plain almond butter, or better yet, just make some with dry roasted unsalted almonds in the vitamix!

 

[Grenage]

That's great, thank you; I had never considered a dehydrator. I'm not sure I'd ever use it for anything else - but it might be an idea to look for organic raisins.