Rooibos tea birdie safe?

[PipnMe]

Hi all! Does anyone know if Rooibos tea is bird safe?

 

[ChristaNL]

It is suposed to be tanine-free, so why not?

 

[chris-md]

I’m skeptical of BREWED tea. Tea has oxalates (think kidney stones). When you get into the nuances of parrot diet you learn oxalate content of the diet is a concern. some greens such as spinach have levels of oxalates to the point they should be limited.

Parrots have in fact died from overconsumption of an oxalates rich diet.

What I haven’t done is research actual amounts in tea vs other saturated sources such as spinach to know just how much of a concern it is. I’ve only ever cared enough to make the connection and feed something else.

 

[ChristaNL]

You mean oxalic-acid?
Herbal tea (not really a tea) form the Aspalathus linearis (aka rooibos) does not have any!


https://sites.google.com/site/kruidwis/inhoudsstoffen/oxaalzuur
(skip the first part- its dutch, the rest is english) it has a list with some veggies etc and the oxalic-acid amounts measured by different people.

 

[chris-md]

Grrrr christa, now you’re making me research...GAH

Kidding aside I see your point, though that which was presented in the link, isn’t particularly helpful since it doesn’t explain what the measurements are. They say “as a percent”, but as a percentage of what?

A quick search finds tables and graphs that give more informative quantifications, mg/gram for example. They correlate with your table data, but are clearer.

That said there’s a more cosmopolitan point to be made. I’m not a tea conneseuir and took rooibos as a brand of tea, not a KIND of herbal tea.

Others reading this thread who ARE tea affecionados and say “oooh, rooibos is fine, I’ll feed black tea” or other kind of tea.

A quick search shows herbal teas are all over the map in their oxalate content, ranging from none to as much as black tea.

So the larger point is with teas, exercise caution, and you need to do your research on oxalate content before feeding. Black tea? NONONO! Oxalate free herbal tea? Sure. Why not, no harm.

Or just avoid the issue altogether and don’t bother with teas since parrots drink so little anyways Plus, come on! my bird BATHES in his bowl whether I want him to or not. Not sure I wanna come home to find he took a bath in tea.

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL Well I made mine bathe in strong herbal tea -> chamomile, to soothe the skin/ mild painrelief. But since the amounts they drink are indeed very small, I do not really worry about it - they'll get a lot more stuf in their systems from other sources.

Oxalic-acid is not all bad btw - it does (in small amounts) some good for the body as well.
(sorry about the link- it was the first one I found that was remotely "on topic", sooo much blablabla going on on the rooibos)

I've drank rooibos for years and now can't stand the taste of it anymore but it think is is fine if your parrot decides to dip a beak in once in a while.

 

[Scott]

My biggest concern would be the purity of a "safe" type of tea. They seem to be sold in large batches or pre-made bags.