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Is peppermint safe for cockatiels?

Rico_Tiel

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Oct 21, 2022
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Parrots
Ricochet - Cockatiel
Cricket - Budgie
Hi! I have some peppermint tea (the only ingredient is peppermint and it is caffeine free) and I would LOVE to give some to my birb but I am getting VERY mixed results on google and unrelated results too. I want my birb to be able to taste the minty, delicious, yummy taste of mint tea but Iā€™m not sure whether he could have any safely or not. Rico pic for birby tax
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Iā€™ve seen several threads pop up on here asking if peppermint is safe, the answer is yes, in small amounts, as a treat.
Itā€™s also safe given dry, as far the measurements, Iā€™m not sure as Iā€™ve never given my birds peppermint tea.
Maybe someone else who has offered will chime in?
 
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Iā€™ve seen several threads pop up on here asking if peppermint is safe, the answer is yes, in small amounts, as a treat.
Itā€™s also safe given dry, as far the measurements, Iā€™m not sure as Iā€™ve never given my birds peppermint tea.
Maybe someone else who has offered will chime in?
Ah okay thank you! Maybe some diluted tea would be okay? I like my tea to be VERY strong - like a punch to the mouth so I think itā€™d be okay if diluted? But idk either.
 
Ah okay thank you! Maybe some diluted tea would be okay? I like my tea to be VERY strong - like a punch to the mouth so I think itā€™d be okay if diluted? But idk either.
I know for the other types of teas I give my birds I do 1-2 tsp. To 1 cup of water.
I leave the flowers in the water because they like eating them.
 
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I know for the other types of teas I give my birds I do 1-2 tsp. To 1 cup of water.
I leave the flowers in the water because they like eating them.
Ohhh okay! Thank you so much! I will do maybe .5 tsp to 1 cup then!
 
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Update: so I was drinking some blueberry tea, offered some to Rico, he tried it and opened his beak and shook his head. Looks like someone isnā€™t a fan šŸ‘€
 
Update: so I was drinking some blueberry tea, offered some to Rico, he tried it and opened his beak and shook his head. Looks like someone isnā€™t a fan šŸ‘€
Blueberry tea?! That sounds delicious!
 
Why not give your bird some fresh mint? It is probably seldom an issue but one thing to possibly keep in mind is that dried leaves do promote the growth of certain kinds of microorganisms including trace amounts of mold and so on. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Certain kinds of teas and tea growing even evolved to take advantage of these extra microorganisms, and I assume many do so without any specific knowledge of the extra organisms present. The most extreme example I can think of is the famous desert wine Sauternes which owes its whole existence to the flavor imparted when the grapes become infected by the Botrytis fungus. Itā€™s not the type of thing I can usually afford but I had a sip of it once and it was truly mind blowing - as a human. Still, you might not want to risk exposing your bird any more than necessary to these types of organisms, whether introduced to the tea leaves intentionally or unintentionally. They do get exposed to a ton of stuff every day so that may be on the more paranoid end of the worry scale. Pretty much all foods have something that especially likes to grow on them.

And your bird may have its own opinion about mint tea. ;)

Iā€™m a coffee snob myself. I even roast my own beans. But when Iā€™m making espresso in the morning my very young bird gets very excited on my shoulder, by both the sounds and sights. It has been all I can do to keep him from eating the coffee grounds and trying out the espresso.
 
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Why not give your bird some fresh mint? It is probably seldom an issue but one thing to possibly keep in mind is that dried leaves do promote the growth of certain kinds of microorganisms including trace amounts of mold and so on. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Certain kinds of teas and tea growing even evolved to take advantage of these extra microorganisms, and I assume many do so without any specific knowledge of the extra organisms present. The most extreme example I can think of is the famous desert wine Sauternes which owes its whole existence to the flavor imparted when the grapes become infected by the Botrytis fungus. Itā€™s not the type of thing I can usually afford but I had a sip of it once and it was truly mind blowing - as a human. Still, you might not want to risk exposing your bird any more than necessary to these types of organisms, whether introduced to the tea leaves intentionally or unintentionally. They do get exposed to a ton of stuff every day so that may be on the more paranoid end of the worry scale. Pretty much all foods have something that especially likes to grow on them.

And your bird may have its own opinion about mint tea. ;)

Iā€™m a coffee snob myself. I even roast my own beans. But when Iā€™m making espresso in the morning my very young bird gets very excited on my shoulder, by both the sounds and sights. It has been all I can do to keep him from eating the coffee grounds and trying out the espresso.
Sadly, there is no fresh mint I could buy and growing mint would be an issue for a few reasons (if we plant it in the ground, my dad would almost definitely mow it down, if we put it in a pot, someone could take it or some idiot would dump their unfinished drink into it as this has happened several times with pansies, marigolds, etc.)


Iā€™m not all that concerned about microorganisms since Rico gets his grubby little beak on anything he can find. Whether itā€™s sanitary or not. Heā€™s a lot quicker than I am after all! So, I feel like it is a risk I would be willing to take.



He certainly has an opinion on blueberry tea! Once I get more peppermint tea, I will certainly have to convince him to try it.


Oh my god that is so adorable! The birby wants to take after you!
 
Sadly, there is no fresh mint I could buy and growing mint would be an issue for a few reasons (if we plant it in the ground, my dad would almost definitely mow it down, if we put it in a pot, someone could take it or some idiot would dump their unfinished drink into it as this has happened several times with pansies, marigolds, etc.)


Iā€™m not all that concerned about microorganisms since Rico gets his grubby little beak on anything he can find. Whether itā€™s sanitary or not. Heā€™s a lot quicker than I am after all! So, I feel like it is a risk I would be willing to take.



He certainly has an opinion on blueberry tea! Once I get more peppermint tea, I will certainly have to convince him to try it.


Oh my god that is so adorable! The birby wants to take after you!

He is hard to handle at times. <shocker!> Like I have noticed in a lot of parrots, trying to bar him from some activity can be like waving a red cape in front of a bull. Anything you try to stop becomes THE thing they become obsessed with doing. There is no such thing as verbal or physical negative reinforcement for parrots - at best it simply has no effect whatsoever, and at worst is has precisely the opposite of the intended effect. While trying (and failing) to keep him from removing all my buttons as well as eating random things including coffee related stuff has been a peaceful wrestling match so far, with no biting or anything like that, I have been wondering the past few days if I might be able to save myself a whole lot of time by just allowing him to get one actual taste of coffee grounds and one actual sip of espresso. :devilish:

I haven't tried with Goose yet but both my other Greys have really loved apple and grape juice, so I don't see why the lower sugar option of some kind of tea would would not also be liked. There is such a thing as apple tea popular in the middle east that I sometimes get from a local middle eastern grocery. But I think that one might also have some regular black tea in it as well so the caffein would be a no-no.
 
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He is hard to handle at times. <shocker!> Like I have noticed in a lot of parrots, trying to bar him from some activity can be like waving a red cape in front of a bull. Anything you try to stop becomes THE thing they become obsessed with doing. There is no such thing as verbal or physical negative reinforcement for parrots - at best it simply has no effect whatsoever, and at worst is has precisely the opposite of the intended effect. While trying (and failing) to keep him from removing all my buttons as well as eating random things including coffee related stuff has been a peaceful wrestling match so far, with no biting or anything like that, I have been wondering the past few days if I might be able to save myself a whole lot of time by just allowing him to get one actual taste of coffee grounds and one actual sip of espresso. :devilish:

I haven't tried with Goose yet but both my other Greys have really loved apple and grape juice, so I don't see why the lower sugar option of some kind of tea would would not also be liked. There is such a thing as apple tea popular in the middle east that I sometimes get from a local middle eastern grocery. But I think that one might also have some regular black tea in it as well so the caffein would be a no-no.
This is genius! It sparked an idea in my atom sized brain! When Rico lands on the floor, table, or curtains, Iā€™ll just ignore him and do something fun somewhere else to entice him to get off of that and come see what Iā€™m doing! He loves to cause chaos and see what Iā€™m doing at the same time. I never verbally punish him ever but occasionally he gets a time out (like eating the wall for example, or breaking something expensive. The 2nd one is more for keeping him out of what he broke so I can safely clean it up without him diving into it and getting hurt.) thanks for the idea!



What species is your baby baby bird? Iā€™m guessing a grey or a macaw haha


I wouldnā€™t even give him a sip to be honest. Caffeine is very bad for them and is very bad for their hearts and a sip could get them hooked and fight you harder for the drink. Itā€™s best to just not give them any ever. Iā€™m high doses, it can lead to cardiac arrest. It can disrupt sleep, increase parrot hyperactivity, dehydrate, and can cause heart arrhythmias. Itā€™s absolutely not worth the risk.


Apple tea? That sounds AMAZING! If there was no caffeine and black tea I would SO drink it and share with Rico! We both LOVE apples!
 
I was hoping/assuming that it would taste so bad to him that he would neither consume it, nor ever try consume it again. But parrot irony is strong, and you are probably right. It would serve me right for not following my own advice if he actually liked it!

Goose, the baby, is a 6 month old CAG.
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Yes, misdirection is sometimes the only option. There are no words in the parrot language that translate to "please don't do that". But it can take a lot of energy to constantly be distracting your bird. There are certain things like a shelled almond that will stop both my birds in their tracks for a few minutes. But getting them to forget what they were obsessed with before the "almond break" started is iffy, at best. I was told long ago that while there was no way to directly communicate to a parrot that some behavior was forbidden, that if you reliably remove something they want, like being outside the cage, every time they do a certain thing they will eventually avoid doing that thing - because if parrots are great at anything it is learning that A and B go together. It is basically passive aggressive negative reinforcement. So I think the "time out" idea is on the money. But you really have to be patient and consistent.
 
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Humm. I was curious if my memory was correct about the tea, and it was not. Tea bags, but no caffeine or black tea, some added hibiscus and cinnamon. I think this was the brand I last tried, but looks like on Amazon that there are versions of the same thing by more upscale producers like Tazo and Celestial Seasonings. I think I had it in Turkey first time, and it made an impression on me.

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I was hoping/assuming that it would taste so bad to him that he would neither consume it, nor ever try consume it again. But parrot irony is strong, and you are probably right. It would serve me right for not following my own advice if he actually liked it!

Goose, the baby, is a 6 month old CAG.
View attachment 49437


Yes, misdirection is sometimes the only option. There are no words in the parrot language that translate to "please don't do that". But it can take a lot of energy to constantly be distracting your bird. There are certain things like a shelled almond that will stop both my birds in their tracks for a few minutes. But getting them to forget what they were obsessed with before the "almond break" started is iffy, at best. I was told long ago that while there was no way to directly communicate to a parrot that some behavior was forbidden, that if you reliably remove something they want, like being outside the cage, every time they do a certain thing they will eventually avoid doing that thing - because if parrots are great at anything it is learning that A and B go together. It is basically passive aggressive negative reinforcement. So I think the "time out" idea is on the money. But you really have to be patient and consistent.
Yeah, I figured Rico wouldnā€™t like some sorta mildly spicy food (donā€™t remember what but I think it was a spicy rice) and he went crazy over it! I had to put him away to eat peacefully. He kept sticking his Peets in my food, landing in it, grabbing some and flying away with it, etc etc etc. but yeah, Iā€™m really glad you took my advice because you will think your bird will not like a food and there is a good chance they will just because you do. Flock mentality or something like that. Rico will try something and not like it, but as SOON as I eat some, suddenly he HAS to try it again and suddenly he likes it. Unless he genuinely doesnā€™t like it (for example, lemon or dried mango) but thatā€™s relatively rare.



Oh my god goose is so precious protect that bean at ALL costs! I want to give goosie a good ol scritch! Please give him a treat and tell him he is a mighty goose with mighty wings and a formidable beak! He looks like a cunning little monster!



Exactly! There are some rules that are easy enough to follow but when it comes to the forbidden zones, it gets tricky. I just put up a paper airplane on my curtain rod and it is working BEAUTIFULLY! He is staying away from the curtains (he does not like paper planes)
0D8B73FA-1764-4AF1-BB36-A5E779449423.jpeg


As pictured here. You can even see Ricoā€™s little crest šŸ‘€


So far, so good! The floor isnā€™t too much of an issue if weā€™ll swept and the table is getting better because of my Alexa. I just say ā€œAlexa, I farted!ā€ And Rico isnā€™t a fan of the applause so he tends to avoid the table. Not the best option but it works alright.
 
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Humm. I was curious if my memory was correct about the tea, and it was not. Tea bags, but no caffeine or black tea, some added hibiscus and cinnamon. I think this was the brand I last tried, but looks like on Amazon that there are versions of the same thing by more upscale producers like Tazo and Celestial Seasonings. I think I had it in Turkey first time, and it made an impression on me.

41YvoCfgTzL.jpg
Yeah, I found the apple cinnamon on celestial seasonings Amazon page! I put it in my cart as a reminder to get some at three bears this weekend šŸ‘€
 

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