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Agave sugar?

Meldamo

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Just wondering if anybody may be able to help me? I have a rainbow lorri and a mustard scaley my husband and I make our own food and we use brewers sugar or glucose powder in our recipe. I couldn't get either of these so I used agave sugar. I have just read that the plant is toxic to birds. Is the sugar and nectar ok to give them or should I discard this batch and start fresh??
 

Bokkapooh

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Never knew it was toxic for our birds. I have been using it for almost a year now in my coffee and all muffins I have made.. Sometimes I have given it to my birds. Never had an issue.

Its so damn good. Forget cane sugars, AGAVE IS AMAZING.

But perhaps talk to your avian vet before giving to your fids. As I'll do this when I take Moby in next month.
 

expressmailtome

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After thinking, yucca, commonly used for bird toys, is in the agave family. This does not mean that agave sugar, or all members of the agave family, are safe for birds, but that it may be a bit difficult to find a definitive answer.

Matt
 

Hankmacaw

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After doing a little research on the inet (very little) I find that agave is about 50/50 deemed toxic and wonderful stuff. Later I'll see if there is any peer reviewed research or scientific publications about agave.

Confusion reigns.

PS - There are several older threads on Agave on AA too.
 

CheekyBeaks

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Just did a quick search and found it on several sites as being toxic, so I would steer well clear of using it with birds.
I also found this article that was very interesting, even if not toxic I would never make it a regular part of any diet.
Agave Nectar: A Sweetener That is Even Worse Than Sugar
 

cflew

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hi. I love in Aus and have just witnessed wild rainbow lorikeets earlting from agave plants. They may have been invertebrates but it seemed they were picking at the flesh. We have drought here and we have some grevillea and bottlebrush. Have had many fires and they have come to our property recently. Maybe they are supplementing. If so, they are pretty amazing.... eating from non native sources. I was surprised.
Just wondering if anybody may be able to help me? I have a rainbow lorri and a mustard scaley my husband and I make our own food and we use brewers sugar or glucose powder in our recipe. I couldn't get either of these so I used agave sugar. I have just read that the plant is toxic to birds. Is the sugar and nectar ok to give them or should I discard this batch and start fresh??
 

Shezbug

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Seeing this thread brought back to life has reminded me to ask if a plant in my yard is agave and if there is anyway I can use it for Burt when it finally gets cut back.
07CFFE86-F004-4473-AAE9-631E946F903E.jpeg
 

Monaco

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Seeing this thread brought back to life has reminded me to ask if a plant in my yard is agave and if there is anyway I can use it for Burt when it finally gets cut back.
View attachment 322441
Maybe a relative, but not the big variety they make the sweetener with. Try the app called plant net. It's been really good for me to learn the native plants here...or if I find an interesting plant while I'm shopping...
 

Toy

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My vet told me Stevia was OK for parrots. I use it in my herbal tea.
 

Shezbug

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Maybe a relative, but not the big variety they make the sweetener with. Try the app called plant net. It's been really good for me to learn the native plants here...or if I find an interesting plant while I'm shopping...
I had two plant apps but I do not trust either one. There are a few plants I know the names of for certain and the apps told me they were something they were not. They are native plants that have toxic un-ripe fruit but once the fruit is ripe it’s safe to eat.....it’s yuck but safe once ripe. The plant itself is also quite toxic and has been used by the natives to abort unwanted pregnancies and also to temporarily poison the water supply so it makes fishing easy as the fish end up stunned and float. That app told me the plant was completely safe as it wrongly identified it. That was not the only plant it got wrong :eek:

I’m not wanting the sugar or anything like that from the pictures plant- I just like knowing which plants in my yard can be either eaten or torn to bits by the birds :)

Thank you for the suggestion :)
 

fashionfobie

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