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Apple Cider Vinegar

Lady Jane

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is the general concesus that its a good idea once a month or so ? is that one day a week once a month or for 1 week, once a month ?
I began using ACV for budgies when one was severly infected with yeast cells. I was reaching out to additional treatments at that time because he was on several prescriptions by avian vet. The once a month thing I started as a prophylaxis to aid in keeping yeast growth at bay. I made the quart up once per month and put it in their water bowls until the quart was gone. The ratio of ACV to water was given to me by my vet at the time for a budgie. If you want to do this I suggest you ask your avian vet what a good ratio would be. Budgies seem more susceptible to yeast growth than larger birds. Perhaps its because larger birds - larger crops to digest food.

Has your CAG been diagnosed as having AGY?
 

scott199

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I began using ACV for budgies when one was severly infected with yeast cells. I was reaching out to additional treatments at that time because he was on several prescriptions by avian vet. The once a month thing I started as a prophylaxis to aid in keeping yeast growth at bay. I made the quart up once per month and put it in their water bowls until the quart was gone. The ratio of ACV to water was given to me by my vet at the time for a budgie. If you want to do this I suggest you ask your avian vet what a good ratio would be. Budgies seem more susceptible to yeast growth than larger birds. Perhaps its because larger birds - larger crops to digest food.

Has your CAG been diagnosed as having AGY?
no not been diagnosed with anything, its just the more i read about it, the more it seems to be a good idea for general health, i may be wrong but seems to have no downside, full of vitamins and trace elements, just seems a good idea.
 

Mizzely

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no not been diagnosed with anything, its just the more i read about it, the more it seems to be a good idea for general health, i may be wrong but seems to have no downside, full of vitamins and trace elements, just seems a good idea.
The one downside is that not all parrots will drink water with ACV in it, so you'll have to make sure they are actually drinking it to prevent dehydration
 

scott199

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The one downside is that not all parrots will drink water with ACV in it, so you'll have to make sure they are actually drinking it to prevent dehydration
yes thanks, certainly something to look at if i ever use it, but do you know of any other downsides? i cant find any listed online (assuming one doesn't give daily forever, which would mean an unnatural boost of vitamins and minerals and uses it with caution)
 

shibaak

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Hi all,
Is it ok to add ACV to bird's bath water to bathe with it? Is so, how much should be added and should I let the parrot just dry with it or should I rinse him after bathing? I mean I let him bathe in it, leave the dilute on his skin and feathers for a minute or so, and they rinse him with regular clean water? Is it ok if I let the dilute dry on his skin and feathers?

Any help is appreciated.
 

shibaak

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Hi all,
Is it ok to add ACV to bird's bath water to bathe with it? Is so, how much should be added and should I let the parrot just dry with it or should I rinse him after bathing? I mean I let him bathe in it, leave the dilute on his skin and feathers for a minute or so, and they rinse him with regular clean water? Is it ok if I let the dilute dry on his skin and feathers?

Any help is appreciated.
Just a bump to see if anyone has an answer.
Thanks.
 

dollfish

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Hi all,
Is it ok to add ACV to bird's bath water to bathe with it? Is so, how much should be added and should I let the parrot just dry with it or should I rinse him after bathing? I mean I let him bathe in it, leave the dilute on his skin and feathers for a minute or so, and they rinse him with regular clean water? Is it ok if I let the dilute dry on his skin and feathers?

Any help is appreciated.
Birds generally don't need anything for bathing other than water. Why do you want to add vinegar to the bathing water?
 

shibaak

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Birds generally don't need anything for bathing other than water. Why do you want to add vinegar to the bathing water?
His doctor suggested diluted ACV bath for him. But he did not tell me how much ACV to water and whether I should rinse it or not. And now he is out of town on vacation for a long time. So I don't know how much ACV to water I should use and whether I should rinse it or not. Do you know by any chance?
 

Shezbug

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I’ve never heard of this recommendation, usually the advice is to only use water on their feathers so I’m wondering if there is some medical issue with your bird? For what reason were you told to use it as a wash?
 

shibaak

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I’ve never heard of this recommendation, usually the advice is to only use water on their feathers so I’m wondering if there is some medical issue with your bird? For what reason were you told to use it as a wash?
There is an unknown medical issue that 2 vets cannot figure out what it is. The 3rd one suggested we use diluted ACV bath. Do you by any chance know what the ratios should be? And whether we should rinse the dilute off or let it dry on him.
Thanks.
 

Shezbug

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I am sorry but I can not safely advise you as I really do not even understand why your vet would recommend this as a treatment. Can you possibly explain what is wrong or what they are hoping the vinegar will cure? More information about your birds issues might be helpful so I know who I can tag to help you better.



I do use ACV on my sons dreadlocks to rectify the ph balance after doing a cleanse with lemon, salt and bi carb. When I use ACV on my son it is always well rinsed out and the only reason I use it is to restore the correct balance so the bicarb does not eat his hair away. I am not really sure I would be comfortable using it on my bird though.
 

shibaak

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I am sorry but I can not safely advise you as I really do not even understand why your vet would recommend this as a treatment. Can you possibly explain what is wrong or what they are hoping the vinegar will cure? More information about your birds issues might be helpful so I know who I can tag to help you better.



I do use ACV on my sons dreadlocks to rectify the ph balance after doing a cleanse with lemon, salt and bi carb. When I use ACV on my son it is always well rinsed out and the only reason I use it is to restore the correct balance so the bicarb does not eat his hair away. I am not really sure I would be comfortable using it on my bird though.
He has skin condition. It started as a molt. But a few weeks into it, I realized it wasn't all molting and he was barbering as well. Since his food is great and his living condition is a very enjoyful condition, and also that he is 9 months old, we took him to the vet.
The vet checked and said he had so much inflammation in his skin. He asked about his condition, did a full blood work (came out surprisingly super good and normal), then a bacterial swab and then a skin autopsy. He has a skin infection, but none of the tests could reveal why his skin is so inflamed and red and does not get better with medication. Another vet also checked him and the results of the tests and could not figure out what it was.
He has been on antibiotics for 10 days and on an anti inflammatory for about 5 days. The antibiotics and others did not seem to work. The anti inflammatory worked better but that's for obvious reasons, and I cannot continue feeding him medication.

So a third vet gave us a hypothesis. He says that my bird has an unusual skin condition. My bird has an unusual way of feather growing, and they are painful when they want to grow first (which explains why his barbering started with his molt). So the vet's theory was that the bird picks on the feathers and skin to make it less painful for the feathers to grow. But in turn he hurts the skin and it attracts bacteria and makes the skin inflamed and red. He said this whole thing is a hypothesis though. He suggested that it is a genetic issue and it cannot be fixed. He will continue doing that for probably his whole life.
So his suggestion was that we should find a way to make his body less hospitable for bacteria so his skin does not grow bacteria on it as much. His suggestion was that we wash him on a daily basis (for now and gradually make it less often) with diluted ACV and spray it under his feathers and on his skin. And also to add ACV to his water. This would kill the germs that already exist and would make it less hospitable for them to grow again as well. So I forgot to ask him about the ratio of ACV and water and whether I should rinse it off.

Today, I did make a dilute of 2 litre water and 1/4 cup of ACV and sprayed under all his feathers and on the skin, kept it for about 1 min and rinsed it. Surprisingly it seems like it worked. His feet is much less inflamed and red now.
I read somewhere that we could leave the dilute on his feathers and didn't need a rinse. That's much better because that way, I could add it to his bath water and it would stay on his skin to ensure he has that protection. But that should probably have less ACV in water. So I am looking to see what would be the best way to go ahead with this.
 
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Shezbug

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@Lady Jane or @Hankmacaw might know more about its use on birds topically for irritated skin.
I know that it definitely does have a soothing/ cooling effect when I use it on my sons scalp so I guess that it may be helpful but I am really not sure how diluted you would want it to be for it to still be effective but also safe.
 

scott199

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Acv has been used over here by breeders and such for years, i cant tell you what ratio or anything but even our "goto" parrot organisation recommends to spare ACV on birds to aid in feather condition, also removes/keeps away mites and aids in dry/itchy skin.

As always this should only be authorised by an avian vet, the article doesn't list the does wage as i assume this is based on size, problem and reason for use of ACV.



 

Hankmacaw

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I'm sorry, but I can't Help you. I never use vinegar for anything with my birds.

Have you had a culture and sensitivity test done on the feather roots? He may have a FUNGAL or a bacterial infection in the roots.
An antibiotic will not cure a fungus and a fungicide will not cure a bacterial infection.

What country do you live in?
 

Lady Jane

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ACV is not for skin. Aloe mixed with water for a spritz is good when itching is involved. I would stick with the treatment your vet has advised. If you are not liking what vet said see if you can find an avian vet that specializes in skin conditions. I realize you have consulted with several vets already but recommending some kind of treatment for a skin condition is beyond my knowledge except for the aloe.
 

shibaak

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I'm sorry, but I can't Help you. I never use vinegar for anything with my birds.

Have you had a culture and sensitivity test done on the feather roots? He may have a FUNGAL or a bacterial infection in the roots.
An antibiotic will not cure a fungus and a fungicide will not cure a bacterial infection.

What country do you live in?
I live in Canada.
We did all the tests that the vets recommended. They did test for bacteria and fungui, and the vet gave us appropriate antibiotics for that. It gets better, but does not get fixed, hence the theory that our recent vet came up with.
The ACV seems to be working. For the first time in months, today his feet were white again. It's a very mild pink. It still has some time to heal completely. But definitely much better.
I will do more research to see what I can find.
Thank you.
 

shibaak

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ACV is not for skin. Aloe mixed with water for a spritz is good when itching is involved. I would stick with the treatment your vet has advised. If you are not liking what vet said see if you can find an avian vet that specializes in skin conditions. I realize you have consulted with several vets already but recommending some kind of treatment for a skin condition is beyond my knowledge except for the aloe.
Does aloe also disinfects or gets rid of fungus? Because his itching comes from bacteria that grow on his skin when he picks on his feathers and skin. We don't have that many avian vets where I live and I have already tried 3 of them.
What our vet suggested was topical use of ACV. I am not asking for a recommendation of medication. My question is do you know how much ACV should I add to how much water for topical use? And should I rinse the dilute off after he takes a bath in it? Or can I leave it on him to dry?
 
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