Green Tea

adamharbeck · Post by **adamharbeck** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:09 am

Hi Forum,

Does anybody know if its ok to give green tea to birds? Has anyone offered it? I know trials on rats have shown that is non-toxic even at high levels and the more the better for humans.
If caffiene is the issue, would decaffinated tea be ok? I obviously dont want to wipe out my birds for the sake of curiosity.

dam

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:56 am

Why??????
Paul.

adamharbeck · Post by **adamharbeck** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 7:46 am

Green tea is packed with antioxidants and has been shown to be of great benefit to the health of the gastro-intestinal tract. Though it might be of benefit to birds too.

steph · Post by **steph** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:27 am

From what I've read, tea isn't recommended for finches because it contains caffeine. However, green tea has very little caffeine in it. White tea has even less. And, if you brew the tea first (steep green and white tea leaves in water just under boiling point...3 minutes for green....5 minutes for white) the leaves that are leftover will be nearly caffeine-free because nearly all of the caffeine in the leaves is released the first time it is steeped. You can use this method to naturally decaffeinate tea for drinking as well. I usually just steep the tea for an extra minute the second time to get the same amount of flavor.

I can't say that decaffeinated tea is safe for birds, but if someone else can confirm that caffeine is the only harmful property of tea, then you can use this method to make it safe. Hope this helps.

blueribbontoes · Post by **blueribbontoes** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:10 am

I was at a large bird conference last year in Chicago. One of the speakers, some big wig avian doctor, spoke about the benefits of giving tea to pet birds. His theory was that in the wild, birds drink out of puddles, ponds, crooks of trees; anywhere water gathers. Most of the time these water sources contain rotting vegetation, which releases many of the same (beneficial) plant based 'chemicals' which tea contains. He gave cool tea, non caffeine, in an another water dish for the birds to enjoy in tandem with their regular water supply. For the life of me, I can't remember that guy's name! It will drive me crazy now...
Good luck!!

steph · Post by **steph** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:38 am

blueribbontoes wrote:I was at a large bird conference last year in Chicago. One of the speakers, some big wig avian doctor, spoke about the benefits of giving tea to pet birds. His theory was that in the wild, birds drink out of puddles, ponds, crooks of trees; anywhere water gathers. Most of the time these water sources contain rotting vegetation, which releases many of the same (beneficial) plant based 'chemicals' which tea contains. He gave cool tea, non caffeine, in an another water dish for the birds to enjoy in tandem with their regular water supply. For the life of me, I can't remember that guy's name! It will drive me crazy now...
Good luck!!

Interesting point - makes sense to me!

FINCHforum

Green Tea

Green Tea

green tea

he may be onto something...

Re: he may be onto something...