TPU

Hi Jayd, I did not quite understand your post. If you are assuming I am challenging someone you are not correct. I have provided personal evidence that apple seeds do not pose a problem to pet birds. I have also mentioned that in 25 years I have not yet come across anyone with direct or even somewhat credible evidence of a parrot getting sick from eating apple seeds. You mentioned that you have information regarding recent research and a number of deaths related to apple seeds. If someone has additional information I am very interested. . If this is what you think is a challenge you have misunderstood my request. Even today after you mentioned deaths from apple seeds I did a search and could not even find a report of illness. I have been looking for proof that apple seeds are dangerous for many years without success. I do disagree with your statement that misinformation about the danger of apple seeds can be harmful. If a bird owner thinks their bird has just ingested apples seeds and rushes them to the veterinarian, or worse, tries to do emergency treatment on their own, there are consequences. Myself dealing with this question many times over the years has had a significant time consequence. If there is any real evidence that apple seeds cause a problem for pet birds then I need to promote awareness of the danger. If there is no evidence of harm, and a significant body of evidence that they do no harm, then this is what we should be promoting when the opportunity arises. I did not understand what is meant by ‘[please read post]’, can you explain please. Best Regards, Steve

Hello SunnyBird, I knew about apple seeds from a class in college so I have been tuned into all of the misinformation over the last 25 years. My birds eat all of the seeds you mentioned but I have not investigated their nutrient contributions. Hello Jayd, If you have any information where there is documented proof of parrots getting sick from eating apple seeds I would like to see it. In the last 25 years all I have been able to find is someone who knew someone who had heard something that someone thought they might have heard from someone else who… I am not exaggerating when I say that I have fed tens of thousands of apples, never removed one seed, and have never seen one bird get sick from apple seeds, or any of the foods we feed. We also have many volunteers with many thousands of bird years of experience that do not remove the seeds and have not had a problem.

Hello All, Apple seeds and also cherry, peach, plum, pears and apricot pits contain the same amygdalin compound which turns into cyanide when it comes in contact with digestive enzymes in our intestines. This chemical acts as a natural preservative to keep the seeds viable so they can grow the next season. Many wild and farm animals eat whole apples in large quantities when they are in season. Apple seeds have a very tough coating and need to be chewed up to release the amygadalin. It takes about 100 grams (1/2 cup – 600 seeds – ~ 6 seeds / apple) of crushed apple seeds to make a human ill. Even if you ate the seeds from 100 apples, or your amazon size bird ate 2 apples worth of seeds, all at the same time, the gut will easily detoxify these small quantities of cyanide as it was created. In the last 25 years Hartman Aviary has accumulated more than 8,000 adult bird years of experience, and over 4,000 babies learning to eat adult food. We have fed tens of thousands of apples, never removing one seed, and never noticing one sick bird. And, I am sure that many of our birds like to peel the seeds and some ingest them. They actually taste a little like almonds. I have eaten them myself. Survival of an escaped parrot may hinge on its ability to find apples in a tree. We try to teach all of our pet birds to forage in a tree to eat things hanging on the limbs. If you bird has only eaten food from a dish, your plate, or your hand they may not be able to find enough food to survive until you find them. Usually there is something around for them eat if they can fly and recognize foods. All of our birds can fly well and are harness trained so we can take them outside wearing a bird harness and let them climb on a tree branch. Hand them treats when they are on the branch. Then put the food on the limb so they have to pick it up. You should go as far as tying apples and nuts to the branch so they have to reach down and pull them off. I can hear someone in the background screaming ‘they might get poisoned’. Bottom line is that is a short sighted response that I will not go into at this time. Since we have been dealing with many thousands of flighted birds over the last 25 years we have lots of experience helping owners retrieve escaped pet birds. It is rare that a bird raised at Hartman Aviary does not make it back home. This will also teach your bird to be comfortable standing on a shaky tree limb, with the wind blowing leaves in their face. Most escaped parrots are so scared of just being on the limb that they are unable to jump off and fly to you. Best Regards,

Hello Sunybird, Most likely you have a normal situation that occurs with all baby parrots, not just amazons. When the feathers are growing so are the bones and the rest of the body so the integrity of the feathers is always poor on baby parrots. If you take any baby parrot, especially as he nears the age of the first molt and apply some water to the feathers you will see that they soak up quite a bit of moisture compared to an adult of the same species. You need to compare species to species because parrots that are native to different environments have different amount of oil and water proofing. On parrots with dark feathers it is much easier to see the poor quality. The surface of the feathers begin to wear off and if you look closely you will probably see little chips missing from the ends of the feathers. Tails on almost all babies show significant wear and tear. Part of the wear is due to the babies being hard on the feathers as they learn to move around and fly. Birds with clipped wings will look the worst because they crash land more often and are not able to balance as well. If you check the new feathers coming in on the young bird you will see that they will absorb less water. They will also be more vibrant and longer. A significant amount of the increased length a parrot gets at about one year old is due to the new feathers growing longer because this time the bird is not growing his body at the same time. If you check the molting bird with a black light you will see just how much better quality the new feathers are. There is very little you can do the preserve the quality of a babies feathers, so it is not worth trying. You should never need to add vitamins to young parrots’ diet if you are feeding a high quality diet to begin with. If this situation presents itself after the first molt there is likely a serious problem.