Mary, I remember you saying you were going to discuss ACV awhile back. I was just wondering what info you had on it. Ollie gets a little bit in her water about once a week, does that sound alright? I also have a bottle of GSE that I use for cleaning. I was putting a drop of that in her water weekly until I got the ACV. What are you thoughts on this? Which is better to use, or should I be alternating?

I'm also wondering about Aloe Detox. What's a good preventative regimen to have our healthy birds on, to keep them that way?

Camille,

Either one will keep the bacteria down in your water bowls. Both will fight a yeast infection and help with a minor GI tract bacteria infection. There are many good articles on the Internet about each one. I hope to have a library online soon to help us track this information.

I use GSE daily in all my bowls and have been doing so for years. I also detox my birds twice a year with Aloe Vera Detoxifying Formula by Naturade. It is amazing to see the change in their droppings, which I understand are the toxins coming out. It has also proven to be helpful in some cases with birds who pluck.

Kathie, how long is a treatment of Aloe Detox?

The only think I've ever used Grapefruit seed extract for is to clean cages. I use 50 drops to a VERY Lg squirt bottle of water. Spray it on, wait and wipe it off. It is wonderful, in fact I've even cleaned my oven with it! It doesn't clean like "Easy Off" (but the fumes also won't make you fall on the floor in a dead faint! ) But it is pretty amazing if you spray a generous amt on, walk away for 30 mins and come back.

I use ACV (apple cider vinegar) three tablespoons to about 1/2 gallon of water. I use this about 1 every month and a half or so. I use this in their water bowls exclusively for one week.

Aloe Detox is amazing. In general, I've had wonderful success with it. I add 1 cap full to water for LARGE macaws, 1/2 cap for medium sized and about 1/4 for the tiels. I use it for about 1 week. If I think it is having too much of a laxative affect, I cut down to one bowl of fresh plain water and one bowl w/aloe detox per day.

To be honest I've never given GSE internally---I need to read more about it in order to understand it better.

I'll look for some articles on each and post over the weekend.

I've never heard about this Aloe Detox - very interesting..

Note, these articles are not geared towards treating birds--they could be harmless or they could be toxic so proceed with caution!----here's another article regarding some alternative treatments.

http://www.wellbeingjournal.com/nat-solutions.htm