photo by chieftanwildrice.com

Q: Is it okay to give my bird dried fruit instead of fresh?
Martine B., Stuttgart, Germany

A: Dried fruits have some wonderful advantages. They are small and convenient and they taste great. Being dry, they are perfect for use in foraging toys. When broken into small pieces, they are great for training. But there are some concerns about using them.

Fruits have a high water content and the drying (dehydrating) process simply removes the moisture. As a result, they shrink considerably in size. The biggest problem ...

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My severe macaw won’t touch fresh fruit.  Can I give him dried fruit? -Lonia G.,   Boston, MA

Dried fruits have a lot of advantages.  It lasts a long time, it is an easy snack if you are traveling and because there are no bacteria harboring juices, it works great in foraging toys and stays fresh in the cage all day. There are, however, some things you should be aware of.

When fruits are dehydrated, the process shrinks them to a fraction of their original size.  The concentration of sugar becomes very high and because they ...

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