The Spiraling Effects of Spirulina And The Parrot

Passion Tree House, LLC research has found a possible link between "toe-tapping", aka involuntary muscle movements, and the use of spirulina in the diet.

As it turns out there is an amino acid found in extraordinary abundance in spirulina that could contribute to companion birds and their "OCD-like" behavior patterns such as involuntary "toe-tapping", "jumping", "dancing", "wing-flipping" and even insidious scratching, possibly even feather plucking and skin mutilation.

Without giving away the name of the amino acid, (be sure to visit our website and sign up for our BirD-elicious! Chronicles for more info in next month's newsletter), let's just say that birds may not be able to metabolize and absorb this particular essential amino acid properly. The result is a build up of this amino acid in the system which can lead to a "chemically induced" form of mental retardation and obsessive-compulsive behaviors, as well as interfere with the proper formation of another amino acid, tyrosine. If tyrosine is not properly formed, less tryptophan is produced. This can induce emotional agitation which can further increase the involuntary muscle contractions or spasms, similar to chemically induced Tourette's Syndrome, if you will.

In addition to the behavior patterns, lack of tyrosine can also cause discoloration in feathers. Again, if the particular amino acid that we are speaking of, which is a secret for the sake of this blog and the sake of our next month's BD Chronicles, doesn't get properly metabolized or absorbed, tyrosine doesn't get produced and can negatively affect the color of feathers, especially in the Eclectus parrot.

Buyer beware! Many bird foods contain "aspartame". Aspartame, many times, contains very high amounts of this particular amino acid that needs to be avoided in companion bird diets. But aspartame is not the only ingredient that contains this amino acid. There are some foods to avoid as well.

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