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My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

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My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby Kathleen » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:04 am

Cuttle bones are a popular accessory in many budgie cages, used for filing and for calcium. Their beaks are so small that it's difficult to find suitable toys and things for them to file it on naturally. I keep placing a cuttle bone in his cage but he never touches it. I was looking at some cuttle bones that are flavored, but are those a bad idea? What should I do? Does he just not understand what a cuttle bone is for?
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Re: My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby MissLady9902 » Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:12 pm

Mine don't either. My finches love them but the budgies want nothing to do with cuttlebones.

:budgie2: :budgie:
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Re: My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby Kathleen » Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:21 pm

Maybe some budgies like them and others don't? I've heard people say they replace their cuttle bones sometimes so I guess it's all based on an individual bird basis whether they use the cuttle bone or not.
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Re: My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby MissLady9902 » Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:27 pm

Could be.
Also I've heard that if you place them in sideways they will use them.
They said that sometimes the cuttlebone can intimidate the budgie because it's taller than them and resembles a bird.
A sideways buttlebone did not tempt my budgies to eat it. Oh well!
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Busy beaks are quiet beaks!

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:gray: - Marvin
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Re: My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby Kathleen » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:32 pm

You know, I've actually tried hanging it both vertically and horizontally, doesn't seem to make a difference.

A glimpse of hope happened, however. There was a toy hanging in his cage with wood pieces and cuttle bone pieces on a piece of wire. He was playing with this a bit. Maybe he'll start chewing the cuttle bone on the toy. Chewing the wood probably helps his beak a bit too.
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Re: My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby Sallynoobasaur » Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:51 am

Try scratching the cuttlebone so it goes flaky.
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Re: My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby alight15 » Thu Mar 04, 2010 9:07 pm

Kathleen wrote:Cuttle bones are a popular accessory in many budgie cages, used for filing and for calcium. Their beaks are so small that it's difficult to find suitable toys and things for them to file it on naturally. I keep placing a cuttle bone in his cage but he never touches it. I was looking at some cuttle bones that are flavored, but are those a bad idea? What should I do? Does he just not understand what a cuttle bone is for?


same exact thing happens with mine...and in petstores i seen them only jumping on them too but not using them,I bought a berry flavored outer ring one,with white in the middle cause it was colorful but no reaction to it. I even took some chips that fell off in the package and put them on top of it along with millet for a while,but the millet was only eaten in the areas without it and I saw my budgie cling to the cage upside down eatting it and not even standing on it :(

I'll report more after I see if he gets used to it somehow...
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Re: My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby TheNzJessie » Thu Apr 08, 2010 1:33 am

i had my budgies cuttle upwards and he didn't touch (im guessing its because it was bigger than him and scary to a baby budgie) it i changed it to this position (see photo) and its demolished it over 3 weeks, all i can say it try putting in in the area your bird in comfortable in (mine in the back left corner) and use the clip to hold in in place and a twisty tie to hold the other end in place so it doesn't move around.
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:)
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Re: My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby miajag » Sat Apr 10, 2010 1:03 pm

Do birds on a pellet diet (fortified with calcium and other minerals) and with adequate beak toys, etc., need cuttlebones?
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Re: My budgie doesn't seem to chew his cuttle bone.

Postby Michael » Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:53 pm

I don't think they need it and I haven't heard it recommended for them. I do, however, offer my Senegal Parrot a calcium filing perch. Sometimes she chews it and sometimes she doesn't. This way you can offer them the additional calcium on demand so to say. I think broccoli also has some and sometimes she devours it and many other times ignores it. It's good to just keep offering it cause we're not smart enough to know when they'll need it.
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