Hungry bird

[marie83]

Ollie just seems absolutely starving since coming off of the flagyl, where as Harlie is the opposite. I'm giving him a bit extra anyway due to the fact he lost quite a bit of weight and I'm hoping he will gain some back but he still wants more and more and more to eat at the moment. Its so bad I was giving him some sunflowers on a variable schedule for doing a small amount of flight recalls and not only did he eat the seeds he then proceeded to eat the shells too, I thought he was just checking he hadn't missed any seeds but no, he literally ate the shell.... this was right after breakfast too so technically he should have been full and then after that he was still scrounging around the floor for more things to eat.

This is yet another thing I've never come across before, is this shell eating normal? in fact is this extreme hunger normal? he has just come out of breeding season if that helps.

[friend2parrots]

the medication might have suppressed his appetite, and it might now be raging... is this the same meds that harlie is currently on? have you inquired with the vet if loss of appetite is a side effect of the flagyl?

as far as nibbling on sunflower shells, Ringo does that occasionally for fun, but doesn't eat them. i feed sunflower hearts most of the time though. on the rare occasion i do give him an in-shell sunflower seed though, he might play with the shell, maybe snap it into tiny pieces, but i have not seen him actually eat it - i see the pieces hes shredded fall away from his beak.

[marie83]

They have both been off the meds for 7 days now.
Ollie ate normally during treatment but now it has finished its like he is never full.

Harlie ate normally until day 3/5 when she lost her appetite and it hasn't recovered that much since.

The drug is an appetite stimulant and last time Harlie stopped eating last year it got her started again. As soon as we took her off of the drug she stopped eating again so she was on it for another week.
So much inconsitancy arrrghhh!!

I've never seen a parrot eat the shells but like you say playing with the empty shells and breaking them up smaller is quite common. I've never caught him consuming the shells until today but my bf saw him yesterday he just told me.

[Eric&Rebecca]

I just asked my friend (who is training to be avian vet but only in year 2 of the course) He suggested this questions...How does it stimulate the appetite?- if it stimulates the appetite by producing digestive juices then maybe Harlie is experiencing birdie heart burn or something... like when you get really really hungry and you burp. Except cockatiel's can't burp and instead produce lots of digestive juices which make them feel full up but hungry (he guesses because you can't ask a bird how it feels :p)

[marie83]

Really wish we could ask them how they feel and get an answer! lol make my life so much easier right now. I've actually got no idea how it stimulates the appetite so I'll ask that question when the vet calls.

[mayeendu2013]

you should maintain always a good schedule to eat of your birds.

good thinking for birds !!

Thank you

[marie83]

Don't worry, my birds do have a good feeding routine.