Cuttle Bones

[zazanomore]

They also have flavored cuttle bones. When I was first buying supplies for Einstein, I got him a strawberry cuttle bone. It was bright pink and looked like a bunch of fun. Of course, he didn't touch it, so I ended up giving it to the budgies.

I was kind of curious to see if the strawberry cuttle bone actually tasted like strawberry...it didn't. It was actually kind of gross and I can understand why he wouldn't want to chew on it.

But the budgies love them...so at least they're getting extra calcium.

[captwest]

Yeah but, is the extra calcium a good thing or bad if they're on a "complete"pellet diet? Complete i mean that it has all of the necessary vit/min supplements.

[zazanomore]

I can't see it as being a bad thing.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I can't see it as being a bad thing.

Anything in excess can be a bad thing. In conjunction with too much D, too much calcium apparently can cause problems. Here is an article that appears fairly authoritative:

http://www.avianweb.com/calciumforbirds.html

[captwest]

Thanks Entranced, i think i read in that ,that it's ok to provide cuttlebones and giving birds a choice in wether or not they use it,ie;if they need it they'll use it. Hope i read that right.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Thanks Entranced, i think i read in that ,that it's ok to provide cuttlebones and giving birds a choice in wether or not they use it,ie;if they need it they'll use it. Hope i read that right.

I'd read it as suggesting caution if the diet is already rich in calcium and the bird is going through cuttlebones like nobody's business, but otherwise it suggest they are fairly good at self-regulating.

I can imagine an analogy to the situation where I had to take my horse's salt block away. Normally they self regulate well, but he developed a taste for them and was chewing them to bits like a treat and the vet said it could actually cause problems, even though free choice is normally the right answer.

[captwest]

Hey Thanks for that, When is the CAG coming home?

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Hey Thanks for that, When is the CAG coming home?

Not. Yet. We successfully resisted. But I can imagine one in our future...

[Giantmoa]

when my cockatiel was overly-bonded to my dad and laid eggs she was at the cuddlebone far more than before