Underweight?

[kreach]

I'm concerned that Casanova might be underweight, but I'm uncertain how to tell for sure. How much of your bird's breastbone should you be able to feel? The good news is, he is still very active and alert, so if there is a weight problem, I should have time to correct it.

[The Outlaw]

Kimberly:

Its less how much you can feel the breastbone, its more about what you feel on either side of the keelbone. If it feels fleshy, then he's fine. Some species have more prominent keelbones than others. African greys are among them. I don't have a GC and haven't felt a GC chest, so I'm not certain about their body type.

If you feel hardness like rib bones, you have a thin bird.

I don't have a weight chart for Green Cheek parrots, but I'm sure there is one online. Do a Google and see what turns up. And, let us all know what you find.

[denmor55]

Do you have a scale to wheigh Casanova I could check the wheights of my two GCC's

[Monica]

GC's should weigh between 65-80 (or 90) grams.... Most GC's though are normally smaller than tiels so they should weigh around 65-75 grams... (I'm guessing) maybe a bit more or a bit less.

[kreach]

Unfortunately, I do not have a scale for weighing him (yet). His keelbone feels pretty prominent to me, but the chest on either side of it is firmly fleshy and I don't feel any ribs, so I'm hoping that means he's ok. My husband told me I was probably being paranoid... I guess he was right.

[Monica]

Do you think you could figure out how much you feed him each day??? Not including fresh foods, just seeds and/or pellets??? Like how many cups, or tablespoons???

[kreach]

Casanova's food is a mixture of seeds, pellets and dried bits of fruits and vegetables. I'm estimating that he gets about 4-5 tablespoons a day, given in the morning. That's just the seed/pellet mixture though. I also give him about 2-3 tablespoons of Beak Appetit in the evening, plus a small portion of whatever we are having for dinner (if suitable).

[Monica]

If he eats quite a bit of it, then he should be fine weight wise! You should be able to find a cheap gram scale (digital ones are good!) from a Walmart or other similar store if you'd really like to know for yourself!

[jimpierce7]

as I was just told yesterday.........its about what is on the bottom of the cage. A bird that is eating good will be pooping good. Kinda simple but it made since to me..........that was one of the instructions on what to look for with my new fid.

[LtlWngdAngl]

My AV told me that a good general guideline is that the chest should feel like the bow of a boat. If you hardly feel the bone, then the bird is overweight, if it's kinda in-dented on both sides than the bird is too thin. My peach-front conure is a little heavier, weight wise, than the general weight charts show, but my vet says he's perfectly healthy.