How much weight must a bird lose before it's a concern?

[Missi]

I weighed Jasmine 2 weeks ago and she was 342 grams. I weighed her again today and she is 10 grams less than she was 2 weeks ago (332). This is the first time in which I've weighed her and she's lost instead of gained. She is 7 and a half months old and I vary her diet every week. Last week was more of a healthy week with mainly of carrots and collard greens. The lady I volunteer with said 30-40 grams loss is to be a concern but 10 is okay but we will weigh her EVERY week now.

She's as active and vocal as usual. Basically eats as much as usual. Poopies look good and normal colored. Still finicky eater, but has ALWAYS been.

I am kind of an over worrier and am very uneasy that this has happened. However, I have no idea whether I should worry or not. I am told not to, what do you guys think?

[Winged_Victory]

Hi,

A weight loss of 10% or more would be a concern. Keep an eye one her to make sure here weight does not continue to go down.

[Machelle]

Missi, I think the rule of thumb is there is usually nothing to worry about until they lose 10% of their body weight.

[Missi]

Alright! Thanks guys! I understand after a baby has weaned, they lose quite a bit of weight but is there a normal reason she would be losing weight at her age of almost 8 months? I will keep weighing her every Saturday when I go in.

[Abby]

I've had a similar thing going on with my sun conure. She's hit the 6 month moult and it's really knocking her. She's lost weight but everything else is fine. I don't know if Jasmin is going through a moult atm but what I'm doing with Dharma is increasing her protein. She's not losing anymore weight, just not gaining either. She's really spikey with all the new feather growth going on too. Dharma's my little princess so I worry.

[mamalovesrico]

Missi,
It could also be due to the time difference in which you weight her during the day. From my experience, try and weight your bird first thing in the morning before it is fed. If your first weight was in the morning compared to a weight right after dinner, there could be a major difference of no concern.

[featherduster]

That's what I was thinking also, Mamalovesrico.
You have to weigh a bappy at the same time and same conditions everyday/or monthly.
Your bappy is older though. You sound like your feeding her well also.

[jimpierce7]

Sophie has weighed in as little as 440g and as much as 470g. I have always weighed her at the same time of day as well.

[Missi]

Originally Posted by jimpierce7

Sophie has weighed in as little as 440g and as much as 470g. I have always weighed her at the same time of day as well.

What subspecies is Sophie again?! What a big girl

[Missi]

Thanks all! Unfortunatly I do not have my own gram scale. I have to weigh her at the aviary I volunteer at on Saturdays and before I bring her in, I give her cooked breakfast becausse she does eat much when she's there and we're there for 6 hours (how's that for a run-on sentence ). So the food in the crop could be the difference of 10 grams?? Really? Maybe she didn't eat as much yesterday morning. (?)

Where do you get gram scales with the perch? Are they expensive? Can you find good ones at at bird fairs?