Budgies Wont Use CuttleBone

[Mini]

What gives!? Is there anything I can try to put in there for them to gnaw on!?

[Tinker]

Some budgies don't knaw it very often. Do they have long beaks and need to use it more? If you think so you could try calcium perches - which give the same benefits but taste appealing. I also spread shells for budgies (from the pet store) on the bottom of my cage floor - not really sure how much they benefit my budgie but he likes making trips down to collect them and then bring them up to the perch and crunch on them hard for a bit. My budgie also has a 'vegetable block' (it's a block of hard stuff), he knaws on that from time to time but he prefers everything else over it. He beats up his cuttlefish more than eats it, but it does have big knaw marks on it.

[Peanutbutter]

I saw a suggestion once to make the cuttle bone more interesting.... by carving a design on it.

I went with a tic tac toe board.

:)

My fid has had one since I got her in November... she didn't touch it for a while, then for 2 days she gnawed half of it. Since then, nothing.

[homebird]

Unless your birds are getting Vitamin D from sunlight or a good Full Spectrum light - they will not assimilate the calcium from the cuttlebone - or very little. They will however trim their beaks on it - so it is handy.

If you wish to give your birds calcium & it is a good idea whether they are male or female, you can use a liquid calcium supplement - much more efficient way to absorb the nutrient. Calciboost. There are quite a few links that offer it online - so you can try to find one in your area. I've heard it is hard to find in stores.

It is important for your birds to get Iodine - so make sure they either have an iodine block or a mineral one with iodine listed in its ingredients [I have one of those].

[Peanutbutter]

I just remembered I read somewhere that you can scrape some of the cuttle bone over their food if you are worried about them. I don't really know how necessary it is though... I'm a birdie newbie.

My mom has a keet that touches her cuttle bone once in a blue moon. Quite literally.

[skthurley]

I've heard great reviews about Calciboost. Two local breeders use it, and one also scrapes some cuttlebone into the fresh foods.

[Tinker]

About the Iodine, we have a deficiency in NZ of Iodine, so for us humans they put it in the salt, so we all end up getting enough. For budgies though you have to buy a special birdseed - check the ingredients list on the back of the seed packet. There are only a couple of brands that list iodine, and they often have iodine free types too - I've brought the wrong one before by accident!

I don't think my budgie has a calcium problem though - I see him eating his cuttlebone often enough, and it's only a trace mineral he needs, so I'm sure he knows when he's doing it enough.

[Mini]

Of course like the day after I post this, I catch one of them using it for the FIRST TIME...because when he was done there were shavings left on one of the perches which had never been there before...funny!! Thanks for all the great suggestions though!!! I get them a calcium block and some vitamins!

[Laura65177]

Never had that issue before, hmm, just an idea...put something attractive on it like little bit of honey?

If its only been in the cage a few days your budgie may be a little unsure of it still :P

Goodluck!

And I think a calcium perch is a good idea too.