Cuttle Bone ???

[Breelynne]

I have had my lovie for about 6 months now and he has not touched his cuttle bone. I have tried putting it in several place in his cage, I have changed it out a few times also.
I have also offered him the mineral blocks and he will not touch those either.
Should this be a major concern?
I did take a cuttle bone and scrape it into almost a power form and put it on top of his seed but I am not sure he is getting any benefit from this.
I have also tried the birdie bread with eggshell and he refused that also. He also does not eat scrambled eggs.

[jamieo]

It's not uncommon for this to happen with some birds. Just keep a cuttlebone in his cage and keep scraping some of it onto his food. Also, keep offering him fresh foods. Eventually you will stumble upon something he will take an interest in.

If he's a seed junky, you may coinsider trying to switch him to a pelleted diet. This will take some time also. There are several different techniques for getting him to switch diets and you can find some of them on this web site.

Don't give up... birds are notoriously stubborn and will sometimes take forever to change their ways. All you can do is keep trying :)

[Breelynne]

jamieo,
Thanks I guess I am worried because I know calcium is important.
He is offered seed as well as pellets and his main veggies are green beans and some broccoli. I am a big veggie eater so whatever I eat I always share, with no luck, He also gets organic seed and millet and dried greens to nibble on. He does go through phases with his veggies for a while he went crazy for brussel sprouts now he will not touch them. He's is not a fruit eater either. I have even tried the 15 bean soup

[jamieo]

Have you tried giving him sprouted seeds? If not, think about giving it a try. Sprouted seeds are healthier than "regular" seeds and can also encourage a finicky eater to try new things. Most birds will recognize them as "real" seeds and eat them right away. Just don't let them sprout for too long. They are ready to feed when the root is about 1/4" long or so. Also, at that point their nutritional content is around the highest it will ever be. I use sprouted seeds to give my cockatiels their vitamin supplements (I use Prime Vitimans & probiotic powder). You could psrinkle crushed cuttlebone powder over them. I buy organic seed mixes from Sproutpeople.com but you can get seeds at several places. You can also try sprouting seeds from his normal mix, but you may experiece mixed results as many packaged bird seed mixes are not really as fresh as they should be. I've had much better results with fresh organic seed mixes.

Also, consider getting toys with mineral blocks and cuttlebones/shells built into them. If your bird enjoys chewing on his toys, that might encourage him to go ahead and try the regular cuttlebone or mineral block.

[CrazyBirdLady]

Lovebirds will normally leave the cuttlebone and mineral blocks alone until their bodies tell them they need it. Hens will not touch it for months, but when they are getting ready to lay eggs, it will disappear quickly.
If your lovebird is eating a well balanced diet and is in good health, don't worry too much about the cuttlebone being ignored.
If you want to be sneaky, make a bird bread, shave cuttlebone into it and watch that disappear quickly!

[Breelynne]

Thanks for the responses
He seems fine except for he just had his bath which he hates (he's mad at mom) unless it is on his terms in his water dish.
I have a postal scale I bought to monitor his weight 45 grams is his normal weight. His flight feathers are finally all grown in (he was butchered when I got him from the pet store).
I can't get him to eat birdie bread been there done that, guess I will continue to shave the cuttle bone into his food. I know for sure Squeaky is a male I had him DNA sexed.