Calcium

[Joolesgreyuk]

One of my biggest worries as a new grey owner is whether or not he is getting enough calcium in his diet. I have often read that many parrots are lacking in calcium because their diet rarely consists of any. The problem I have is that my fears over this may result in over-dosing. At this time I'm giving Beau 2 drops of calcvit in his water one a week (this is the dose they were giving him in the pet shop) and he has a fruit flavoured calcium block, also one a week I give him scrambled egg - which I think contains calcium. Alas I do not think this is enough. The dosage on the calcvit is 10 - 30 ml per ltr once or twice a week (I think) this is far too large a percentage to work out accurately when you are filling a small bowl of water and it seems to me to be far too much.

 

Can anyone give me advice on this? What do you give your greys and how much/how often? I'd appeciate any advice given. Thanks

[Tycos_mom]

There are lots of veggetables that will give your bird calcium Broccoli is high in calcium and mot birds love it the stock is higher in calcium than the flower. you can also scrape cuddle bone onto their food to help. Grapes have magnisium that helps to motabolize the calsium or you can just take your bird outside twice a week for 15 minutes or for a few minutes everyday. I'm not sure putting stuff in their water is a good idea I know birds are lactose intolerant but a little grated cheese once a week will help give all the calcium they need.

[Lyric]

What do you feed Beau as his main diet? Greys can have trouble with not enough calcium but if you are very worried you can have your vet do a simple blood test at his yearly exam to determine if he is doing okay in this regard.

I'd offer broccoli as Pat suggested, and also dark leafy greens. I sometimes crumble the egg shell (after washing it thoroughly) into my birds scrambled eggs and this can also offer extra calcium to them. You can also give small amounts of non-fat plain yogurt- mix it in with some other food your bird likes.

[judygram]

Josey gets her cheddar cheese every week, thats the only thing she really goes nuts for so maybe her calcium intake is good, she also likes a little bit of yogurt.

[Azzie]

Please check the following link regarding greys and calcium. It's something I read into extensively before getting Cleo.

 

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww26evij.htm

 

http://www.itsagreysworld.com/articles/misconcept.htm

[lovethatgrey]

Azzie wrote:

Please check the following link regarding greys and calcium. It's something I read into extensively before getting Cleo.

 

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww26evij.htm

 

http://www.itsagreysworld.com/articles/misconcept.htm

 

This was an interesting read. Thanks and karma to you for sharing.

[Joolesgreyuk]

Thanks for the advice & links guys, will bear it in mind.

[Raposa]

Jooles, both my breeder and my avian vet suggested getting cuttlebone at the pet store, and grating a little bit into my grey's food as a calcium supplement. That might be something to try if you are concerned!

[Joolesgreyuk]

Thanks Raposa, he has cuttlebone in his cage which I assumed was for keeping his beak trimmed, I didn't realise it was a calcium thing but thinking about it now it makes sense. Thanks for posting.