How often should cuttlebone be replaced?
I noticed that the cuttlebone appears to be the same size and never diminishes. Its been in the same holder for 9 mos. It has some bite marks but thats it.
Conures don't seem to care for cuttlebone as far as I can tell. Mine would just stand on his and occasionally lick it.
Just make sure they're on a decent seed diet containing calcium. If you haven't transitioned to one yet (get on it) you can get calcium powder to sprinkle on the seed
My cockatiels love their cuttlebone but some parrots simply don't have a taste for it. They are pretty cheap, so I would recommend changing it out at least once every couple months. You can go old school and scrape the cuttlebone you have into their food dish so they get their calcium that way Also leafy, dark greens are good.
Ollie loves his cuddle bone and entirely demolishes them in like a week. He only likes one brand of them though. It's a vanilla and orange one I bought at PetSmart.
The only reason to supply a cuttlebone is to give birdies a source of calcium... which is also supplied in a good quality pelleted diet. I have used it in the past with budgies but not for the larger birds. Some fresh veggies have a fair amount calcium in them as well plus I've sprinkled bone meal on their fresh foods. Note they can not utilize calcium unless they also have a good source of D3.. which is also in a good pelleted diet... either that of utilize special lighting or sunshine so their lil bodies can make their own D3.
When my girl laid eggs, I would take the cuttlebone and with a butter knife, scrap it over their food. When scrapped it turns into powder and just coats the top of everything they eat.
Good question. I'd like to know myself. There is no expiration date on any cuttlebone package that I've seen. I just throw mine away when they become yellowish. My sun conure used to chew on them when he was younger but stopped caring about them for a good while now. He loves those fruit shaped mineral blocks though.