Eating shells of sunflower seeds

[torrap]

Marley eats the seed first, but before she gets to the next seed (if I offer one), she goes for the shell and finishes it to the last fiber.
What does this mean?
Should I give her some small granulated pebbles or something?
Should I just ignore it?
She actually lost 20 grams and her weight is "only" 370 grams as of today!
I have made her a little stand, so I can weigh her as often as I (or she) wants to.
She loves this little stand, and so do I because I can take her where ever I want to with me around the house. She doesn't know how to sit on my shoulder. We will have to work on that......
View attachment 7528
View attachment 7526
View attachment 7525
View attachment 7527

 

[Kalidasa]

With that much weight loss I myself would be at the vet ASAP, but that's just me.

 

[antoinette]

20 grams is a big weight loss for a bird
What else are you feeding Marley?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Were the pictures of Marley taken today? She doesn't look mal-nourished at all, she's quite lovely, actually.

If she lost the weight quite suddenly, let's say over 2 days, I would most definitely take her to the vet, as sudden weight loss could be the first sign of an underlying problem.

 

[torrap]

Thank you all for your concerns.....
We are actually working on the weight loss with Marley. She was 390 grams when I took her to the Vet about 2 weeks ago. I hope 20 grams in 2 weeks is not too much to loose...
Yellow Shouldered Amazons and girls in particular, need to be 250-350 if I understand everything I have read correctly.
I think Marley was always (or most of the time) in the cage before I got her. She is out of the cage whenever I am home now and exercising a lot. She is learning to fly higher and higher every day and climbing all over her cage and all the extra things I made for her around the cage.
Also I am feeding her a lot of fruit and veggies, she probably didn't have much of that before either.
So, considering that Vet's scale and my scale could have a bit different reading, I'll monitor her weight every morning from now on and see how she is doing.....

 

[torrap]

Were the pictures of Marley taken today? She doesn't look mal-nourished at all, she's quite lovely, actually.

Thank you Wendy,
Yep, pictures were taken today, right after I made this little stand to help me see how much her weight is.....

 

[JerseyWendy]

Losing those grams over 2 weeks is nothing to worry about. A healthy diet and excercise are GREAT for her.

She looks so sleek, pretty and alert!!! Gorgeous girl indeed!

 

[aliray]

If you want to feed some sunflower seeds as a treat you can get them at the health food stores with the shells already removed which would solve the problem of her eating the shells

 

[Kalidasa]

Oh! I didn't know she's on a diet. Good for her then!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Parrots that EAT Nut Shells
Here's a article about parrots who eat shells

 

[henpecked]

I would look into getting cellulite enzymes from places like the GNC store. You can mix with water and it will help break down the shells. The danger is her crop becoming impacted with the shell pieces. I would also look into her diet needs, birds will eat about anything if they are lacking something in their diet. Calcium comes to mind in this case.maybe a cuddle bone would help .

 

[torrap]

I would look into getting cellulite enzymes from places like the GNC store. You can mix with water and it will help break down the shells. The danger is her crop becoming impacted with the shell pieces. I would also look into her diet needs, birds will eat about anything if they are lacking something in their diet. Calcium comes to mind in this case.maybe a cuddle bone would help .

Thank you so much,
Lucky for both of us she is shredding the shell into almost dust and so far she had 3-4 seeds as a treat that she ended up eating with shells. She does have a cuttlebone hanging on her cage. I didn't see her touching it as of yet........
I try to sprout sunflower seeds and give her regular un-sprouted only as a little treat here and there. I hope it's not a big deal if she eats few shells, but will continue checking her........

 

[henpecked]

As long as she'
s eating and drinking well the shells shouldn't be a big issue.