Too much of a good thing? Paris eats her mineral block for hours...

[Sunnyclover]

So all 3 of my birds have a huge shell mineral block in their cage. Ollie will chew on his now and then and Finley almost never but I'm not surprised because he's pretty weird and doesn't pay mind to lots of things he should. Paris on the other hand seems to have discovered her mineral block and just eats it and eats it constantly over the last 2 weeks. I used to have it on top of her cage and it was making a HUGE mess so now I placed it in her cage and she's obsessed with it. Should I be worried? She just had a vet check up 3 weeks ago and had every test in the book and is acting 100% healthy. Should I take it out of her cage and give it to her now and then? Lol I'm glad she's using it because she's a girl but it's quite weird how often she eats on it. Right now I'm staring at her eating it...
Paris in her cage like....
[ame="https://youtu.be/1Ty8ow4fyXk"]Paris eats mineral block - YouTube[/ame]

 

[eliholtman]

I don’t see how it could be bad...as long as she’s eating her food and fruits and veggies she should be fine...although someone please correct me if I’m wrong


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[Sunnyclover]

Right? I am hoping she isn't getting too much calcium now. Uggg lol most people worry their bird isn't getting enough.

 

[Kiwibird]

How much is she actually ingesting and have you tried a different kind of mineral block?

Kiwi just rips up cuttle bones for fun, I doubt he ingests much if any of them. He also once chewed up a flavored mineral perch I bought by mistake very quickly, but I don't think he was eating that either, just destroying it. Manu clay blocks, on the other hand, last months as he seems to actually consume them and doesn't seem to just chew them for the sake of chewing (though he still manages to produce an awful powdery mess). I'd first confirm she's actually ingesting it and then see if switching to a different source for minerals helps. She is a South American bird, so Manu clay might be more natural for her than flavored blocks.

 

[noodles123]

Have you put other things in there for her to chew on besides that? Could it just be the textural sensation that she likes?

 

[Sunnyclover]

She has a cage FULL of toys and like I said it used to be on top of her cage and now in her cage...she seeks it out.
But I just want to know if I should take it away...
Anyone?

 

[noodles123]

I feel like my gut says to remove it....or at least talk to a CAV first...Can't they bite off large chunks and have issues with them?
I do wonder if she is deficient in something...Then again, as a kid, I totally would have O.D.ed on Flintstones Vitamins (if given the choice lol)--and I was healthy as can be.
Maybe you could put it in and remove it periodically?
I have an Umbrella Cockatoo though, so that is a very different type of bird. I just know that there is some controversy around mineral blocks.

 

[GaleriaGila]

The Rb destroys them and seems to ingest little. His calcium level is normal. Maybe have her calcium tested to reassure yourself?

 

[Kiwibird]

Then again, as a kid, I totally would have O.D.ed on Flintstones Vitamins (if given the choice lol)--and I was healthy as can be.

Can't believe someone else liked kid vitamins! Never made me sick but I would sometimes sneak 3 or 4 of them in the same day (one of each flavor lol) because they tasted like candy I doubt I had any nutritional problems as a kid either. Just liked the taste. I think they make them so kids can't OD on them.

 

[Sunnyclover]

He calcium was tested 3 weeks ago and is fine and he diet is the same. Guess I'll just watch her to see if she's actually eating bit or just playing with it. Then if she's eating it I'll take it in and out.

Also, my son has on occasion ate his whole jar of gummy vitamins and got sick and threw up lol but then was fine. Sadly I also did that like 4 years ago lol...

 

[GaleriaGila]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, good, then, very good.

 

[noodles123]

LOL--- My little sister (11 years difference) made a craft basket which she filled with vitamin "Pixie-Stix" (which she placed conveniently in front of the TV)..Now, that was wizardry, as far as I was concerned, so with no knowledge of their existence on this mortal plane, I proceeded to eat them all one day after school (17-18 years old...yeah, they weren't that good but I was stressed). Sister comes home and is screaming about her "special vitamins"...I denied knowing anything (as I didn't ) but then...I was like..."sh*t, what did they look like?!"...SO MANY TEARS on her part (a bit of fear on mine LOL).

 

[Billdore]

I have that same perch but Timneh is scared of it.

 

[Laurasea]

I think like noodles might just be fun to destroy!? Mine like to destroy toast, but never eats it. My friend had a cockatiel that goes through those chewable perches with calcium in a week or two and that bird is fine and healthy just loves to destroy the soft perches.

 

[EllenD]

I highly doubt that this is an issue at all, especially if she just had her blood calcium tested recently...What we need to keep in-mind here is that even though she is chewing on it a lot and it's disappearing, she's most-likely not actually ingesting it all, as it's being dissipated as dust. And it's extremely difficult for a female bird to ingest too much calcium anyway...And her blood calcium level would indicate this, which it didn't. The only way that she would be able to ingest so much calcium that her renal system couldn't excrete the excess that isn't used is if you ALSO EQUALLY INCREASED HER VITAMIN D INTAKE...In a healthy bird, they can not suffer from hypercalcemia UNLESS they ingest equally high amounts of both calcium and vitamin D (specifically vitamin D3). In instances where a bird starts to have high blood-levels of calcium, it's never from them ingesting too much calcium, but rather due to a disease process of the parathyroid gland...

So no, do not remove it, it's good for her. It will prevent egg-binding and/or leeching of calcium from her bones if she does start to lay infertile eggs. This is actually a good thing. Keep a look out for very hard, stone or baked-clay like urates in her droppings, as that is a sign that her blood calcium is going to be high. But again, unless she has a parathyroid problem, it's most-likely never going to happen.

 

[Sandy19]

Then again, as a kid, I totally would have O.D.ed on Flintstones Vitamins (if given the choice lol)--and I was healthy as can be.

Can't believe someone else liked kid vitamins! Never made me sick but I would sometimes sneak 3 or 4 of them in the same day (one of each flavor lol) because they tasted like candy I doubt I had any nutritional problems as a kid either. Just liked the taste. I think they make them so kids can't OD on them.

I loved the flinstones vitamins and would sneak them too. I still like them, maybe I"ll buy some today lol.

 

[dhraiden]

Talk about a blast from the past, lol. I think if I'd been allowed I'd've eaten those things like candy haha.


Glad to see definitive answers -- Paris has simply enjoy the activity of gnawing for its own sake!