# Obsessed with grit



## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi, this is a bit of a strange one, but has anyone had a bird obsessed with grit?

Coco is fairly new and when I first got her I didn’t have a grit bowl for her, she has now and its been a good month, and since having the grit she seems to eat the grit like eating food, she has cuttle bone, and I do push her in the sunshine, anyway after being quite concerned and today her droppings looked like green mush in the bottom of the cage, which she never used to have before the grit, so I am putting it down to consuming to much grit, she gets green leafy veggies daily and is fed a roudybush pellets which she eats fine, the same as my other Tiels and they are all fine just not obsessed with their grit dishes lol.

Anyway today after doing the cage clean out I decided I would move the grit dish to another location (it was previously next to the perch she sits on the most) I moved it to the bottom of the cage next to her water bowl, placed her back in her cage she had fresh veggies fresh pellets and the first dish she went to was the grit dish, arrhh, so I have removed the grit dish, is that the right thing to do?

If anyone has any idea’s I would love your thoughts, oh the grit my birds have is the small shell grit.

Jenny


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Parrots don't need grit, so you were right to remove it  It is good that they have a cuttle bone. Spike loves his cuttle bone and has a mineral block he likes to lick once in a while


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## Kokuhteel (May 4, 2010)

Jenny10 said:


> ...so I have removed the grit dish, is that the right thing to do?





xxxSpikexxx said:


> Parrots don't need grit, so you were right to remove it


I agree. Everything I've been reading about Cockatiels and parrots says they don't need it.


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## Siobhan (Mar 21, 2010)

I have read a great deal about parrots since Clyde came on the scene, and not only do they not need grit, it's dangerous for them to have it. It can clog up their crop and do serious damage. None of mine, including my budgies, has ever had grit. They can crack their seeds and chew up their food so there's no need for it. If I were you, i would take the grit out of all the cages and throw it away. A cuttle bone or mineral block, or both if they'll use them, is good for calcium. Neither of my Quakers are interested in those, but the budgies and my tiel gnaw on theirs a couple of times a week.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Grit is controversial. Currently, general opinion leans toward no grit for parrots but there are also pro-grit articles by knowledgeable writers.

But the answer in your case is clear. Your bird was basically abusing her grit privileges so you needed to take it away for her safety. But I do wonder why she was so enthusiastic about eating grit. Could it possibly supply her with a nutrient that she isn't getting anywhere else in her diet? Could she have some kind of digestive problem that grit helps?


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, Tielfan is she lacking something? That is what I am thinking. So was asking to see if anyone else had experienced and what was done about it! I too think birds do need forms of grit this section below is talking about different types of grit and is actually taken (word for word) from my Cockatiel book (a guide to Cockatiels and their mutations as pets & aviary birds, by Dr Terry Martin BVSc & Diana Andersen, publication ABK, I believe this is one of the best Cockatiel books on the market. 

It is debated whether grit is necessary in the diet, as very little appears to be consumed. However, insoluble grit aids digestion by grinding up Seed in the gizzard and is particularly important for birds kept in pet cages or aviaries without access to sand and dirt floors. Soluble grit is digested by the acid in the proventriculus and therefore not used for grinding purposes. The soluble form is a good source of minerals and calcium essential for general wellbeing and successful breeding. A variety of grit mixes are available commercially. However, medicated grit is not recommended. The unnecessary medication of birds that are not unwell should be avoided as it can lead to the development of highly resistant strains of bacteria. Some grits contain charcoal which, while possibly beneficial, can absorb vitamins.

What do others feel about the use of grit.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I offer my birds small amounts of grit and charcoal but not in the main cage - it's in a small sleep cage that they have access to when they're roaming free in the bird room. So far no one has abused the privilege, but if they started overconsuming it I'd restrict it a lot more. There's no doubt at all that overconsumption can be dangerous, and if you want to offer grit to this bird you need to severely limit the amount. One of the links later in this post mentions "salt and pepper amounts" which seems like a good idea - in other words an amount of grit that's similar to what you'd use if you were seasoning the food.

Wild birds have the option of eating grit whenever they want to and that's why I offer it to my birds. At http://www.birdingmania.com/Cockatiels-In-The-Wild.php it says "they [wild cockatiels] pick up some sand to aid digestion" so it's normal for tiels to eat grit. 

The World Parrot Trust is apparently in favor of providing grit. At http://www.parrots.org/pdfs/all_abo...n/Minerals and Grit - of Vital Importance.pdf there's an article by Rosemary Low (a famous aviculturalist/ornithologist) saying that grit is important for parrots. At http://www.parrots.org/index.php/forumsandexperts/answers/ask_an_expert1/ there's a pro-grit article by E.B. Cravens (another famous parrotista and publisher of Birdkeeping Naturally). I couldn't find any anti-grit articles on the site.


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Tielfan thank you for those links very interesting read.

Since Coco hasn’t had the grit she is destroying her cuttlebone now, I think she is lacking in something, I am going to push her in the sunshine daily for a while, and this weekend I will go get her some mineral blocks maybe charcoal ones if I can find one, I might even get some vitamins minerals for water, see if that helps.

I will still let her have grit, but I will do like you said salt and pepper amounts maybe once a week.

Jenny


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

8-in-1 makes bird charcoal: http://www.amazon.com/8-1-BIRD-CHARCOAL-3-5-OZ/dp/B000PSS9NM

Use salt and pepper amounts with this too. A little bit is good for absorbing toxins, but it will absorb some nutrients too so it's bad if birds get too much of it. I've read that wild Australian birds flock to burn areas to eat burned wood (aka charcoal) and that some Australian breeders keep a piece of burned wood in the aviary for their birds. But alas, I can't find the link now.


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## Autumn (Dec 12, 2009)

My avian vet says it's necessary to make grit available to them at all times. So I always give small amounts of it into a special dish. Sometimes they'll peck at it, sometimes not.

It might be controversial but I've been reading a lot of German speaking forums and the opinion there is mostly that grit is needed. It's true that it could build up in the crop and cause problems, but I've read a great article explaining that. It usually builds up as a secondary result of some crop problems - the bird eats a lot of grit to "help" its digestion somehow.


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Thanks for that link Tielfan, and Autumn thanks for your advise.

I did manage yesterday to get a calcium block containing charlcol and a iodine block also containing calcium, Coco has had a bit of each, I think I will let her have her grit bowl tomorrow just for a short period of time, lol.

I didn’t bother with the minerals for water, not that convinced it is good to put liquid minerals in water.

Jenny


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## Kokuhteel (May 4, 2010)

Jenny10 said:


> What do others feel about the use of grit.


Haven't read any pro-grit stuff, just stuff that says Cockatiels and parrots in general shouldn't have it.

Unless an avian vet tells me to give Riley grit, I don't think I'd ever give it to him. <_<


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