# Cockatiel eating shell/hull of sunflower seed



## Hitsuji13 (Dec 18, 2009)

My male cockatiel just ate a sunflower seed include the shells. He didn't swallow the whole thing, but ate the inside first and then the shell. He doesn't eat other seeds shell, just sunflower. And he's scared at the moment(new bird). What could make him eat the shells?


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

How old is the tiel.

Quite possibly he may have been deprived of being able to eat sunflower seed, and now that he has access to them he is not totally sure on which parts to eat. Hopefully he will figure it out. Tiels do have a gizzard/proventriculus to grind the hulls.


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## Hitsuji13 (Dec 18, 2009)

He's moulting so i think he's around 6 months old..


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