premix iodine and save it for later?

[danaday]

Hi everyone

I want to know if its OK to mix iodine and save it until I need to use it? I have only a few gouldians. And the direction on the iodine bottle says to add two drops per quart of water. But the thing is I don't need that much water. So would it be OK if I mix it like that and use what I need then save the left over for another time? Any input is welcomed!

[debbie276]

All the articles I've been able to find say that using iodine for disinfecting water you should wait min. of 30 minutes and it's best to wait 15 hours or more to eliminate giardia. So I would guess it does not dissipate and go away when exposed to the water. Then every article stresses the dangers of too much iodine.
Are you having a problem with your gouldians that you are supplementing with iodine?

[danaday]

Hi Debbie

One of my female gouldian seems to be going through a really rough molt so I finally gave in and bought iodine to add to their water. Normally I have never supplemented their water with iodine. They get a really balanced diet. I feed them BIRDS R US (breeding and molting mix) seeds plus greens. They also get millet sprays, grit with eggshells, Cuttle bone and charcoal. And they are getting a dry egg food formula too. Your thought/opinions s are appreciated!

[debbie276]

Oh, I see. When I started I also thought I'd supplement with iodine because everyone said back then that gouldians needed extra iodine. I never saw a difference when using it. A few years ago I came across more and more articles about gouldians not needed any more iodine then any other finch. I also read more of the dangers of supplementing too much. For example here's an article by an avian vet http://www.geocities.com/bjbills1/Balding.html
A well balanced diet does more then any supplement out there. When supplementing be sure what's in it, you'd be surprised how many little things are added. Most molting aids have iodine in them already so adding more may be too much.
Feathers are made up of proteins so I personally think adding extra protein helps them go through a molt but I'm no vet.
best of luck

[danaday]

Thanks for all the info and help Debbie. I will try out the iodine for a few weeks and see if anything changes. Other then the iodine that I just started I don't add/supplement anything else to my birds' diet. I don't use feather fast and etc at all. I try to keep them as natural as possible with just a balanced diet.