FINCHforum

Was wondering how often, if ever - should I be replacing my cuttlebone for my zebra finches? Do they "go bad" ?

Thanks.

Cuttlebones dont' go bad, but they should be replaced when they get dirty or soiled. Cuttlebones are an eye sore, so I don't use them. I use an alternative so they are getting the calcium, vitamins, etc. they need.

I thought they need it to keep their beaks trimmed? ??? I can hear mine all the time gnawing on the cuttlebone.

I've heard say that for parakeets, but you're not going to find dried cuttlebones sitting around in Australia. Unless a finch has a beak deformity, it should wear down on it's own with normal use.

I normally have one or two pieces of cuttlefish in the aviary, birds eat it if & when they want to. to make sure that they get the extra calcium thoiugh I scrape the cuttlefish using a knife, so it is like a powder, and sprinkle this over the dry seed mix every third or fourth day

Their natural beak control is not a cuttle bone, but we do not exactly mimic nature very well. They are under completely different conditions in the wild, part of their natural conditions include things that naturally wear down the beak. They forage a lot more and have access to many different materials. So although their natural beak control is not a cuttlebone, we still need to provide something that does the same function. In captivity one great option includes cuttlebones. In addition, some birds have different needs (one will need more to wear down its beak than another bird). It is better to provide an unnecessary preventative than try and fix the problem after it has arised.

My finches love there cuttle bones they gow through them pretty fast i have 2 in my flight cage an have to change them out every month.

I am thinking of taking the cuttle bone out of my cage, they don't seem to use it anymore, they have a dish with that silver sand stuff which is a mix of various stuff they need. As for their beaks, I recently built them a rock pool made out of coral that I picked up on a beach in Okinawa, they love scraping their beaks on that instead

That's cool i never heard of ppl using coral for there finches.

my Z's use to love the cutter bone they would go right through it but in the last month or two they havent touched it. the female just started picking at the oyster shell in the treat cup again. i recently bought the block with the calcium and minerals and vita' D3 in it and shave it over the seeds and in the egg food.

what could have made them stop eating it ?

They might just be bored with it, can you imagine having the same thing to eat every single night of the week. Take it out for a few weeks and supplement it with something else.

no offense but these are birds they are not concerned with satisfying their pallet, they are eating to survive. I think she was not getting something in her diet and was not 100% due to stress. in the pass two weeks that she has been in the cage alone her feather have grow back she much more active d today i saw her pecking at the cutter bone. she dug up a lot of the sprouted seed from the dirt i think she was looking for the two live meal worms i put in there too. i have been giving her egg food with herbs and breeding seed to try to build her up. i shaved the mineral block that has calcium, minerals D# and i forgot iodine too.