FINCHforum

Hello once again!

This time, I am writing in regards to cuttlebones, those lovely calcium-rich treats familiar to bird owners near and far.

My cockatiels love their cuttlebones, munching happily away at the one I always place inside their plastic cuttlebone holder--JW brand, I believe it is? There is no issue whatsoever getting them to eat their calcium treat.

My shaft-tail finches also like their cuttlebone, but the issue is, they only seem to use it when it is placed face-up on the ground. This has its obvious sanitary issues, but whenever I try to suspend the cuttlebone from the side of the cage, the finches seem to have issues accessing it. Horizontal or vertical, close to the cage bottom or up high beside a perch, they just don't use it unless I lay it on the floor.

I tried using the metal clasper that comes in the cuttlebone packs I buy, to no avail. I even tried a JW cuttlebone holder like the cockatiels have, but the finches didn't seem to want to perch on it.

I would like to get the bone up off the floor so it doesn't get soiled with droppings, but if the finches won't use it then there's no use in moving it. I was wondering if anyone else here has finicky finches who've finally been enticed into using a cuttlebone attached to the cage wall...Any suggestions about how I can attach my cuttlebone to the cage so that the shaft-tails will use it?

Thanks,

-Ember

Suggestions:
Scrape the cuttlebone and mix with seed, see if they eat it.
or
Lay it flat on the ground and put something above it- a shelf or whatnot, so there is something physically preventing the birds from positioning themselves where they could poop on the cuttlebone.

Those metal cuttlebone holders that come with some cuttlebones can be very sharp, and birds have gotten hung up in them or cut by them. Most people toss those holders for something a bit safer, such as plastic holders. I have used pipe cleaners as ties in my cages. You can also scrape the cuttlebone into your mineral mix that they should have available to them.

There are several type of holders. But I just ordered one of these to try. And they are cheap.


some cuttle bone holders

This is what I bought for mine. And they might be finicky because they were never offered it before.

What I have right now

I have taken a phillips head screwdriver and twisted it through the cuttle bone to make a small hole to feed a zip tie through it...attach it to the cage near a perch low enough to be reached. Works well.

The shaft tails may be leery of the holder.

I was also suggested scraping it over the food. If you are using this for calcium in preparation for egg laying you can also take the eggshell from boiled egg and grind it in a clean coffee grinder and scrape some of the cuttlebone in with it, serve it in a separate dish for them to go to or mix it in their egg food.

Emberrhine

Hi Ember.

As was mentioned above, I use a grater and mix the cuttle bone bits in with my bird grit. I also grate in a piece of mineral block, iodine block, add a bit of birdie charcoal , and crushed hard boiled egg shells. You can serve this mix in a seed cup, or spread a bit on the paper at the bottom of your flight cage.

My guys quite enjoy this mixture. I also have a cuttle bone or two hanging higher up as well. You can attach it with a plastic clip, a clothes pin, or just poke it between the bars.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the suggestions! These all sound like great ideas.

I'll try to attach the cuttlebone to the cage bars a couple of different ways and see if they use it then, and if not, I'll probably just stick with grating it into the mineral grit cup, as some of you suggested.

My finches do already have quite a few calcium options--grit, eggshell chips, and calcium powder sprinkled on the diet every Friday--so it isn't crucial that my birds use a cuttlebone. Still, having one more option there for them makes me feel better, especially since my female shaft-tail likes to lay eggs quite often.

Thanks again, and best wishes,

-Ember