FINCHforum

Hi Everyone. My father brought home some Oyster Shells last night from a Seafood restrunt. I havent given Oyster Shells to my gouldians before, but i hear its very good for them.

I want to make sure that what im doing is right, if i can remember correctly they need to be cleaned really well, then you ZAP em in the microwave for 3 mins, then take to them with the hammer then serve??

Does that sound about right?,

what does everyone else do when preping Oyster Shells???

Thanks Jarryd

Well I can't realy say as I just buy mine but that sounds about right not sure about the microwave tho , maybe some others will give advice

forgo the microwave and boil them for a few minutes. There was some discussion about whether a microwave would kill the bacteria (protozoa or whatever the heck they were talking about) unless it was wet and having to do with water concentration etc. Both people were pretty confident and both, in my opinion, were making valid arguments. However, the win all here would be a good solid 5-10 minute boil... which they already were through at the reastaurant, so technically you can smash and serve...

Still, clean, boil, smash. Sounds good to me (although I have never done it before).

I agree because they were probably raw oysters boil would be good

Do they have crushed oyster shell in the box at the pet stores in Australia? Might be easier and more safe than preparing your own.

Thanks for the replys everyone.

I don't belive they are sold in Petstores here, mabey at some bird stores.

Mabey il boil them, il have to ask a few more people what they think.

thanks again

Jarryd

if you microwave them your mum will get mad, as the microwave will go bang.
if you boil them you are adding water which makes them harder to crush as they turn to mush.
dry them inthe oven on about 180 - 200 for an hour or two. then crush them with a big hammer. in summer you can just rinse them off and then leave them out in the sun for a couple of months to dry