FINCHforum

I noticed in the bird supply aisle they sell boxes of grit with charcoal. some boxes say to sprinkle on bottom of cage some say offer in treat cup. Do my zebra finches need this?? They have a cuttle bone that are eat off of several times a day, and I sprinkle 8in1 crushed oyster shells on the egg food. But i was wondering about the charcoal and the grit. They sell charcoal in a tiny pouch like the oyster shells or in a box mixed with grit. which is best? and how often should i serve this?

Thanks

If I am not mistaken, the charcoal is used for when they have babies, it helps them to regurgitate the food in order to feed. I put mine in a treat cup at all times, so that they will take it when they feel it is necessary. Regarding the grit, you should be fine using oystell shell and cruched egg shells.

Be careful about what is called 'grit' by the bird industry. What you often find in boxes is gravel, and it is not only not necessary for finches, it is not good for them. Gravel is needed by species of birds that eat whole seed, as the gravel then grinds the hulls off the seeds. Our finches hull their seed, so no need for gravel.

Oystershell grit, on the other hand, is one form of calcium for our birds, and very good for them. Some oystershell grit is in fairly large pieces, so harder for our finches to use. Since I have a lot of birds, I buy a 40lb bag of oystershell grit at the feed store. Then I grind it in my coffee grinder to more of a powder. In their mineral cup, I will put some oystershell grit, some charcoal, some eggshells, and some trace mineral powder.

I am giving my gouldians grit, and I don´t see them eating it, recently I bought charcoal, and I am surprised by the way they eat it, I even worry if it can be dangerous if they eat too much...
I have just bought another gouldian and two societies, and they are together in a cage, and I remember reading somewhere that the societies shouldn´t eat charcoal, but I am not sure; can you tell me? I am just giving them the grit right now, but it seems they don´t eat it.

Most of the members give our finchs,oyster shell crushed,charcoal ,egg shells ,ground cuttle bone all mixed together in some type treet cup they then eat when they want.I havent read that societies cant have charcoal mine have it at all times.

Sally wrote: I buy a 40lb bag of oystershell grit at the feed store. Then I grind it in my coffee grinder to more of a powder.

Does your coffee taste funny?

my birds have grit available all the time and they all eat it.
make it myself and it consists of crushed eggshells, crushed cuttlebone, crushed oystershells, charcoal and bio-cal.
if they want sand it is avialable to the also, on the aviary floor.

mickp wrote:
if they want sand it is avialable to the also, on the aviary floor.

Your mix is not really grit is it Mick?...not like the stuff they sell for budgies.
I would make a mix like yours avialable to my birds Mick...didn't realise you Aussies spelt your words with an Aussie accent

There are various theories as to why Gouldians love charcoal...but you have to remember that for tens of thousand of years the Aborigines have used forest and grassland burning to encourage new growth and game to an area.Gouldians are mostly hole nesters in trees, and blackened stumps must have been a common nesting site in the past with charcoal on a plate ...so to speak.

Finch Fry wrote:

Sally wrote: I buy a 40lb bag of oystershell grit at the feed store. Then I grind it in my coffee grinder to more of a powder.

Does your coffee taste funny?

Actually, I bought the coffee grinder just to grind up oystershell grit. For myself, I buy plain old already-ground Folgers. My birds get all the spoiling (really all the animals, just not me).

can anyone reccommend a source for charcoal in the USA ?

Any online bird stores sell it