Cuttle Bone

Question
My Bird Bloo, loves her cage, but the only thing she wont touch is her cuttle bone. I haven't seen her even get near the bone, and her beak is growing! I don't want her beak to grow to long! What should I do?

Answer
Hi, Hannah.  Thanks for posting!

You don't say what type of bird this is.

Cuttlebone is a source of calcium.  It isn't really designed to help a bird keep it's beak trimmed down.  Cuttlebone is soft and isn't made for this purpose.  If your bird isn't eating the cuttlebone, evidently, it doesn't need calcium!  What you need to purchase is a bird block or perch of some type designed to help a bird keep it's beak trimmed.  There are specific types of things made for this purpose.  Visit www.drsfostersmith.com for some products.

A bird's beak can be trimmed, but if you've never done this before, don't attempt to do this yourself.  If you cut too far, you can hit the main vein in the beak and the beak will bleed.  A bird can bleed to death if cut down too far or if you don't trim it correctly, you can cause more harm than good.  Have an avian veterinarian trim the beak if it's too long.  The vet can show you how to do this yourself in the future.

Come back with any questions.

Chrys