weight loss in female cockatiel

Question
I got my female pearl at 2 1/2 mos.  A couple of months ago I weighed her a 84 kgm.  Her weight bounces up and down but yesterday she weighed 76 kgm.  She's feisty, otherwise healthy, has normal droppings and does eat her seeds and millet.  She always wants to be with me and I'll walk around the house with a seed dish to get her to eat.  I don't know what's normal for a cockatiel weight.

Answer
There is no "one size fits all" for cockatiels. Some individuals will weight more than others (just like with people), but it doesn't mean that one bird is underweight, just because they weight less than the average.

I would recommend taking her to an avian vet for a check up. Usually a 10% or higher decrease in weight is of great concern.

I would also recommend working with her to get her onto a healthier diet (just seeds and millet is NOT nutritionally complete and will shorten her life significantly if that is all she eats). She needs a well balanced diet of pellets, veggies, and limited amounts of seed and fruit.

Here are some websites and articles that should help you:

http://www.petpublishing.com/birdtimes/articles/fatbird.shtml

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww72eiii.htm

http://www.mickaboo.com/readingroom3.html

http://www.mickaboo.com/aviancare.html

www.aav.org

www.forthebirdsDVM.com

I hope this helps!

-Maggie