Why is it refused?
There is a lot of speculation about offering grit to parrots. Grit is said to impact the parrots crop & kill the bird. The use of grit for parrots has fast been given a bad name world wide but in Australia many of us still use it & I am one of those people. Every time someone asks if they should offer grit to their parrots, I cop a mouth full from many other people for saying absolutely! I’ve heard what everyone has had to say about grit, I’ve read as much of each side as I could on the subject, now I have something to say about it.
In the past when grit has linked to killing small captive parrots & cockatiels it’s mostly been due to the bird being placed on an all seed diet that is lacking in vitamins & trace minerals. These birds who’ve had grit suddenly available to them dive into the grit to get the trace minerals needed, eating too much, therefore impacting the crop & killing them.
Another grit killer that was once known to the small captive parrot is they would be offered small containers of seed. Owner often thought the containers were still full of seed but they were only full of empty seed shells or the owner neglected to give the bird fresh seed every day. The bird would become hungry & eat too much grit, impacting the crop & kill them.
One or two terrible things happen in relation to grit in the past & it all gets thrown out of proportion, people panic & presume the worst, it hits the internet in no time at all & it sticks like glue, without even attempting to find out how these ‘grit killings’ really happened in captive parrots.
In Australia we all know wild parrots, rosellas, lorikeets & cockatoos when foraging on the ground will eat dirt. They also pull weeds up & eat the dirt on the roots. When eating weeds they ingest some dirt too. We all know Macaws eat clay in the wild to remove toxic substances from their bodies as well as for trace minerals. There have been noted cases of people observing their aviary parrots foraging on the ground & eating dirt. Grit is noted in wild parrots to be deposited in the gizzard where it is used to help grind up hard foods that were swollowed. Parrots don’t always grind their food up fine before swollowing it as many believe they do. The grit does dissolve in the gizzard & can provide the parrot with many trace minerals it needs.
There has been no noted case of a captive parrot being killed by eating grit if it is offered to them in sensible small amounts, or in aviary parrots who forage & eat grit as they need it. In all the years Australians have offered their captive 'pet' parrots grit, there has been no record of grit related deaths.
Many birds have been noted scientifically to adequately digest their foods when given small amounts of grit & it have improved digestion & health.
Many parrots lacking in trace minerals will often start foraging on the ground, finding anything at all to eat such as chewing up bits of news paper, eating sand dragged into the house by your feet, chewing at their cages all in attempts to get the trace minerals they need. If I don’t offer my cockatiel enough grit he will fly to the ground & pick up sand at our front door. When I bring him outside on the lawn he will forage for a little grit.
Offering the grit spontaneously, in large amounts is dangerous to your bird, especially if they’re lacking in the trace minerals they’d be craving but offering grit in small sensible amounts every now & then is not dangerous to your parrots & will give the birds the trace minerals they need.
Eclectus parrots don’t need as much grit as many other parrots but it still will not harm them to have just a little every now & then. If you have an Australian parrot, cockatiel or cockatoo, they will benefit a great deal from having a small amount of grit sprinkled in their dish once a week.
If they need it in the wild then why do we think they don’t need it in captivity? Your parrot will benefit from it & you will only harm the bird if you offer too much at once. Grit is natural for your parrot.
If you’re concerned about the state of your sand outside then keep a small clean patch. Use only clean sand for aviaries & don’t put anything in it. Make a small box or small patch of the garden or aviary to grow sprouts, don’t use fertilizer. Let your birds go wild in their with the sprouts & grit.You can also buy grit from pet shops.
Don't be afraid to offer your parrot grit, just be sensible about it.
Oyster shell is commonly sold as a grit. Some sources of oyster shell have been contaminated with heavy metals & pesticides so it should not be used as a grit.
Grit