Treats & Grit

Treat sticks are seeds bound to a stick with honey or egg. They keep a bird’s beak busy and add enrichment to the cage, but they are high in calories. One or two sticks a week is plenty for a budgie; a stick left hanging permanently means the main diet gets ignored and weight creeps up.

Cuttlefish bone and mineral blocks supply calcium and trace minerals and help wear the beak down naturally. Laying hens have a much higher calcium requirement, so keeping a cuttlebone in the cage at all times is a good habit.

Is grit necessary?

Whether seed-hulling species such as budgies and canaries need grit is debated. Many vets now advise that a small amount of fine grit is enough, and that eating too much can cause crop impaction. Offer it sparingly in a separate dish; parrots fed on pellets generally do not need it.

Sand sheets or floor sand for the cage tray are a different product from edible grit. Floor sand may contain additives such as anise or fragrance, so it is best that birds do not eat it.

When buying treat sticks and mineral products, check the best-before date and that the packaging is intact, as sticks kept somewhere damp go mouldy easily. Store opened products in a sealed container somewhere cool and dry.