1 year-old GCC eating A LOT all of a sudden

[lexx510]

We've had our GCC for a year now, and recently she's been eating a lot more than usual. She even eats at night after we turn off the lights and cover her cage (she'd previously go right to sleep).

We have recently switched her to a different brand of pellets. She seems to love them but leaves TONS of pellet dust/residue. Could it be that she's just not consuming enough of them and needs to eat more frequently?

She's also currently molting.


We are looking into finding a vet. But does any one have any idea why she might be eating so much all of a sudden?

 

[henpecked]

Do you weigh her on a regular basis ? She might enjoy crunching up the new pellets and is not "eating " as much as you might think. edit Or, are your new pellets high in sugars? taste them and see. some times my birds will crunch up the sweet pellets even when not really hungry.This is why weighing your bird is so important, especially when changing diet.

 

[roxynoodle]

Both Pete and Merlin actually ran out of pellets a couple of days ago and I had to give them both more. They are both molting. But, I'm not actually certain that they ate more that day, or just crumbled up more or threw more than usual. Pete did have quite a few crumbled up ones in his dish. And since it happened with both of them, they may have been playing a game for a bit called, "Let's throw pellets!"

 

[lexx510]

Do you weigh her on a regular basis ? She might enjoy crunching up the new pellets and is not "eating " as much as you might think. edit Or, are your new pellets high in sugars? taste them and see. some times my birds will crunch up the sweet pellets even when not really hungry.This is why weighing your bird is so important, especially when changing diet.

I will need to weigh her. Thank you for the suggestion.

Her new pellets are not high in sugar. We feed Totally Organics Pellets (No Artificial Anything No Artificial Preservatives like BHA, BHT or ethoxyquin. No artificial colors or flavors. No artificial vitamins. No sucrose/sugar added.)

They do, however, crumble rather easily.

 

[Nakiska]

Incase you don't have a scale to weigh your birds, in another post a poster whom I can't remember the name of, gave this link for a scale from Harbor Freight

Digital Scale

Since we have a harbor freight not far from here, I went that night and picked one up. It works GREAT!!! I just set my conure on the flat surface and he stood there with no issue and I found out he really IS tiny for a green cheek!

Anyway, at this price, it's hard to beat. Other bird scales I was looking into were $50 bucks!

Good Luck,

Toni

 

[Spiritbird]

Birds naturally do not eat at night. If you notice there are few to none droppings in the moring. My vet suggested to take all foods out of the cage at night and I have done so now for 2 years. Maybe this will help to regulate your birds meals. As in the wild they mostly eat early am and just before bedtime.

 

[roxynoodle]

I have taken all food out at bedtime for years now. Being surrounded by farm fields I do get mice in the house during harvest times and sometimes during the winter, too. I don't want them to be attracted to the bird cages. No food in the cage, no worrying about mice going into them. We have been mouse free for awhile now and then I heard one again the other night. And found my cat had gotten one in the morning.

That's also when I wash all the bowls and then they are clean and ready in the morning.

I do make sure I feed them the moment they get up though.

 

[lexx510]

Birds naturally do not eat at night. If you notice there are few to none droppings in the moring. My vet suggested to take all foods out of the cage at night and I have done so now for 2 years. Maybe this will help to regulate your birds meals. As in the wild they mostly eat early am and just before bedtime.

That is a great suggestion. Unfortuantely, I work overnight and do no come home until noon on most days. I'd hate for her to starve for that long

 

[roxynoodle]

Birds naturally do not eat at night. If you notice there are few to none droppings in the moring. My vet suggested to take all foods out of the cage at night and I have done so now for 2 years. Maybe this will help to regulate your birds meals. As in the wild they mostly eat early am and just before bedtime.

That is a great suggestion. Unfortuantely, I work overnight and do no come home until noon on most days. I'd hate for her to starve for that long

In that case I'd make sure there are pellets there for when she gets up.

 

[lexx510]

Birds naturally do not eat at night. If you notice there are few to none droppings in the moring. My vet suggested to take all foods out of the cage at night and I have done so now for 2 years. Maybe this will help to regulate your birds meals. As in the wild they mostly eat early am and just before bedtime.

That is a great suggestion. Unfortuantely, I work overnight and do no come home until noon on most days. I'd hate for her to starve for that long

In that case I'd make sure there are pellets there for when she gets up.

That seems to be the very problem. Since I leave for work at midnight and don't get home until noon, I stock her dish with pellets before bedtime (around 8 pm or so) and shut off the lights. She used to go right to sleep, but lately she spends an hour eating them in the dark before she goes to bed.

 

[roxynoodle]

Pete actually eats the most right before bedtime. About 15 minutes ahead of time he will go chow down a whole load of pellets. It's just his favorite time to eat apparently. I wouldn't worry about it. They probably do it to get them through while they are sleeping. And sometimes Rowdy will run down to her dish when I go to cover her because she knows I'm going to pull her dish out.

 

[roxynoodle]

Ok, Pete ran out of pellets again today...twice! I only saw like 3 in his grate and one on the floor so he wasn't throwing them (unless they are all behind the radiator, ha ha!). I had to give him more when I gave him his veggies and then he ate all of those and I had to give him more again. He ate like an entire bowl filled to the top today along with other things. So, yes, maybe when molting they can get a voracious appetite!

 

[lexx510]

Ok, Pete ran out of pellets again today...twice! I only saw like 3 in his grate and one on the floor so he wasn't throwing them (unless they are all behind the radiator, ha ha!). I had to give him more when I gave him his veggies and then he ate all of those and I had to give him more again. He ate like an entire bowl filled to the top today along with other things. So, yes, maybe when molting they can get a voracious appetite!

Hmm, interesting. It would make sense, of course, seeing as how they might need more energy/nutrients to shed old feathers and grow new ones.

 

[roxynoodle]

I gave him a lot of extra ones today. So far so good!

And no, they weren't behind the radiator, lol! I was at the vet for awhile with Merlin yesterday so there was a period of time that he could have been throwing them without my knowing, but he didn't.

 

[suncon97]

Pearl is going through a molt and has been eating more lately.I have to fill her bowl up everyday and she's been going crazy on the broccoli.Before u would go to bed her bowl of food would be half full and it would be almost empty when I woke up.I knew she was eating at night but I wanted to know how late.Well I woke up at 2am with a fever and when I walked to the kitchen I heard munching.It doesn't make her cranky during the day so I won't mess with her schedule