Bird weight watcher..?

GracelynNBirds

New member
Nov 24, 2015
143
1
Texas
Parrots
Pearl, Female, Cockatiel: Penelope
Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any good scale that weights in grams? Or what scale do you guys use for your birds? I'm planning on tracking down my birds, and any future bird's grams. Also, I'm just going to throw in a few questions about that. :)
How often should I weight my bird?
I read on a article that an average aviary, flighted galah's weight should be around 285-390. Is that correct?
I've also heard the average healthy cockatiel should be around 88 to 178 grams. Is that correct?

Thank you so much guys, I am very thankful to have you amazing people on this forum. :)
 
You can buy a bird specific scale that has a perch; however, I just taught mine to sit on a regular postal scale that I got at the office supply store. I give them a really high-value treat every time I weigh them so they all give me zero trouble. I took my scale to my vet's office and compared them right there on the exam table and they were exactly the same, so they must be pretty accurate. I weigh my birds monthly or more often if I think there might be a problem. Galahs tend to put on weight as they age, so it's a good idea to keep an eye on that. My Galah weighs 330 grams and he's 13 years old.
 
I use a kitchen scale with glass top called Smart Weigh. I think it cost $20. Here it ends up being the exact same scale my vet uses. It's great for everything (I do online selling so postal scale, bird scale, and now for cooking since I am learning to do that too!)

I weigh my guys in the morning before they get breakfast. They're both smaller than a galah but their weight still fluctuates 1-2 grams due to how much they eat and store in the crop.
 
Monitoring weight is an excellent diagnostic tool. Some birds are very skittish about perching on one, so trial and error may be necessary. A decent scale with a digital gram readout is reasonably inexpensive and available either online or often at large office supply stores.
 
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Alright, thank you everybody. I will try to find a good scale for my bird(s). :)
 
Remember, the goal of a scale is to monitor the change in weight from one day to another. Minimum for a healthy parrot: once a month. I like once a week at the same time of day. If I am monitoring a health problem, I will be on a daily schedule and if I have a very sick parrot: twice a day. The important thing to remember is to Wright It Down!
 
I also just use a nice glass kitchen scale.
 

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