Dose warning: Nekton-S Vitaminsupplement for birds

noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
I should have posted this months ago, but I kept forgetting...I don't even know if anyone else here uses this supplement, just in case...

Backstory: Due to the fact that Noodles doesn't care for her pellets or many vegetable varieties, I add "Nekton-S Vitaminsupplement for birds" and her probiotic to a bit of oatmeal each day. Nekton-S is a highly reviewed avian supplement which was recommended by her vet.
I like the product a lot (it is very good) however...

In my opinion, the dosing instructions are sort of misleading...and the product's website just adds to the confusion.
Perhaps the label-text is a poor english translation (as the product is German), or perhaps the confusion is rooted in differences between American/European systems, but I gave my bird too much the first couple of times I used it because I misunderstood the directions (and I found at least 1 YouTube video in which a vet makes the same dosing error)..Birds can die from too much vitamin D, so it's a bit scary. I wanted to share my mistake so that others don't make the same one.

On the bottle, in standard-sized print, it says:
"Feeding recommendation: 1 g (or 1 level measuring spoon) Nekton-S to 250ml water or 100g soft food."
(for those of you who don't know, a tiny (1g) scoop comes with the bottle).

This is confusing because it makes it sound like you can give your bird up to 1g/scoop per day distributed across meals (1 g daily/maximum distributed across 100 grams of food)---after all, many large birds could probably eat 100g of food in a day....


Then, on the back/side in VERY small print (seriously...most people wouldn't be able to even read it), it says:
"Please note: Because of this supplement's higher content of vitamin D and trace elements than in a complete feed, it may only be added to 5% of a bird's daily ration."

Rhetorical/maddening/rant-like questions going through my mind when I saw the fine print/discovered that I might have over-dosed my bird (EEK/UGH/LOL--now):
1. What size font is that?!?!
2.How could anyone figure out 5% of their bird's daily ration in grams (given waste etc)?
3. If 1 g is mixed with 100 g of food, and your bird eats it all, that is 100% of their daily ration, right?
4. If you mix 1 g with 100 grams of food, then do you take a small portion of that (an amount constituting 5% of the bird's total rations, and mix it with more food?
5. Why is that wording so grammatically awkward and is the "daily ration" total food consumed or just the mixing medium of 100g?!

I guess the instructions were designed for people feeding droves of birds, but if you only have one, you have to do a bunch of backwards math, or look at the vitamin content and your bird's weight to figure out daily needs. My point is, if you don't see the fine print, they seem to imply that a bird can consume 1g of the supplement daily, which is not the case. :( Even when you do see the fine print, it doesn't help much with dosing unless you are super good at math (or maybe I am just dumb)..

Based on her weight and vitamin percents within the product, my vet told me that Noodles should be getting something like 1/5 of a 1g scoop per day...which is WAYYYYY less than a full scoop. I am glad I called and that no damage was done, but I know that I am not the only one who has made this mistake. I never gave her the full one-gram scoop (just because I was being cautious), but I gave her at least 1/2 of a scoop a few days in a row! Blood-work is fine...just wanted to share in case anyone else thinks like I do.


I did find that the website recommends pricking a pin through the foil at the top of the bottle if you are only feeding one bird and then lightly dusting food with the "shaker"...That would have been nice to know....
 
Last edited:

SilverSage

New member
Sep 14, 2013
5,937
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Columbus, GA
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Eclectus, CAG, BH Pionus, Maximilian’s Pionus, Quakers, Indian Ringnecks, Green Cheeked Conures, Black Capped Conures, Cockatiels, Lovebirds, Budgies, Canaries, Diamond Doves, Zebra Finches, Society F
Yikes!

Thank you for sharing!

Yes, for those of us with lots of birds this system is way easier than figuring out individual doses. And many people do know how many grams their birds consume daily, but that little bit about only feeding 5% of the treated food is vital!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Wow, that's a mess isn't it...I would have read that exactly the same way as you did, I think anyone would and probably does...

That's extremely dangerous due to all the fat-soluble vitamins and the risk of toxicity (A, D, E, and K)...not good...Maybe want to shoot and email to the company to give them a heads-up about that, because that could easily end in a lot of sick or dead birds!!! Or at least let your Vet know if he's prescribing it to his patients, so that he can make sure to explain it correctly.
 

beethoven

New member
Mar 25, 2020
1
0
Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
Parrots
Yellow-crowned amazon
Based on her weight and vitamin percents within the product, my vet told me that Noodles should be getting something like 1/5 of a 1g scoop per day...which is WAYYYYY less than a full scoop. I am glad I called and that no damage was done, but I know that I am not the only one who has made this mistake. I never gave her the full one-gram scoop (just because I was being cautious), but I gave her at least 1/2 of a scoop a few days in a row! Blood-work is fine...just wanted to share in case anyone else thinks like I do.

Thank you so much for this information. I also found Nekton's instructions to be very confusing.

How did your vet come up with the recommendation of 1/5 of a 1 g scoop per day? I just got the product and I wonder how much my amazon parrot :green: should have per day. He weights 350 grams.
 

White

New member
Jan 30, 2021
1
0
The directions are for 1 level scoop per 1 cup of water. My parrot's drinking bowl is 3/4 cup so I gave her 3/4 scoop of vitamins. If it were 1/2 cup you would give your bird 1/2 scoop.
The 5% is if you put the vitamins in your bird's soft food. Then you would need to calculate the correct dosage.
I emailed the company here in the USA and here's what he said-
"When added to the water your bird is not likely to drink the entire amount in a 24 hour period. When added to soft food your bird would most likely be consuming the entire dosage as it adheres to the soft foods, therefore it is important to make sure that Nekton S does not make up more than 5% of the rations."
I only used the Nekton S on my White Capped Conure Princess two times and she seems to like it. Has no problem drinking it.
Hope this helps you!
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,643
10,007
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
Passing that kind of note by our household legal Amazon and the retort was:

"Adding such a note limits an organization from legal action, when (not if) something goes wrong!"

Now what could (or like has) gone wrong that is a question for a Web search or asking the manufacturer...

And, why we avoid supplements!
 

Joe henderson

New member
Apr 6, 2022
3
2
Parrots
Parrotlet boo boo
This is what the company told me and I’m even more confused now
Due to the higher content of vitamin D and trace elements, we are obliged to put the warning "only be added to 5% of a bird´s daily ration" on the label. However, this information does not refer to the daily amount of water, but to the daily ration of feed. For example, your bird eats around 100 g of the feed per day (100%), our NEKTON-S should be added up to 5% of the daily ration as it says on the label. This means that you should not give your bird more than 5 g of our NEKTON-S per day. Our feeding recommendation is: 1 g (= 1 level measuring spoon) NEKTON-S to 100 g soft food. This amount is sufficient to maintain the bird's health and covers the daily need for vitamins and trace elements
 

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