I have heard of many people supplementing calcium with Oyster shell. I have mineral blocks and such but I have heard that the cuttlebone is sometimes contaminated. I wanted to purchase a pure form of calcium sold for birds from Dr Foster and Smith but they told me they were not allowed to sell to Canada.

 

Do any of you use Oyster shell and what do you think of this practice?

There is a lot of for and against apparently, some say they need it others say not. Personally I use cuttle fish, (washed and dried in sun) shell grit which I suppose is the same as oyster shell. I have calcium bells and iodine bells, which I have in aviary and breeding cages. Then I leave it to the birds, if they need/want it it's there, if not they don't eat it along with their veg's seed etc It's up to them what they take. I also add soluble iodine to the drinking water about every alternate week.

here is an article on grit in our FAQ section http://forums.budgie...=301&artlang=en

Thank you robyn and birdluv this has cleared things up.