Grit or No Grit?

[DragonCleopatra]

Is grit necessary for Zebra Finches?

[vettepilot_6]

Is grit necessary for Zebra Finches?

Grit is necessary for all finches...

[paul1966]

Hi, I use turbo grit from vetafarm,my gouldians love it. When I ran out,about one week went and bought some more and they were in it as fast as putting sprouted seed. Amazing....

[Tiaris]

Grit is absolutely essential for all seed-eating birds. If they don't have access to grit & are expected to live on a largely dry seed based diet they will eventually develop significant health problems.

[finchbreeder]

Nice clean gritty beach sand is good. We mostly have sand beaches in Australia. Don;t know what you have over there. Some countries I know have very little in the way of sand beaches.
LML

[E Orix]

The only finches that don't need grit are the ones with a full set of teeth.
Maybe 30 years ago one of your country men stated that birds didn't need grit and it took years to finally convince
many that what he said was wrong.
Sand used in bricklaying even washed soil it all works

[D0NKEY]

I use the pollys grit for my goulds. Always gave goulds grit.

[Dutchlindsay]

I cant remember where it was but I recently read that the only birds that need grit are bigger birds who eat big seeds that need grit to digest the seeds and that grit can be harmful to smaller birds like finches.
I am a member of the parrot society and they have a section Ask the Vet ( or something like that)
I will ask them to see what they say

[Craig52]

I cant remember where it was but I recently read that the only birds that need grit are bigger birds who eat big seeds that need grit to digest the seeds and that grit can be harmful to smaller birds like finches.
I am a member of the parrot society and they have a section Ask the Vet ( or something like that)
I will ask them to see what they say

Finches need grit (granitic sand, beach sand) in moderation and will pick it up from the aviary floor when needed. It needs to be supplied in small amounts to finches in cabinets but not in excess.
I have purchased finches that have never seen grit and when placed in my holding aviary with granitic sand on the floor just gorged themselves on it, the problem you get is compacted crop and the bird will eventually die. The problem is that there is a big difference between grit and soluble grit with bird breeders thinking that cuttlebone and the like is grit,it's not as breaks down to a powder and is absorbed into the body usually as calcium and other trace minerals.
True grit is a sand grain at a certain size that is used by the bird and then expelled in the normal way pretty much the same size as it started when picked up. I'm not sure whether it is used to help crush seed in the gut/gizzard or whether it just helps the digestive system in some other way. Craig

[Dutchlindsay]

Thanks for your reply Craig, I don't doubt for a moment what you are saying mate, I am relatively new to finches so no arguments here.
I ll post the response from the vet once I got the reply, I am sure she ll confirm what you say; still learning