There is a lot of controversy about offering grit to parrots. Grit is said to impact the parrots crop & kill the bird. The use of grit for parrots has fast been given a bad name world wide.
In the past when grit has linked to killing small captive parrots & cockatiels, it’s mostly been due to the bird being placed on an all seed diet that is lacking in vitamins & trace minerals. These birds who’ve had grit suddenly available to them dive into the grit to get the trace minerals needed, eating too much, therefore impacting the crop & killing them.
Another grit killer that was that they would be offered small containers of seed. Owner often thought the containers were still full of seed but they were only full of empty seed shells or the owner neglected to give the bird fresh seed every day. The bird would become hungry & eat too much grit that was also left in the cage, impacting the crop & kill them.
One or two terrible things happen in relation to grit in the past & it all gets thrown out of proportion, people panic & presume the worst.
Grit is made of soluble & insoluble minerals. Insoluble grit is mainly quartz or silica (sand). These are minerals that the body cannot digest. Soluble grit is composed of minerals that the body can digest & utilise. If grit is offered, it should be soluble, not insoluble.
In Australia wild parrots, rosellas, lorikeets & cockatoos when foraging on the ground will eat some dirt. They also pull weeds up & eat the dirt on the roots.
Macaws eat clay in the wild to remove toxic substances from their bodies as well as for trace minerals.
People have observed their aviary parrots foraging on the ground & eating dirt. Grit is noted in wild parrots to be deposited in the gizzard where it is used to help grind up hard foods that were swallowed. Parrots don’t always grind their food up fine before swallowing it as many believe they do. The grit does dissolve in the gizzard & can provide the parrot with many trace minerals it needs.
There has been no noted case of a captive parrot being killed by eating grit if it is offered to them in sensible small amounts, or in aviary parrots who forage & eat grit as they need it.
Many birds have been noted scientifically to adequately digest their foods when given small amounts of grit & it have improved digestion & health.
Many parrots lacking in trace minerals will often start foraging on the ground, finding anything at all to eat such as chewing up bits of news paper, eating sand dragged into the house by your feet, chewing at their cages all in attempts to get the trace minerals they need.
Offering the grit spontaneously, in large amounts is dangerous to your bird, especially if they’re lacking in the trace minerals they’d be craving but offering grit in small sensible amounts every now & then is not dangerous to your parrots & will give the birds the trace minerals they need.
Eclectus parrots don’t need as much grit as many other parrots but it still will not harm them to have just a little every now & then. If you have an Australian parrot, cockatiel or cockatoo, they will benefit a great deal from having a small amount of grit sprinkled in their dish every now & then.
You can buy grit from pet shops & bird supplies that contain trace minerals, oyster shell, egg shell, limestone etc...
Don't be afraid to offer your parrot grit, just be sensible about it.
In the wild the Eclectus will occasionally go to the ground to forage for mineral salts.
