Adult weight

[pennythepenguin]

My bird is 6 months old and he weighs only about 98 grams most days. He is very active with his toys and he eats a variety of seeds, pellets, and fresh fruit and veggies every day. He has been holding this weight for a while now and I always thought he was healthy. Now I saw that most weigh between 115-130g so is there something wrong with my bird? Anything I can do to make him gain weight?

Could this be because the breeder clipped his wings too early??? Is he missing muscles or something? Just worrying a lot about him lately...

[pinkdevil]

At six months of age, he still has a bit of growing and filling out to do.
He could also be a smaller adult bird when fully grown. All depends on size of parents and how well they were fed during breeding etc. I have noticed some mutations tend to be smaller than the wild green coloured birds due to selective breeding programs to get colours.
Clipped birds obviously do tend to have a bit less muscle tone than unclipped birds, but as he is active, playing, and eating a healthy varied diet, he should be fine.
Have you checked or treated for worms? Could need worming if not yet wormed.

[pennythepenguin]

Thanks for the reply! No he has not been wormed yet.. should he be?? He has been at this steady weight for a couple months now... we weigh him at least once a week. I think we should probably be giving him less fresh foods or for less time because when I give him that dish he prefers to eat them and they don't have much fat. I was concerned because I don't think anyone's ringneck is as small as mine!! lol

[floridamedgirl]

if you havent already, take him to an avian vet for a regular checkup and they will/can test everything. There are lots of bird diseases and ailments.

Hes probobly just a little guy, but Id rather be safe than sorry!

Good Luck
Jess

[ellieelectrons]

Interestingly, our avian vet told us not to bother about worming our birds. He said that this was only necessary if they were going to come into contact with wild birds and since we keep their cage inside, it shouldn't be a problem. Should I follow is advice?

Ellie.

[pinkdevil]

If you are concerned about your birds having worms, you can ask for a fecal test for worms on your birds. Then if they have worms, you can treat them.

[ellieelectrons]

Thanks. I don't think our birds have worms... I was surprised though when our vet said not to worry about worming them. We have yearly checkups so I'm sure he would pick it up if they had anything like that.

Ellie.