loud bird

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from another board ....
If the bird is exposed to 20 minutes of direct sunlight early in the morning or in the afternoon (never at noon) daily, cuttlebone is more than enough but this is very impractical for companion birds so the solution is to supplement them with avian liquid calcium which already has the right proportion of vit D3, calcium and magnesium for birds. I use Calciboost.
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As far as I know, Calciboost can only be acquired over the net, I've never seen it in any petstore but there are million of websites that carry it.

And yes, diluted works just fine. It's made to go in the water and the directions tell you the proportions. It's sweet, transparent and odorless so the birds drink it without a problem.

And yes, both males and females need calcium. Females need more when laying, obviously! but males need it, too. Calcium is the largest concentrated mineral in any living body. And it's not just used to make bones, it supports the nervo-vegetative system, it gives elasticity to muscles, it's needed for normal blood clotting, it controls the passage of fluid through cells, it allows for proper vit B12 absorption, it's involved in fat and protein digestion, it mediates the synthesis and production of enzymes and hormones and even regulates heart beat! Bodies cannot live without enough calcium BUT an excess of it is also dangerous so one needs to be very careful as to how much and how often Calciboost is given and a very thorough evaluation of the diet and environment needs to be made before deciding on the proper dosage. I give mine very little during the warm weather months because all the windows in the birdroom are open and, as it has exposure to the east and the west, there is always sunshine shining in and birds do love to bask in it and actually look for it. It's rare the day that I walk in and don't find a number of them sitting or laying on the windowsills just chilling under the sunshine but I do give laying females some extra for good measure. In the winter, I usually give them some once every other week but my birds do not eat any animal products with the exception of hard boiled egg for the female canaries during breeding time and the very seldom treat for the parrots so, if your birds get animal products on a regular basis, they are already getting vit D3 from it (no vegetal contains any vit D3, only animals produce it). And, if they are exposed to direct sunlight, cuttlebone or any other external source is more than enough.

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