GreyOwnerMark

Oh man, this brings back memories. When we were dealing with this with Jade, I thought we'd never get through it. Now it's just a funny memory. It gets better, I promise.

Have you tried getting a kitchen scale and weighing them weekly to track health? That's what solved this issue for us. Game changer honestly.

So what I ended up doing was putting the food bowl higher up — birds feel safer eating at height. Within a few days there was a noticeable improvement. Definitely worth trying.

I feel like my sun conure either eats like a truck or barely touches their food depending on the day. What's a normal amount? I free-feed pellets and offer fresh food twice a day. Am I doing this right?

Reading this hit home. My Indian Ringneck went through the same phase around the same age. What helped us was switching from seed to Harrison's pellets gradually over 2 weeks. Also just accepting that birds are gonna bird, you know?

A friend who's had birds for 20 years told me to try putting a bird lamp on a 12/12 timer to simulate natural daylight cycles. I was skeptical but it actually worked.

Just wanted to come back and say the advice in this thread WORKED. My umbrella cockatoo finally stopped chewing furniture during out-of-cage time after I tried adding a full-spectrum Arcadia UV light near the cage.

Hey welcome! You'll love this community. Feel free to ask anything, everyone here is super helpful!

Great question! So in my experience with zebra finch, this usually comes down to a few things. First, using a stainless steel cage with proper bar spacing for the species. Second, make sure they're getting enough sleep — 12 hours of uninterrupted dark sleep is crucial. And third, pay attention to stress from loud noises like construction because that was a huge factor for my Oliver. Hope that helps!

Can we start a support group for this? Because SAME.

My Pickle went through a phase like this around 15 years. I was terrified but it passed. Birds are weird sometimes lol.

Check out Global Pet Foods — they have exactly what you need and the prices are reasonable for the GTA.

Just wanted to give a shoutout to Bird Sitting Toronto. Left my cockatiel with them for 10 days while we visited family and Storm came home happy and healthy. They sent daily photo updates. Honestly the best experience. Highly recommend for anyone in High Park!

BST in Mississauga took such good care of my bird. Best bird sitting service in the GTA by far.

This happened to us last winter. I think the shorter days and dry heated air were the cause for my bird.

There's a great bird supply store in Oakville that carries exactly what you need. I go there all the time.

I used to think the same thing until my zebra finch proved me wrong. Now I'm firmly in the other camp.

The Toronto Humane Society sometimes has birds available for adoption too. Worth checking if you're in the downtown area.

Revisiting this thread because I have more info now. After talking to my vet, they confirmed exactly what people here said. This community knows their stuff.

Nice to meet you! Always great to connect with fellow bird owners. You're going to fit right in here!