Like many animals weight is a key factor that helps us distinguish whether a Parrot is healthy, sick, eating properly or not eating at all. Weight helps us to assess the body condition and determine whether it's a seasonal or environmental change, a diet change, or if they might be sick and just hiding it very well. Unfortunately, detecting the weight loss of your Parrot is not possible without a scale. By the time you can actually see, with your eyes, that your feathered friend is falling ill, it may be too late.
Weighing your Parrot is very important because a Parrot will instinctively mask any signs of illness to avoid showing weakness to predators or flock mates. Your Parrot retains this instinctive behaviour and will do its best to hide an illness. This is where you come in - weighing your Parrot regularly will provide an early warning that something may be wrong if there is a significant change in their weight.
Most Parrots weigh only a few hundred grams or less, and a small change can be significant, so you should use a scale made specifically for those weight units and ranges, such as the 5000 Gram Scale, which includes a perch to make weighing easy.
Always weigh your Parrot around the same time of day as their daily meals or the morning poop can make as much as a 10 gram difference! Plan to weigh your Parrot at least once daily over the first few weeks to help you determine weight change patterns. Refer to our Resources - Bird Weights page for average weights of several species and sub-species of Parrots. Some changes in weight can be due to the seasons changing, the amount of food ingested, and not an illness coming on. Record the amount each time and also record typically what's happening with your Parrot i.e. 'off' it's food, environmental changes, if they are hormonal or molting, etc. Recording will assist you in case a vet trip is needed - this way you'll be able to relay your findings to your avian vet. Typically if your Parrot's weight loss is 2% or greater (for instance, a difference of 7 grams in an African Grey that normally weighs 350 grams) it should go to a vet immediately. Weekly weighing is recommended throughout your Parrots life unless there is reason to weigh daily.
Weighing your Parrot should become apart of your regular care routine just like feeding your Parrot and cleaning its cage. Keeping a watchful eye will result in a healthier Parrot, which in turn results in a happier Parrot.
Coupon for our Parrot Scale is BLOG5000