Button quail eating sand.... not bathing in it....

[AQuailNamedFrancis]

Howdy everyone,

Anyone know why my buttons wont stop eating the sand bath......

Its not really doing anything to them. They seem to be fine, They eat normal food and drink water n stuff. And the female still sits on her eggs? Lol??

Anyway, thanks!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

do they have grit? I think the sand is safe for them to eat.

 

[DK newbie]

It's their instinct to eat small pieces of stone to aid their digestion. They don't need it if they are only fed crumble - they can digest that just fine without grit - but the instinct is still there and the sand won't hurt them, as long as it's not all they eat.

 

[Fishkeeper]

They're using it as grit. Just keep giving them sand, they'll probably dustbathe in it eventually. A finer sand might help them get the idea. If not, it won't hurt them.

 

[Zinjifrah]

Heh, my first set of Serama chicks kept dust-bathing in their food. One would get into the dish, start bathing, and the others would stand around eating pieces of food off it. Then the next one would climb in....

Crazy birds.