Button quail chicks eating bedding

[ButtonBag]

My buttons have been on pine shavings for 2.5 days now (they are just over a week old) but I've noticed some of them still picking up and swallowing small pieces of the bedding. They all still eat their normal food and drink water. Is this going to cause a problem?

 

[FortCluck]

Remove the bedding and use paper towels until they’re older. You do not want them the get clogged somewhere from eating shavings.

 

[ButtonBag]

Thank you, I've moved them back onto paper towels (wow they really hate being picked up…)

What should I be looking out for in case the bedding has harmed them? I'm always so worried about these little things!

 

[FortCluck]

Thank you, I've moved them back onto paper towels (wow they really hate being picked up…)

What should I be looking out for in case the bedding has harmed them? I'm always so worried about these little things!

You’ll notice their crops not emptying and that they’re not eating or drinking (due to their crops not emptying and being full). I’m sure they’ll be fine, but I think buttons are even more curious than Coturnix quail so I’m not shocked they’re eating the bedding.

 

[ButtonBag]

Thanks, this is my first time keeping any sort of bird so I was reading up on how their crops work over the weekend. I'm not sure I'd be able to recognise an empty or full one as they're so small and fluffy, and I can't really check by feel because they despise being handled! But I will make sure to keep a close eye on them. I already track if each one is eating, drinking and pooping each day, so hopefully I'd be able to spot if anything was wrong there.

I expected them to be curious and eat a couple of bits on the first day, but got a bit worried when I saw one of them still doing it this morning. Such a shame as they were enjoying taking little dust baths in the shavings (and wow did it reduce the smell )

Thank you so much for your advice! I'll keep them on the towels for a while longer. Do you know when they might be old enough to go back on the shavings?

 

[ButtonBag]

One of them is doing a sort of gagging motion now and again, stretching his neck out and opening his beak…

Update: I haven't seen him do that in a while but he did spend a good 30 seconds shaking his head quickly and scratching at his face a lot. He stopped that and started eating again immediately though. I'm hoping he just had some down stuck in his beak or something though as it was so sudden

 

[ButtonBag]

They're uh… still eating a lot of poop at 9/10 days old too. Is that normal? Can they process that without grit?

I've been changing the towels 3 times a day but they're little poop machines.