Hi. Since the Starling Talk site is down, I am posting this message in a few places for advice from fellow starling parents.
My avian vet believes that starlings need to be on a an iron restricted diet or they will get iron storage disease that leads to liver and heart damage. I have found all the research that I can, and there are a few that do show diets with higher iron can lead to higher iron levels in the liver. Here are the few I have been able to find:
Ward RJ, Smith T, Henderson GM, Peters TJ. Investigation of the aetiology of haemosiderosis in the starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Avian Pathol. 1991 Jun;20(2):225-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/03079459108418759
Susan D. Crissey, Ann M. Ward, Susan E. Block, and Michael T. Maslanka "HEPATIC IRON ACCUMULATION OVER TIME IN EUROPEAN STARLINGS (STURNUS VULGARIS) FED TWO LEVELS OF IRON," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 31(4), 491-496, (1 December 2000). https://doi.org/10.1638/1042-7260(2000)031[0491:HIAOTI]2.0.CO;2
Geoffrey P. Olsen, Karen E. Russell, Ellen Dierenfeld, Michelle D. Falcon, and David N. Phalen "Impact of Supplements on Iron Absorption From Diets Containing High and Low Iron Concentrations in the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)," Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 20(2), 67-73, (1 June 2006). https://doi.org/10.1647/2004-032.1
Bob Seibels, Nadine Lamberski, Christopher R. Gregory, Kerri Slifka, and Ann E. Hagerman "EFFECTIVE USE OF TEA TO LIMIT DIETARY IRON AVAILABLE TO STARLINGS (STURNUS VULGARIS)," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 34(3), 314-316, (1 September 2003). https://doi.org/10.1638/02-088
However, I have yet to find evidence that the increases in stored iron actually leads to damage for European starlings. (I know it does in other species.) In fact, the few times the livers were examined in several of the studies, they showed no changes even after the increases.
I am explaining all of this because my starling who is seven is not doing well on the Mazuri softball diet for iron sensitive birds. I actually started him out on the diet from starlingtalk but he had a lot of GI issues that got better after we switched (but we also tried a medication for parasites around the same time, too) so it may not have been the diet. That is a story for another day. The point is that he is not doing good on the softbill diet. His molts are especially terrible and he is so lethargic he is literally laying down for parts of the day. He has hyperkeratosis on his feet, too.
I remember hearing people say their starlings lived into their late teens or even longer on the cat food/layer mash diet or Mazuri insectivore diet. For those of you who care for starlings, have you ever had problems with iron storage disease or heard of another starling that had actual liver damage? My vet wants me to try switching to 20% of the Mazuri insectivore diet, but I am really thinking about trying to switch him all the way because that change might help but I am worried it won't be enough.
I know this is a lot of information, but I would really appreciate hearing advice from a fellow starling parent. Thanks.
My avian vet believes that starlings need to be on a an iron restricted diet or they will get iron storage disease that leads to liver and heart damage. I have found all the research that I can, and there are a few that do show diets with higher iron can lead to higher iron levels in the liver. Here are the few I have been able to find:
Ward RJ, Smith T, Henderson GM, Peters TJ. Investigation of the aetiology of haemosiderosis in the starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Avian Pathol. 1991 Jun;20(2):225-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/03079459108418759
Susan D. Crissey, Ann M. Ward, Susan E. Block, and Michael T. Maslanka "HEPATIC IRON ACCUMULATION OVER TIME IN EUROPEAN STARLINGS (STURNUS VULGARIS) FED TWO LEVELS OF IRON," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 31(4), 491-496, (1 December 2000). https://doi.org/10.1638/1042-7260(2000)031[0491:HIAOTI]2.0.CO;2
Geoffrey P. Olsen, Karen E. Russell, Ellen Dierenfeld, Michelle D. Falcon, and David N. Phalen "Impact of Supplements on Iron Absorption From Diets Containing High and Low Iron Concentrations in the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)," Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 20(2), 67-73, (1 June 2006). https://doi.org/10.1647/2004-032.1
Bob Seibels, Nadine Lamberski, Christopher R. Gregory, Kerri Slifka, and Ann E. Hagerman "EFFECTIVE USE OF TEA TO LIMIT DIETARY IRON AVAILABLE TO STARLINGS (STURNUS VULGARIS)," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 34(3), 314-316, (1 September 2003). https://doi.org/10.1638/02-088
However, I have yet to find evidence that the increases in stored iron actually leads to damage for European starlings. (I know it does in other species.) In fact, the few times the livers were examined in several of the studies, they showed no changes even after the increases.
I am explaining all of this because my starling who is seven is not doing well on the Mazuri softball diet for iron sensitive birds. I actually started him out on the diet from starlingtalk but he had a lot of GI issues that got better after we switched (but we also tried a medication for parasites around the same time, too) so it may not have been the diet. That is a story for another day. The point is that he is not doing good on the softbill diet. His molts are especially terrible and he is so lethargic he is literally laying down for parts of the day. He has hyperkeratosis on his feet, too.
I remember hearing people say their starlings lived into their late teens or even longer on the cat food/layer mash diet or Mazuri insectivore diet. For those of you who care for starlings, have you ever had problems with iron storage disease or heard of another starling that had actual liver damage? My vet wants me to try switching to 20% of the Mazuri insectivore diet, but I am really thinking about trying to switch him all the way because that change might help but I am worried it won't be enough.
I know this is a lot of information, but I would really appreciate hearing advice from a fellow starling parent. Thanks.
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