Weight/diet question

[Gen120]

Sammy was 318 grams when I first got her (August 2006).

I took her to the vet in Sept 2006, and the avian vet said that she was underweight at 318 grams. I got her to gain weight pretty easily, but now she seems to be gaining more than she needs. She is flighted and is exactly 400 grams. The muscle near her keel bone is big and firm, so I guess she gained a lot of weight from being flighted and flying a lot of the day.


She eats a diet of Zupreem natural pellets (about 2 TBLS), a teaspoon or 2 of seed (no sunflower), a almond or 2 (1 in the morning, 1 in the evening), a bean/rice mix (a couple of tablespoons), and a 1x2 birdy bread square. So, my question is how can I tell if she is overweight? And should I put her on a diet or not?

All my other fids are a healthy, well rounded weight

Thanks, Victoria

 

[Sharpie]

There's a big difference between weight (on a scale) and a body condition score which estimates body fat. For example, when I got Jasper, he was 690g and a body condition score of 4+ out of 5 (5 being obese, 3 ideal, and 1 being a skeleton). Now, he's 710g and 3/5, so even though he's gained weight, he's less fat.

I asked my vet about it and she said there are three ways to tell body condition and you can't just use one if you want to be sure. One is to feel for the flight muscles over the keel- they should be firm and toned, not squishy or sunken. Next is to look at the skin- it should appear dark pink, not yellow. Since their skin is so thin you can actually see if it's muscle (red) or the fat (white) underneath and lots of yellow coverage means lots of fat coverage. Last, they're supposed to have a little 'tuck' like a dog's tummy tuck between the tail end of their keel bone and their cloaca... not all birds will let you feel them there, lol! But it should be slightly concave, not sticking out like a beer gut.

I wound up just bringing my guy in to the vet and asking her to tell me what she thought the next time he needed a nail trim, !

 

[Gen120]

Thanks Sharpie!