The Coollapet Calcium & Charcoal Mineral Bell is the same bell-shaped calcium block as the plain version with charcoal blended in, supplied as a counter box of twelve.

Key Features

• A calcium block with charcoal added - the box is labelled Calcium Charcoal, not charcoal on its own.
• Bell shape with a wire hanger that clips between the cage bars.
• Coollapet lists it as a daily essential for finches, canaries and budgerigars.
• Something hard to chip at, which caged birds otherwise go without.
• Box of 12, which suits a breeder or a household running several cages.

Available in: Coollapet makes the same bell in plain calcium.

Good To Know

• Charcoal is the reason to think twice. It is often sold as absorbing gut toxins, but it does not pick and choose, and long-term free access has been linked to binding vitamins A, B and K. Offer it occasionally rather than leaving it in the cage permanently, and use the plain calcium bell for everyday.
• A mineral block is a supplement, not a diet. Birds already eating a formulated pellet get calcium in the pellet and can be over-supplemented, so ask your vet before adding one.
• Breeding hens are the birds that genuinely need extra calcium. A hen straining on the cage floor, or weak in the legs, may be egg-bound or calcium-deficient - that is an emergency, and not something a mineral block will fix.
• Hang it away from - and never directly above - a food or water bowl, and replace it once it is soiled or chewed down to the hanger.
• A bird that stops playing, sits fluffed on the cage floor or goes quiet is showing the first signs of illness - birds hide sickness until they can no longer manage it. That is an urgent avian vet visit, not a wait-and-see.