insanity strikes!

[alexispolicastro]

Stormy is refusing her morning feedings now... I have offered her everything imaginable, she looks interested then waddles away from it.. I'm going insane with frustration... she eats at night, but in the morning when she should be starving she won't eat! So after trying to give her everything by hand or spoon, I put her veggies in her cage along with moistened pellet, dry pellet, water and oatmeal mash... she spills her water and doesn't bother with anything else... she is a decent weight in the morning from the feeding the night before then by the time I weigh her at night its an alarming difference... example.... yesterday am..373.. wouldn't eat much.. 4pm 372 same thing... 8:30 pm 356 before feeding.. 426 after 65cc. This morning she was 371 and she flew up into the ceiling... and played on the table.. I was able to get 15cc into her today... I made a mash with apple juice and smashed pellet which she liked yesterday but not today.. I thought she might not be liking the Harrison pellet so I used the roudy bush.. still nothing.. of course my vet isn't open today... she looks good, sitting on her rope perch preaning and cleaning herself.. very active... any thoughts? Suggestions? Am I overreacting? :confused:

[Wingy]

Have you tried eating with her? Make something you both might enjoy and let her see you taking some from your plate/bowl and giving it to her. She might need the flock stimulation to eat. You can also do the fake out and find foods for you that resemble hers like you get Grape Nuts while she gets natural pellet crumbles. (The kids and I spent a lot of days eating fruit loops when we were encouraging a zon to try pellets.)

[alexispolicastro]

Thanks wingy... I'll try that too... its just so frustrating because this is such a crucial time for her... she will be 12 weeks old Monday... I would relax about it if I saw her eating more solids from me or on her own... I appreciate the insight... :-)

[Spock]

Hi, Jay here...Abundant feeding and consistency is extremely important. Only weigh your baby in the morning after the big poop and before eating any food. You are stressing yourself out by weighing the baby so much and you are not getting the true picture of what is going on. Keep a bowl of dry pellets and dry seeds 24/7. Change the pellets every 5-7 days until you find one she will eat. This may take years and she may never develop a taste for them. Buy a good non-sunflower seed mix. Remove all peanuts and shelled peanuts from the mix. Both Royal Large Hookbill, Volkman and Topp's have great mixes without sunflower seeds. You can give 3 tbs of sunflower seeds a day as a treat. It is very good for your bird.

Hi, Maggie here...Try this in the morning and evening...serve warm...smash (cooked, mashed sweet potato with a bit of organic low sodium peanut butter) or you can make your smash with squash cooked and mashed). Yellow, butternut and summer squashes all taste different along with yellow and dark sweet potatoes. You can make different types until you find one the baby will enjoy. This is served 100-109 degrees and you can feed it with a spoon or give it to your baby to eat on its own. On the same plate, add cooked brown rice, cooked Orzo pasta (or mini elbow, star, alphabet or vermicelli all cooked), yellow and green split peas and lentils (all cooked), fresh or frozen cooked black eyed peas, organic garbanzo beans (chick peas) rinsed extremely well (only 2-3 beans 2-3 times a week), scrambled egg (in olive oil blotted) twice a week. There will be waste...your baby will let you know what they like and their tastes will change. What they don't like today they might eat tomorrow. In the afternoon, during their rest period in their cage, put a whole leaf of dandelion, kale, Swiss chard (white), bok choy, carrot or beet tops, mustard greens...all soaked, rinsed and served wet in organic apple cider vinegar. You can hang them or loop them through the cage bars for a foraging experience and Vitamin D. On a small saucer, put one grape or one chunk of apple or one chunk of fresh pear or peach, 3 non-sulfured raisins and one thin slice of orange (any one of those plus one slice of orange) every day. You can add a couple chunks of sugar snap peas, chunked zucchini or squash, chunked partially cooked carrot, chunk of broccoli stalk and flower, red or yellow bell pepper (chunk, no green)...remember, you are only putting in a small small amount and you are giving them something to look forward to. You can leave this in their cage for a couple of hours the same time daily...this can be fed to them throughout their life...there will be waste until it is established. Later on down the line, you can try some red palm oil. Nothing to worry about right now...Back to Jay...

Hi, Nuts, sunflower seeds are an extremely important part of their diet. One almond a day can do more good than you can imagine. They supply EFA's (essential fatty acids), a half of a walnut, unsalted pistachios in the shell, roasted unsalted shell-less peanuts, pine nuts, unsalted roasted cashews...these are the best treats. This diet can be fed from a fledgling to an octogenarian...the difference between the parrots is the amount of protein, fruits and fat in their diets. As your baby develops their eating habits, they will let you know what they like and don't like...one last thing...parrots do not live on pellets alone...Thanks, Jay

 

P.S. Don't be afraid, take the baby to a vet...

[Timbersmom]

Very informative, thorough post. Thanks!

[alexispolicastro]

Jay , Maggie THANK YOU!!!! I told you Its been a while, and because she is a breed of bird I knew nothing about I read too many "opinions" instead of going with my gut...thank you again ...:-)

[Wingy]

If Stormy isn't interested in a food don't hesitate to try try try again. Jake wouldn't eat anything hot, cold, wet, or soft. He basically refused all "human food" except for chicken leg bones, hot peppers, cauliflower, cinnamon plum organic oatmeal and the occasional strip of dried sweet potato. He would eat his pellets and a few seeds. I have been offering and offering all kind of tasty tidbits from vegies to fruits to nuts and it was all refused. Today I offered him a taste of a roasted skin on potato. The look on his face was like he had died and gone to heaven. Not only did he take 2 bites of the potato but he nibbled on kale, red bell pepper, a strip of carrot, a little green bean, some yellow crook neck squash, and zucchini. He didn't take more than a few bites of each but he did swallow some.

[Jayd]

Hi, I would guess "taste of a roasted skin on potato" is a White tater? Parrots should have very little white potato, especially the skin and never the eye's. Potatoes and tomatoes are part of the Nightshade family and their foliage is

poisonous, as are potato eyes. Some toxin may be present in the potato skin

itself, particularly if green. (A tomato had to actually be taken off the

seed market several years ago because the levels in the fruit were too high

for consumption) Beans (lima, black, etc) that are too mature can be toxic,

particularly when uncooked. Dont eat the foliage either. Eggplant foliage

is toxic, because eggplant is in the same family as potatoes and tomatoes

(solanum). Sweet Potatoes are not related to white potatoes. While you can

safely feed raw sweet potato, dont let your bird eat sweet potato vine.

Sweet Potatoes are part of the morning glory family, and the vine and

foliage are potentially toxic. In summary...cook the beans, cook the white

potatoes.

[Wingy]

Thank you for the reminder Jayd especially about green on the potatoes.