2.5 month old baby

[WiredUp]

Hello everybody, this is my first post. I just brought home a 2 and a half month old baby grey. I fed her formula about 5 hours ago at the breeder and she is now happily in her cage. She likes to cuddle and when I scratch her head, she closes her eyes. I got a problem though - she doesnt want to eat anything - I tried formula, apple, cucumber etc. How many times per day and how much per serving can I feed her? Can I leave the formula in front of him in the cage? I am really nervous and shaking just like my daughter was born lol.

[judygram]

You should not have brought home an unweaned bird, that is what the breeder is supposed to do if they are reputable, burns me up when people are conned into taking on an unweaned bird when they know nothing about what they are doing. I would get in touch with the breeder and get some advice from him. I have no experience with handfeeding myself as I always allowed the breeder do that, so many things can go wrong if you are not careful. Some of the other members who have done this before will come along and give you some advice but in the meantime please read thru some of the threads in the nursery room and good luck.

[danmcq]

Welcome Wiredup. It's GreYt having you here.

 

Your grey at 10 weeks old is a very young baby. Is it a cag or a tag? Depending on which it is, will determine how many cc's are required for each feeding. As Judy said, the breeder never have sent a baby grey home until it is fully weaned. In many states sit is actually illegal to do so. Feeding a baby grey formula requires knowledge of the correct temperature of the formula, how often and the amount. You cannot just put the formula in a container in front of your baby grey, that is not how baby birds are fed by there parents or breeders. It will spoil very quickly and be too cold. Also, when feeding a baby grey there is a danger of aspirating them, meaning it went down the wrong way and in to their air sacks which many times means death of your much loved baby. I would recommend taking it back to the breeder and demanding they wean this grey properly before giving it back to if. If they refuse to do so, then have them teach you exactly how to do so.

 

Some basic instructions are the formula temperatures should be between 105 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat hand-feeding formula according to package instructions. Microwaving can cause the mixture to develop “hot spots,” which result in crop burns. Mix and heat formula according to the manufactures instructions. Use a spoon or syringe to feed the formula.

Here are a few video's of hand feeding:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_LO7kVQ8hs

 

Edited November 4, 2013 by danmcq

[WiredUp]

Hello again and thank you for replies. Unfortunately my grey has been brought over from another country as they are not available very often in Estonia. She is a CAG. She now ate about 2 teaspoons of formula and some soaked seeds and she preferrs them over formula.

[danmcq]

Oh, sorry to hear you are in that situation. Two teaspoon fulls of formula is not nearly enough. A CAG should be taking in 50 to 60 CC's of formula atleast 2 to 3 times a day. Since your using a spoon, you can bend it together further to make it more like a U to make feeding more accurate and easier to get in to that open beak. You can also offer warm oatmeal, baby food etc. along with the soak seeds, pellets as solid food in between formula feedings. The formula contains all the vitamins, minerals and proteins to ensure your grey develops properly, especially the calcium required to ensure proper bone growth and density.

[WiredUp]

Hello, quick question, as I have read I need to check the CAG crop, when its full, then I need to stop feeding. Dumb question, I know, but - where is the crop located? Can I trust bird to know when she is full or do I need to know better in case of such a young bird? I tried syringe this time and it went better . She ate about 10ml of formula. Do I need to give all the formula at once or can she eat it in some time (for example 2 hours, new food not heated obviously)?

[danmcq]

In a baby grey, you can tell how full to crop is by looking right at the lower portion of her neck and you will see a small, medium or large bulge depending on how full it is. Yes, you can feed more new formula in a few hours since she is not eating it all in one feeding. One thing I should mention. It is important that you get a digital scale preferably with a wooden perch or block on it to weigh her with daily. Weigh her first thing in the morning before feeding her right after she has let her morning bomb go. This will allow you to establish a weight baseline so you will know if she is losing or gaining weight. At her age, she should be putting on more weight until it is fledging time time when the instinct to learn to fly kicks in and they automatically start eating less and losing weight to make flight easier for them until they get those chest muscles built to increase lift. They normally start to fledge around 12 weeks of age.

 

Also, here is a great link on handfeeding: http://theparrotuniversity.com/arthandfeeding2

Edited November 4, 2013 by danmcq

[WiredUp]

I got the first full formula supper in her stomach, she was definitely hungry as I couldn´t feel the crop at the beginning but felt a soft "ball" on the bottom part of her neck. + she ate it as fast as I could give it to her. One more question - I bought several seed mixes, sunflower seeds etc, + I received one pack of "balls" for baby food and one pack of baby food which is mixed with water. For weaning off (which I should start doing at 10 weeks, right?) I was recommended to give the second mixture once in a while, and "balls" softened in some warm water twice a day. I received little instruction and there are no baby foods in our animal stores, there is literally nothing for greys in our shops, thankfully I can get some proper adult grey food from a breeder not far. What do you think about the weaning food and should i try to blend the balls with water or try to get her to eat them on her own? Sorry if I dont make myself too understandable as English is not my everyday language. Big thanks for every detail from you guys so far! I know I can do it if someone helps me a bit every now and then.

[danmcq]

It sounds to me like the balls you soften in water are what we call pellets. They are hard and to get your baby grey to start eating them, you can soften them in water or a juice such as apple to make them more appealing to her. As far as weaning goes, they basically do it themselves over time. She well over time start eating less and less formula. You don't want to rush it as some breeders do. I personally believe in abundance weaning and feeding. What it means is as your baby grey ages over the next coming weeks, provide portions of vegetables, cooked beans, a little fruit like apple, grapes, nectarines, apricots and seed mixes, nuts like SHELLED and roasted peanuts, almonds, walnuts etc. They will eat a little and waste a lot of it. But, that exposes them to a wide variation of tastes and textures which keeps them entertained and well fed.

[WiredUp]

Thanks a lot, dan. It really means a lot to have someone who helps you out when you are in trouble.

[JeffNOK]

You have been given some good advice. I wish you the best of luck and please keep us all informed with your progress.

[WiredUp]

Few more questions as I want to be sure that I´m doing everything correctly. My baby is very social and climbs around the cage, looking for attention. How much can i keep her outside of her cage? When would be the best time to start teaching her (step up for example, although she is already comfortable stepping up, she hasn´t been actually taught it)? How much water do they need? Is the water they get from the formula enough or should I be worried that she hasn´t touched her water? I have been playing around with my finger inside the water cup and dropping some drops into her mouth with my finger from the bowl to show her that this is water, but no luck so far.

[danmcq]

You can have her out of the cage as long as you have time to watch her. Make certain you have some food items and a water bowl in the area your in with her so she can eat and explore the water. Teaching her is from day one. Step up is the first thing they normally will learn and it sounds like she is already getting familiar with it.

 

In regards water intake. A baby grey gets all the water they need from the formula. But, when they start weaning, they also start taking little sips of water as well. Until a baby grey is both eating food on their own and drinking water, they are no weaned. How are the feedings going and how much is she taking in?

[WiredUp]

She got a full formula meal morning and evening today, plus had soaked seeds all day in front of her. She has eaten about 2 big soup spoons of seeds, so it seems to me that she is doing ok.. I am still looking to buy a scale and hopefully can get it tomorrow. She is already talking with my cockatiel and calling eachother once in a while (at least I think it´s so, because if one calls, the other answers) which is very nice to hear. Also, I think I need to make a perch to height about one or two inches, because she likes to sit on the big perch in the middle of the cage but it is too high up and she hasnt got the balance sorted out yet.

[danmcq]

It sounds like she is doing great Yes, the perches should be lowered until she has better balance. Your doing a GreYt job!

[WiredUp]

I gave her some dry pellets as she wouldnt want the soaked ones. Is it ok? I actually got the paperwork for her now, she is actually 12 and a half weeks old! I was gonna feed her the evenings formula in an hour but she is munching on the dry pellets without a problem now.. Or is it too soon?

[judygram]

I would continue to offer the feedings as long as she will eat them, let her decide when she is ready to stop as it isn't going to hurt if she continues to take the handfeedings, as she eats more and more of other foods she will start to refuse the feedings but let it be her decision. You are doing wonderful with her and yes do work on getting her to step up and have her out of the cage for as much time as you can allow.

[WiredUp]

In addition to some dry pellets, she had 50ml of formula, so alltogether she had a nice meal. She is now talking with us in her baby language, every noise and movement makes me so happy

[danmcq]

Good appetite! Don't you just love that "Baby Talk"? I miss that. They are such an indescribable joy.

[WiredUp]

Have any of you gave your friends mung beans that have sprouted? They sell them in my local supermarket and they look good, but I have read that sprouted things suck in heavy metals and should not be eaten by humans. Don´t know what side to take here. Another food under question is boiled red beans also sold in vacuum package. Yay or nay? I have also read different opinions about fruit as general - some say give only as treats because they have sugar in them, some say they are valuable part of the diet.

[danmcq]

Large beans like Anasazi, Black, Fava, Kidney, Lima, Mung, Navy, Pinto, Soy, are not suggested for sprouting. These legumes can cause toxicity and remain difficult to digest. Their raw flavor is also very bad. If choose to serve these to your bird they MUST be soaked for a minimum of 8 hours, water drained and beans rinsed well, and then cooked by bringing them to a full boil, boiling uncovered for 10 minutes, covered and simmered for another 20 minutes.

 

If you want to sprout healthy items for your grey, i would sprout seeds, not beans. Thats my opinion anyway.

[Timbersmom]

I'm curious now. Following is what is in the mix I sprout for Timber (Big Bird mix from sprout people):

 

Bird Sprout Mix - Big Bird

 

Almonds (shelled), Sunflower (in shell), Wheat, Spelt (hulled), Kamut, Triticale, Barley (hulless), Oats (hulless), Millet, Buckwheat (in hull), Brown Rice, Green Lentils, Crimson Lentils, French Blue Lentils and Red Lentils, Adzuki Beans, Mung Beans, Black Garbanzos, Brown Garbanzos and Large Beige Garbanzos, Green Peas, Speckled Peas and Yellow Peas, Blue and Yellow Corn

[danmcq]

Well, I personally would not use the Mung Beans in the sprout mix. There are some in the parrot community that do though with no apparent health issues displayed in their parrots. I cook all bean mixes and freeze in small individual baggies and serve every couple of days. I only sprout seeds sometimes for a change up the birds seem to enjoy.

[Timbersmom]

I don't know what a mung bean looks like so I'm not sure if Timber eats them or not. I keep sprouted seed available all the time with his other fresh food. His other bean mixes are cooked. I just got curious when I saw this question as to whether there were any beans in his mix. I knew I'd seen garbanzo in there, but didn't realize there were any other beans.

[WiredUp]

What do you guys suggest as trick treats? I am trouble finding a snack that she likes more than the other food. She will try and chew anything but wont often care for another bite. With tiels it is easy - they looove their millet spray