enuff food?

[joeyddog]

I have a new sun conure( 12 weeks) for about a week. He was weaned about 3 days before we got him and is now on Harrisons weaning pellets and some seeds. He was eating both seeds and pellets at the bird store before we brought him home. I offer broccoli, snow peas and peppers. He looks like he shreds and chucks his food around but I can't be sure he's getting enuff. Occasionally at night he makes little mewing sounds that sound like a baby bird then when I hold the pellets in my hand he hungrily eats them. Does it sound like he needs to go back to hand feedings? He is happy, active and definitely has bonded. Definitely pooping - usually a huge one in the AM and many during the day. I don't have a gram scale and will contact the vet after the holiday unless anyone thinks its an emergency. Thanks for any thoughts

[Monica]

Suns may normally wean between 12-13 weeks old, however you shouldn't have gotten him till he was at least 15 weeks old and SURE he was weaned properly. If he's eating food now that's good, though be sure he's actually eating it and not tossing most of it around. You can feed him comfort foods such as baby food (for humans, good one is the yams or sweet potatos!) or making your own 'baby food' by cooking up some sweet potatoes, mashing them up, maybe adding in a bit of applesauce to make it smoother, and feed this to him out of a spoon. You could also make him some oatmeal or other similar type of breakfast food to feed to him.

You'll probably want to go out and buy a gram scale from a grocery outlet (Walmart for example) or maybe some sort of office supply store? (you should be able to get a digital gram scale for $32 or less). Take him in to an avian vet as soon as you can and talk about possible handfeeding him at least once a night to ensure he's getting enough food.

When chicks come home sometimes they revert back to wanting to be handfed. In the least bit, here's a big list of foods from the Healthy Bird Cookbook you can feed your sun!

Grains, Breads, and Muffins
Corn bread
Graham crackers
Mandel bread, soaked
Matzoh
Matzoh balls
Mini bagels
Oatmeal
Pastas
Rice
Rice cakes
Rice Chex
Rice Krispies
Sweetened corn cereals
Sweetened oat cereals
Toasted bread
Unsalted crackers
Unsalted, unbuttered popcorn
Wheat cereals
Whole-wheat or multigrained bread
Zweibach toast, soaked
Other grains

Vegetables
Beans
Beets
Broccoli
Carrots
Corn
Green beans
Jalapeno peppers
Lima beans
Mixed vegetables
Okra
Peas
Potatoes
Summer squash
Sweet Potatoes
Winter squash
Yams

Fruit
Apples
Bananas
Berries (all kind)
Grapes
Kiwis
Mangos
Melons
Oranges
Papaya
Pears
Star Fruit
Winter Squash
Yams

Other Foods
Hulled seeds
Millet spray
Monkey biscuits
Peanut butter sandwiches rolled in millet
Pellets
Scrambled eggs
Hard-boiled eggs
Sprouted seeds


Foods to avoid
Chocolate
Avocados
Sugar (too much is a bad thing... best kind is natural sugars)
Old Seeds
Mayonnaise products
Unwashed Fruits or Vegetables
Rhubarb (contains oxalic acid, as does spinach - feed only in small amounts)
Fruit Pits
Nuts (brazil nuts, almonds, imported nuts that have been polished/dyed)
Dairy Products (birds are lactose intolerent-feed small amounts-cleaned/cooked eggs and yogurt fine)
Mold
Caffeine
Salt
Alcohol
Food Dyes
Sulfites (found in dried fruits and veggies to help preserve them-only from health food store)