Curious

[Noahs Ark]

I have a question about my Princess Parrot Tinkerbell. I bought her from a breeder (who sexed her by needle and thread method) we will see how accurate that method was?? So far it seem correct, she has duller colors.
I am curious about why she seems behind in getting feathers?
I got her about 8 weeks ago from the breeder and I am hand feeding her. She is down to one feeding now, by me, and the rest cheerios and seeds and of course drinking water. I went on vacation, so the breeder took her back and babysat her for one week. He said I "spoiled" her and was holding back her development??? He got her on seeds and cheerios with 2 feedings instead of three. Now she is better for feathers, but still not full feathers.
What am I doing wrong??? The breeder just says she will come and not to worry...but the other princess (sister to Tink) it passed away, due to a feeding complication. I am thinking I got Tink early (Her eyes opened to me, so she sees me as mama!) The breeder said this would be a great way to have a connection to me. What can I do to help her play catch up and get her fully feathered, and not scragally. She is starting to fledge and running into stuff, silly girl. I should also explain that I have hand fed before, my baby Scooby doo (cockatiel) and I have raised different wild birds abandoned by their mama's. So I know my way around birds. That is the only reason the breeder let me have birds to hand raise on my own.
I would love advice, thanks.

[Newticus]

So your princess parrot is just over 2 months?
Have her flight feathers fully come in? And what do you mean she is not fully feathered?
not being fully feathered under the wings and sometimes the nape of the neck is normal. Those feathers for some reason seem to take longer to grow in. Is she scruffy looking?
If so maybe a few baths and she would look a whole lot better?
You might want to get her on a better diet. Seeds are not very nutrious and neither are cheerios. Why don't you try a parrot formulated pellet diet and suppliment that with fruit, vegetables and nuts rather then just seeds. What hand feeding formula have you been using as well?
I don't know what brands you have access to but Hagen's Tropican pellets are great (not the high performance formula, not needed at this point) Also most parrots will readily eat it. If she is resisting a little try mixing fruit juice in with it to make it soft and sweet.

Hope that helps

Melanie

[Noahs Ark]

Thanks I will try that, I wasn't too sure what to feed her. The breeder feed seeds, but I really wanted both of my birds to eat pellets. I just was not sure that I could feed them the same thing, can I?? My Scooby girl is a cockatiel, and Tink is the princess. I was feeding Kaytee Exact formula, and I am about to eliminate the last feeding for her, but I want to make sure she is getting enough nutrients. She is eating fruits, she seems to like pellets (YEA!), millet, and some other seeds from the cockatiel mixture.
When I last wrote, she still needed some feathers on her neck and just looks scruffy. She still looks scruffy, not smooth, but she is doing little flying stints now. She flys the most when she wants to sit on my shoulder, she gets pretty excited when she hears me.
I didn't realize I could give her a bath yet!!! I thought you had to be fully feathered or they got a chill. Thanks for the great answers to my questions.

[Niva2gr]

That's why we should leave the handfeeding to the experts. I got my cockatiel as soon as she got weaned and i don't thing we can get any closer. If i were you i would go with the avian vet's advice.
And something for the breeder:
Cheerios? Why give such a sugar dipped treat to such a young bird? I am not neither a breeder, nor an expert but this just seems strange to me.
As for the bird, a breeer friend of mine told me that he feeds his birds olive oil during the molting season. Olive oil helps with the feather growth and does good to the bird's heart. Maybe you could try and mix their everyday pellets with some olive oil o, if they eat vegetables, rinse them with some olive oil, just like a salad dressing.

[Newticus]

I don't think there is anything wrong with hand feeding your own baby, it doesn't sound like you had an issue actually hand feeding, just their dry diet.
plain multi grain cheerios can be used as a treat, but not for part of their main diet. Yes you should be able to feed both birds the same pellets as they are sort of close in size.
Keep with with the fresh fruit and vegetables. You can also give them cooked rice and pasta (whole wheat is best)
If you are going to bath your bird, just don't do it too late in the day so she is fully dry by bed time. Since she has most of her feathers heat loss shouldn't be an issue. It will also help a great deal with feather condition.

I would be careful about over doing olive oil as it is high in fat even if it's mono-saturated fat which helps battle cholesterol in people I would use it sparingly with birds.

Melanie

[Noahs Ark]

Sorry I did not reply, I didn't realize their were more replies to my question, took me awhile to find it again too. You are correct in recognizing the hand feeding was not an issue is was the dry. The cheerios were all bran, and she truly loved them, just too much and that is why I grew concerned. I knew it was not enough to be healthy. She was turning it into pablem in her mouth with constant water. She is eating a pellet diet now with some seeds for treats. Now I am waiting for her feathers on her head to fill out. She is looking kind of "butch" not like a "princess at all" LOL.
Thanks again