Weaning problems!

[suzyQ1000and2]

Hi, can someone help me out here? I've just purchased a new bird, and I'm having trouble weaning him. He's been on the formula for five months now. I keep a seed and pellet mixture in his cage at all times. He hardly touches it. Now and then when he does, he only eats the seeds. I know he should stop eating the formula, so I just stopped feeding it to him. He's been off ot for two days. He poops about 5 times a day, (small ones) and its green. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Tom Lawless]

What kind of bird are you talking about. I have a grey that was a little over four months old before he weaned himself.

I know little on the subject other than you should be very careful force weaning a bird. Most of the things I have read say let the bird decide when. Forcing it can bring on behavior problems.

Of course if you checked with a vet or a breeder who told you to do this then disregard my comments.

[KDK241]

Yes, it would help to know what kind of bird. The poops can be green if he is only eating the seed but I have to agree, I don't think you should force wean him. I'm not an expert at all but he should let you know when he is ready to be weaned.

[SDavid]

Read your profile and I guess youre talking about your Sun Conure. Smaller birds generally take a shorter time to wean so I'm guessing that he's already weaned. Remember that birds will accept formula after they are technically weaned. Refusing formula is not an accurate definition of a weaned bird-that's just a part of it. I know many adult birds that will accept formula from a dropper if offered.

A "weaned" bird is a bird that is eating on it's own and maintaining a healthy weight.

If you need more detailed information on your particular bird, call the store where you purchased him and get their advice. If he's both accepting formula AND eating on his own he may already be weaned. Again, nobody can make that judgement over the internet. You should call the store/breeder.

Also, birds will, if given a choice, choose seeds over any other food in their cage. Birds don't understand what "eating healthy" is they just know what tastes best to them and is the most fun to eat. And that's seeds.

I personally don't believe that one should ever completely omit seeds from a birds diet for various reasons (I wont go into that). But, you should try to convert your bird to pellets. And get him to eat fresh fruits and veggies. Make sure not only to offer variety but that your bird is actually eating variety. And remember, diet is only one part of a happy healthy bird. There's exercise, mental and physical stimulation, etc.

Good Luck.

[Monica]

Birds should poop every 15 minutes or so.

If he's not eating on his own and still begging for formula, then you need to take him to an avian vet to see if he has a bacterial or fungal infection.

[tielfan]

Besides seeing a vet to rule out other problems, you can experiment with other ways to get him to eat besides feeding him with a syringe. Try offering formula on a spoon - it's still baby food, but if you hold the spoon level instead of tipping it into his beak, he has to use a more grown-up beak motion to pick it up. You can also hold foods that you want him to eat in your hand and see if he'll pick them up. He already associates hands with food, so this might be more tempting than picking up food from a cup.

Spread some food out on a flat surface (like a table) and tap around it with your finger like a bird pecking for food. This technique works best for ground feeders and I don't know if conures fall into that category, but it might help. With my tiel chicks, it seems like foraging behavior comes MUCH more naturally to them than taking food from a plate or cup. It seems like they don't really need to see another bird do it first - if it's spread out on the 'ground' or hanging up like a plant, they automatically want to beak it, and beaking leads to eating.

P.S. Baby birds in a new home will sometimes regress and need handfeeding even if they were fully weaned before the move. So be patient and give your bird some time to adjust to his new home before you tackle the weaning issue too vigorously.

[suzyQ1000and2]

Thanks everyone for all your helpful advice! He's eating the pellets well now, but i'm not sure he's eating enough. He's pretty much weaned, because he dosen't want the formula. I mean, he'll eat it, but he dosen't show much intrest in it anymore. My only concern now is I'm not sure he's eating enough. He definately does not excrete wastes every 15 minutes. How can you tell if your bird is at the proper weight without weighing him? Thanks again everyone!!!

[kellywess]

Did you take him off of the formula "cold turkey"? No pun itended... serious question here.

[suzyQ1000and2]

No. He was still eating it, but not as vigorously as he was when he was very young. Then he started to eat the food, so I stopped hand feeding.

[xafsmom]

Without sounding like a ...itch here, but why not weigh him? You can buy a digital gram scale for 20 bucks. Like so: . Especially with hand-feeding babies and birds under a year, it's pretty important. My scale calibrates with my vet's, so I know it's pretty dead-on. It takes all your concern away because you KNOW if your bird's maintaining his weight. It's also piece of cake easy to get the birds to just step down on it. Plus, if you want to put a perch on it, you can zero it out after putting the perch on it, and you'll still get an accurate weight.