Handfeeding 2 month old Alex baby

Hi,

I got an Alexandrine parrot baby (2 months old) five days ago, so now it's about 9 weeks old. When I got it the breeder told me that it was on two 25ml handfeeds a day (one morning and one night) and to keep feeding it for another three weeks. The breeder also gave me the formula and syringe with which to feed it.

The Alex has been doing fairly well so far – isn't afraid of stepping up on my arm, likes to be petted on the nape (most of the time), seems quite healthy and active (loves chewing wood and cardboard), and is eating soft foods from my hand (wet bread, boiled chickpeas, cashews) and also drinking some water on its own.

The problem is when I tried to handfeed it with the syringe it kept running and flying away from it – I had to hold its head and force my fingers between its beak to feed it. The breeder said that this is normal for a bird this age. Obviously, it was a very frustrating experience for me and the bird (I do not have experience with handfeeding). Also, I couldn't get any kind of feeding response when feeding it from the syringe (it would just make needy screeching noises, “chee, chee”, sometimes even after I had fed it).

Anyway, I was handfeeding it chickpeas from my fingers the other day when it began making those screeching noises again, opening its beak wide open and bobbing head up and down (basically asking to be fed). So I mashed the peas and put them in its mouth at the joint of the beak, and it began kind of vibrating its head as it swallowed the pea, which I think was its feeding response - seems like the only way I can get a proper feeding response is by using my fingers (I once again got the same response when feeding mashed rice this way), which is impractical, time-consuming and doesn't really work with handfeeding formula :/

So, what should a proper feeding response look like?

Is it normal to struggle handfeeding 7-8 week old Alexandrines or should they readily accept the feed?

At what age do Alexandrines normally wean? (since my parrot is eating fairly well on its own and refuses the feed, I have decided to handfeed it only once a day)

Also, what should be the right size and weight of a 9-week old Alex? My Alex is capable of flying fairly well (even though the breeder gave it a partial wing clip, so it doesn't gain altitude) and looks fully feathered. I've read that it's normal for baby parrots to lose some weight at this stage (fledgling), is it true?

UPDATE:

I tried spoon feeding tonight and it was a (comparatively) success. The Alex was screeching while bobbing its head up and down as I mixed the feed and actually came towards me as I approached it with the spoon.. I also didn't have to struggle nearly as much with holding it. Weird, since the breeder told me that he syringe-fed it

Pics of my baby

I'm afraid I can't help with handfeeding as I've never handfed an Alex. I just wanted to say welcome to the forum and your little baby is *gorgeous*. Good luck with the feeding!

i am no expert in hand feeding but i do have some experience.

when i bought my baby home from the breeders he was 11 weeks old. He was still on 2 feeds a day even though he was eating on his own.
You say you have only had him 5 days? please dont cut back his feedings just yet. it took Oxy 3 days to enthusiastically take food from the spoon, he was off his food due to the stress of the move.
does your baby cry much? this is s/him telling you they are hungry.
Did you breeder show you how to feed your new baby? the right temperature, the right consistency? these are very important aspects to hand feeding a baby.
if it is to hot it can cause crop burn
if it us to cold it wont be digested properly and bacteria will build up in the crop causing sour crop.
the same as above can happen if it is too thick.
if it is to runny it maybe digested to quickly thus your baby not getting the nutrition that is required.

Do you know how to tell if the crop is full or empty.

These are all very important aspects to weaning your baby, and may be the difference to a healthy bird or one that struggles with its health.

On average Alex's are weaned around 12weeks. 9 weeks seems a bit to soon. yes some will wean early and refuse the formula and be fine, but as you described he took to the spoon enthusiastically in which to me seems he is not ready to be weaned.
Have fresh fruit and veg available for him to pick at as well as pellets (or seed if that what you are choosing) and monitor how much he eats and what he just playing with. This is the age in which they will start to experiment with their food, offer a wide variety but just in small amounts as a lot will just get wasted as he will play with it.

Good luck, if you have any questions or are unsure on anything please feel free to ask myself in private message or the board, there are many helpful people here.

@gemini84 thanks so much

yes the baby cries (if by that you mean a needy screech that sounds like "chee, chee") but usually in the morning and around sunset. i'm in touch with the breeder, he said that he may also do that if he wants to play or if he's excited to see me.
i know its time to feed if it bobs its head up and down along with the crying, is that right?

sadly, no, i didn't have him demonstrate how to handfeed. he told me that i'd have to hold its head and gradually empty 25 ml of the feed from the syringe into the baby's beak (my fault, i should have had him demonstrate it). he did tell me how to prepare the formula though (he told me to heat the water then let it cool down to lukewarm, and mix it to the consistency of baby cereal).

And yes, I need help with how to tell if the crop is empty or not. I know that it's quite prominent in younger chicks, but my bird is pretty much fully feathered, so i stop feeding once its feeding response stops (it stops crying and bobbing its head).

@Betrisher thanks so much for the kind words, i know he's gorgeous too so are your Barney and Madge (just saw their pics in the album)

the crop is the sac on your babies neck below its beak. when the baby has had enough to eat the crop should be full. when the crop is full it shoukd feel like a firm spongy ball, not to hard and not to soft... if that makes sence.

The sound your refering to in the morning and evening is him crying for food. when i was feeding oxy, he only really started bobbing his head once he seen orheard me making the food.

i just found this website, it gives you a directions on hand rearing your baby.
Home-Guidelines for Hand-Feeding Baby Birds
as you will see the food temp should be between 39-41 degrees c, you need to keep it at that temp whilst feeding, i found having a bowl of boiling water to sit my food bowl in helps keep it warm but if left to long can over heat it.

Im sorry i can not help you on the weight side as i didnt have oxy at that age,and have never managed to get them to sit still long enough to weigh them. i am a member of an alexandrine face book page, so i will ask there for you.

According to a member on the fb page about 210gr but waiting for further confirmation

call the breeder. Personally I would take the bird back with me and have the breeder show you how to feed it.
It seems that something doesn't add up.

Thanks so much for the replies everyone!

Good news, I've switched from syringe-feeding to spoon feeding with great results so far. It's kind of wasteful and messy, but I get great feeding response (the baby starts bobbing his head up and down as soon as he sees me coming with the mug and spoon) and today I didn't even have to hold his head, he opened his mouth and I dripped the feed into his mouth

Maybe he was just taking time getting used to his new home and my handfeeding technique (which isn't great) and that's why his feeding response wasn't good during the first few days, or maybe I've gotten better with a few days' experience, whatever the case

@gemini84 about the crop, yes I've seen it on baby birds it's quite prominent, but I'm not sure how to identify it on a fully feathered bird. If you could give some pictures for references that would be great.

I currently give him two feeds daily each about 25ml (as per the breeder's instructions) and he's eating soft foods and drinking water on his own, but I feel like he's still somewhat hungry (he often makes the crying sound when he sees me). I'm thinking of bumping his feed to 30 ml each. Besides, a lot of the feed ends up on the floor and the wall (for this reason, I try to make a little extra amount, but still, spoon feeding is messy)
How much quantity quantity of feed I should give a 9 week old Alex on two feeds daily?

Also, the breeder told me that I could use baby cereal instead of the handfeeding formula for one of the two feeding sessions. Will this help in the weaning process? (Is it okay to feed baby cereal to parrots?)

sorry i cant help you with a pic of a full crop, you may need to google it, but you should be able to feel it if you feel around his neck. try this on your next feed. before feeding gently feel around his "throat" you shouldnt really feel anything, then once you have finished the feed do it again. this time you shoukd be able to feel a squishy lump, this will be his crop.

thats great news that he is now taking to his food. when i was feeding oxy at 11weeks, i never actually measured what i was giving him, id just make up a batch and if he ate ut all great, if not in the bin it went. i woukd just feed him till he stopped taking it.

i never gave him cereal but i did mix in some organic puree'd baby food with it to get him used to the flavours of other foods and on occassions id jyst give him a small feed of warmed baby food.

id suggest rather then making 25ml, try making 50ml and feed him till he wont take any more. when owning a oarrot of any age, there is always wastage and always mess.

I dunno if this helps or not, but when I was hand feeding a baby galah, I got a McDonald's spoon (small enough for birdie beak) and heated it with a flame. I folded it a bit to make a narrower channel and reduce splashage from the feeding. It worked well for us.

Bending the sides of the spoon up like a measuring scoop for flour will help. If you google images and type in bent spoons for parrot feeding you will see what I am talking about. I never dealt with this, but this concept makes perfect sense.

@gemini84 yes that's kind of what i do as well. usually whenever i come with the feeding cup and spoon he eagerly comes towards me, gulps down about 3 or 4 spoons like a good boy and then runs off to play..

@Betrisher I use one of those miniature plastic spoons that come with ice cream cups (thoroughly washed of course). the smaller the spoon, the less wastage (it fits nicely in his mouth too )

I've located his cage near a window to allow passage of fresh air (don't worry there's no direct sunlight), and today after his feeding session he ran off to play on the windowsill (which is quite dusty) and started licking around, then he made these little sneezing noises, about 2-3 in succession.
i freaked out for a minute, but he didn't show any signs of distress afterwards and happily went on about his business. he also sometimes makes these sneezing noises when i mist him (and a couple times it's happened during feeding). is this sneezing normal or should i be worried? he doesn't do it often though and there are no signs of respiratory distress otherwise (nares are clean, he's quite active and vocal).

updating the thread for a little help..

today i was handfeeding soaked chickpeas to my baby from my fingers (he BEGS for it) and i noticed that he was coughing or sneezing visibly for a few seconds, about 5-6 coughs in a row (and he coughed up a little bit of chickpea mush)..then he continued as normal about his business and went on begging for more.. his nares are clean and he's quite active, good feeding response too so i don't think there should be a problem.. but i just wanted to make sure

also, is it healthy for a parrot to sneeze occasionally a few times a day? when i'm playing with baby i notice that he occasionally sneezes (not continuously though, just one sneeze at a time and then goes about his business as usual).. this is nothing to be worried about is it?

@gemini84 i'll soon post a link of the video of me handfeeding chickpeas to baby (youtube is uploading very sluggishly) and you let me know if this is what a good feeding response in a healthy alex baby looks like