Weaning Regression?

Hi everyone, long time lurk, first time poster here. I have a question and hopefully someone here will have been through the same thing.

So, King Rufus is a CAG. I bought him when he was 4 weeks old, he is now 21 weeks old. Yes, I know people don't like the idea of buying an unweaned baby but I spoke to breeders, spent time with parrots and researched for over 6 months before I even decided to go look for a grey. He's very healthy, I've taken him a to board certified avian vet every 5 weeks. I got him weaned at about 15-16 weeks old, after he refused formula on a daily basis. I was giving him a variety of soft foods, soaked pellets and mixing in a little formula powder. He was good for about a week, eating his pellets and some soft food daily, included cooked veggies.

Now, he hates the pellets but will eat seed mix (Higgins Sunburst) a little bit. This is the first time he had ever had a seed mix. I bought it to get him used to other foods. He will also eat formula from the syringe now and he went back to scratching the bottom of the cage... something I haven't seen in a long time.

He hasn't lost anymore weight and he has a vet appointment next week. Am I being overly sensitive about it? Is there such a thing as weaning regression? Should I keep giving him formula or force him to eat the pellets? I have a lot of questions!

I attached some pictures...... because, hey, we all like looking at parrots right?


EDIT: Sorry for the sideways pictures, it's late

Hi there, and welcome to the forums.

BEAUTIFUL baby CAG your King Rufus, and adorable name you picked for him!!

I would absolutely continue offering him the formula via syringe. When he's good and ready to completely eat on his own, he'll let you know. Yes, some birds indeed regress, but it will only be temporary.

Continue offering him all the other foods, of course, and before you know it the syringe feeding will be a thing of the past.

Hi Wendy, thanks for the warm welcome. He's at a strange stage right now, he doesn't readily go for the formula when he sees the syringe (like he did when he was a baby) but as soon as it touches his tongue he starts chowing down on it.

I've been slowly adding to his cage, more toys and more places to climb. I usually have him out when I'm home so he only spends about 7-8 hours a day in his cage at the most (not including sleeping). I've also started using the zoo-med lamp, maybe that will help him out. I used to take him outside a lot before he knew how to fly but now I'm training him to wear the flight harness so he only goes outside 3 times a week. I know I should take him out everyday but he's still not super comfortable in the harness yet.

I held off on feeding him the formula this morning and as we speak he is eating his seed mix. If he whines for food and I don't give it to him he will go eat on his own.

I'm just having a hard time finding the balance between abundance weaning and negative training. I just don;t want him to end up having a dependency on formula. Any thoughts?

I assure you he won't have a dependency on formula. All parrot chicks will wean eventually, all at their own pace. There really are no strict guidelines on when that is supposed to happen.

Many chicks wean quicker (at a younger age) when raised by the breeder, but only because there they have siblings and/or other chicks that they learn from. I'd never associate feeding a hungry baby with 'negative training'.

I think it's fantastic that you are getting him used to the harness.

Thanks again for the tips. It's hard to determine these timelines, so many people say so many different things. I just get nervous sometimes because occasionally he will regurgitate the formula if it's not the right consistency. Today for instance, I gave him about 30mL in the morning and he regurgitated half of it throughout the day, then ate some seeds but not the veggies. I'm not too worriedbecause he;s up a few grams from yesterday so his weight is good.

Hi and welcome to the forum! What a darling baby CAG, excuse me, baby King! I love the name, I'm sure he'll grow into his title before you know it.

Hi, thanks for the welcome. Any thoughts on the subject?

not sure brand of formula you are using but try using the same brand of pellets. If given the choice most parrots will pick the seeds every time. IMO crazy to offer more than a tablespoon of seeds per week. have you tried spoon feeding soft foods? Pellets softened with juice ? Or even human baby food. Feeding with a spoon from a small dish usually will get them to eat /feed themselves.

Hi Henpecked,

I've done the spoon feeding with him (mostly a homemade baby food I make with veggies and a little fruit with some of the formula powder), I've also soaked the pellets but not in juice, just water.

Today and yesterday, he's been good. Refusing the formula, eating his veggies and some pellets too

I just wanted to leave an update here in case someone is searching for the same information as I was. Shortly after posting this, I took Rufus to the vet (nothing serious just a regular check up, I've been taking him about every 2 months since he was 4 weeks old. Now that will change and he will do 6 month or yearly checkups) and was talking to him about the weaning regression. This is what he told me. "Nope, you gotta cut the cord. You don't want him being that weird kid in kindergarten who is still being breast fed."

Besides cracking me up with his analogy, it make me think, "yea, maybe I should".

So that night, Rufus was doing his normal whining for food and wouldn't eat. So I ignored him for maybe two hours then put him back in his cage.... guess where he went? Yep, right to the food bowl. He has been scamming me for about a week and a half. I thought he was regressing but he was just playing me for warm food.

Now, he's perfectly fine on his own. I still give him veggies everyday but he eats mostly pellets while I'm not home.

So, thanks everyone for the advice but it just goes to show..... A certified avian vet probably knows what they're talking about.

In case anyone is wondering, here's the mix I usually give him.
Brown rice
Beans
Carrots
Sweet potatoes
Little bit of corn
Peas
Little red palm oil

Hope this info helps someone in the future.

Thanks for the update.

Yup, 'most' certified avian vets 'should' know what they're talking about. Still, there isn't a single bird that I know of that hasn't eventually weaned on his/her own, without just being cut off.

In over 25 yrs of hand feeding I have never been the type that could just cut off a baby, call me a sucker but babies wean when they are good and ready has always been my thinking. I did irritate many people waiting on me to finish hand feeding their babies that's for sure.

I understand why your vet said that but I have also seen adult birds feeding their perfectly able almost adult size young in the wild. It's not a lot and I think it is a comfort, security thing. If a bird is healthy and doesn't have a crop infection or something going on they will wean on their own when they are ready. I have never heard of a healthy bird becoming dependent on formula feeding.

Willow my CAG hatched Feb 2, 2015 she still gets 20cc in the morning and 25cc right before bed. It certainly isn't enough to feed her in fact right after her morning taste of formula she dives into her chop and eats very well both right after and throughout the day.

The last little bit is pure loving to her. She gets some warm food, some sweet talk and cuddles from mom and it's off to the Land Of Nod. Yes she is spoiled but she is in all probability my last baby so I am going to let her have that comfort as long as she wants. I do think she is close to letting go of the morning one.

I am glad your Rufus seems to be doing well and that you fed him as long as you did. In my opinion most breeders weaning at 12 and 13 weeks is way too young!

JerseyWendy said:

Thanks for the update.

Yup, 'most' certified avian vets 'should' know what they're talking about. Still, there isn't a single bird that I know of that hasn't eventually weaned on his/her own, without just being cut off.

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I didn't just cut him off one day. I let him go on his own then he regressed. The time I "cut him off" was for about two hours and that was just the little push to let him know he is perfectly fine without the formula.

Anyways, he's doing great