Should I give him a bunch of millet or what?

I'm getting very concerned about mr Dusty Cockatiel's weight! When I picked him up at the bird shop they weighed him at 97 grams. Then 30 minutes later at the vets office they got him at 92. Since then every time I've weighed him at home he's been around 86-88. Except this morning he was down to 84!!

I've been feeding him a mix of cockatiel seed mix and pellets, and usually I put a nutriberry or two in his dish also. Haven't seen him try a nutriberry yet though. I also cooked some Worldly Cuisine's Spice Market which he shows no interest in. I've also given him kale, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, popcorn, carrots, and I don't know, a bunch of stuff but he's not interested in any of it.

He does seem to like millet but I wouldn't say he goes crazy for it or anything. When I got his food the guy at the bird shop said he should only have about an inch of millet spray per week, so I haven't been giving him too much. Just maybe 6 clusters in his food dish which I though might be more than he "should" have.

He seems to eat ok if I'm there eating beside him, so I try to do that when possible but I can't stay home to eat all day with him.

Also today I took his two favorite chew toys out of his cage hoping to direct most of his chewing toward the food dishes. I have 3 food dishes, 2 water bowls and one seed stick thing that hangs inside the cage on a bread tie type wire.

Getting pretty worried here, what can I do to get this boy's weight up?

Poor Dusty, I'm sorry to hear he's having problems. Yes, you can offer him extra millet but I would try cooked sweet potato, oatmeal, apples, cooked grains, birdie bread, boiled egg...

To get an accurate weight, you should weigh Dusty at the same time every day. The scale at the bird store may not have been calibrated correctly.

Does Dusty have other symptoms, lethargy, balance, watery poops? Consistent weight loss could be a symptom of a variety of illnesses, I think I'd make an appointment for him just to be safe.

I forgot to mention brown rice, my cockatiel will eat brown rice when she won't touch anything else. Whole grain pasta or quinoa added to steamed veggies and a little chop is another good one to stimulate appetite.

I'm sorry to hear that Dusty is losing weight, and that you have to go through this worry right away with him. Maybe he was brought home too soon after weaning? Do you know how soon after he was 'weaned' they told you he could go home?

I also have heard that soon after weaning there typically is a drop in weight which is normal before it goes back up again. I am not sure how much of a drop is normal.

Have you contacted the store about your concern? My pickiest birds love sweet potato. Like Allee said, try brown rice too, most birds like it. Also quinoa.. he might like it because it resembles a small seed. Healthy foods that should put some weight on. Please keep us posted.

I will try some quinoa and brown rice and I'll also give him more millet.

I did try sweet potato and cooked pasta also and as the vet had predicted, he's not too interested in anything that doesn't go crunch.

He was weaned two weeks before they let him come home and he seems perfectly healthy and happy. If it weren't for the weight loss I'd say he's doing perfect. Poops look ok I guess? Some are kind of green/brown but most seem to be a mix of dark and white. Or maybe they turn color and I don't usually see them for a while. The one he did this morning on my glasses was definitely the greenish kind, hah.

I asked the vet and the store about the weight on Tuesday and they said it might take a few days to adjust but should be eating in a couple days. It's a couple days now so I'm asking and may make an appointment with the vet to get another proper look at him.

Also if you're into reading medical records, here's the report I have so far. Another one is due in today for some other stuff too. Chlamydia and something I think she said. Would be a health certificate that would allow him to be boarded if needed. Also the vet mentioned high triglycerides and suggested maybe he had a lot of seeds earlier in the morning.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6PlAHiKgTwmNEx3ZWM0QmY2R2c

What a timely call from the vet! I think I got a winner there! She said the chlamydia test came back negative and had some suggestions for getting him to eat. I have him on a paper plate right now playing and eating some =). No brown rice in the place right now but I had some chia seeds that I added to his dish after doing some reading.

The vet also said to keep her posted and we'll want to get him in for a visit if he gets down to 80. Also we'll want to have a visit in about 3 months to see what's up with his cholesterol and how he's doing at that point.

On the bright side, he seems to be a happy curious little guy! Flew a few laps around the bedroom and was pecking at my keyboard a bit before I got him onto the plate where the seeds are

Gratuitous video of my sweet birdy playing with his leather straps. They have cuttlebones hanging on them so they swing and jump around in a fun way when he plays with them You can see he's looking like a happy little guy.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn-eYZOI0pk&feature=youtu.be"]MVI 2808 - YouTube[/ame]

Good to hear he's eating some. At least he has an appetite and is healthy otherwise. Sounds like you have a good vet. I think with her monitoring everything with you, Dusty is going to be okay. I know how easy it is to worry when they're not eating enough. Keep us posted here.

When I brought one of my keets home it took 3 or 4 days for her to really start eating.

Dusty looks great in the video. I think he'll be just fine. He could take a lesson from Screech who eats anything and everything. Just got some super duper pellets in the mail today which I paid a fortune for and I thought he probably would turn up his nose, but nooooo. His face was in that bowl for a good 20 minutes! Dang! No worries there! I give screech Sticky Purple Rice that smells like popcorn whe it's cooking. He LOVES!

I guess it probably a lot of first time bird parent worries but I'm trying to take good care of my fid! I'm sure millions of baby birds have done just fine with owners who never had a gram scale to even worry about anyway.

By the way, I picked up some brown rice and some quinoa today. We'll see if he shows any interest in these new exotic foods

TexasWade said:

I guess it probably a lot of first time bird parent worries but I'm trying to take good care of my fid! I'm sure millions of baby birds have done just fine with owners who never had a gram scale to even worry about anyway.

By the way, I picked up some brown rice and some quinoa today. We'll see if he shows any interest in these new exotic foods

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I actually think it's great (not that you're worried) but that you are so on top of things for Dusty. How you bothered to really make sure and did plenty of research first, had everything set up for Dusty ahead of time, made sure everything was safe, took him for a new bird exam, asking about new foods, etc. Sounds basic, but many birds don't get that level of care. At least we have the forum to try and reach as many bird owners as possible to promote the kind of lifestyle you are giving to Dusty!

You're doing a great job, and it does sound like Dusty will be fine .

Well I don't know what happened exactly but it's like we flipped a switch somewhere and today Dusty decided eating is OK! He's been pretty much gorging himself, much to my relief. I sure hope this is the beginning of a trend for him! ＼(^o^)／

Yay Dusty! I think now that he's discovered the joys of food, he's not turning back . It's fairly common for a young bird to not want to eat much when they're all of a sudden in a new environment.

Good job, Dusty!

Thanks for the great update! I'm happy to hear Dusty has located his appetite! Let us know how he likes the new exotic dishes.

He doesn't seem to be eating as well today as he was yesterday, but still maybe better than he did last week. At least he was up to 84 grams this morning which is a tiny improvement. I just hope I can get him to gain a bit more and would really be happy so see him back up to 90 or better.

He still won't touch any of the veggies or his cooked food but he seems to like the chia seeds and quinoa pretty well. I also hung about 1/3 of a sprig of millet in his cage and he went for it but not to the exclusion of his other food, which was nice. I also gave him a flexible plastic cutting board that has a little texture on one side so stuff doesn't slide around too much. He seems to like to eat off the board maybe a little better than from his bowl but he's using both so I just encourage him any way I can.

Maybe I need to fix him up a nice birdy bread featuring some corn and carrots along with a few of his favorite seeds. Since he finally started picking at his big seed and fuit stick, I think he might be ready to try a bread...

While I can understand your worry, from my perspective here it looks like Dusty is open to trying new foods which is great, and he is eating is the bottom line. I do think he will be just fine, and gain the weight back as time goes on and he matures. The birdy bread idea sounds good too, let us know when you make it!

Well maybe he's just going to be a petite tiel... His weight seems pretty steady at around 82-84 grams and he's active and curious and seems to be pretty happy. I guess I'll try not to worry unless he starts acting less energetic.

I made him a very nice birdy cornbread including his pellets, seed mix, some cooked brown rice, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, carrots and peas (mixed frozen veggies) and also some quinoa and chia seeds. Corn meal, baking soda and an egg without the shell. I didn't try it but it looks and smells good! Of course he didn't try it yet either but I'll keep putting bits of it in with his regular food and hopefully he'll try it eventually. Little squirt loves shredding paper, you wouldn't think it would be so hard to get him to eat, lol.

I can't believe it! He actually ate some and seems to like it!

Awesome he loves your cooking ! I think he'll become a hearty eater in no time.

As far as the weight, you won't know until he is closer to maturity what his final weight potential is. I'm not sure how old that is for Cockatiels.

When he is older and you're able to assess his final weight better, don't worry if he is still on the smaller side if his breast muscle is meaty enough. Like any living being you're right, there is a chance he can be a smaller framed individual. That doesn't mean any less healthy or strong of course. I've had birds who were smaller than their species average and just as healthy. Griffin is visually tinier than most of the smaller Poi species, and you can tell he just has a small frame. Shorter, smaller head.