Blue Headed Pionus Baby Begging for Formula

lac575

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Aug 16, 2018
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Talent, OR
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Brought home a beautiful blue headed pionus baby on Saturday. It is now Monday. She hatched on April 3rd. She had been eating on her own for a week. She eats great from what I can see. Lots of veggies and seems to be in her seed bowl a lot too (we are switching her to pellets at the moment, just a few at a time mixed with the seed). She has been begging all day though. I dont think weaning regression is the correct term as she is eating quite well on her own. She does seem to be begging for formula though. Should we feed her formula once a day? We want to encourage her to be independent but also dont want to take the hand feeds away from her if she wants that and it will be comforting. I am ready to go buy formula right now. I dont know what the right decision is and I'm kinda freaking out because I want her to be happy and healthy. She is a good weight. I just worry about her emotional wellbeing. Dont want to raise an unhappy parrot.
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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I don't have experience with babies.... But I know what I read up before bringing my baby home. And backslide is to be expected or not unusual. So if your baby is begging for formula I would offer it. It may only want it for a few days for comfort ... I was prepared to offer my baby formula, he wreaned very young at the breeders at six weeks. His first full day home he begged, but when I offered him formula he refused it. I instead gave him some scrambled eggs and later oatmeal. Congratulations on your new baby. We have people with more experience with this and hopefully they will give you tips, and you can always ask your breeder
 

wrench13

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Two words - Abundance weaning. If he is begging for formula, let him have it ( provided you know how to feed formula to a baby parrot). I still offer it to Salty ( at 4 years+ old) now and then, so he remembers, and its good practice if you need to get medicine into your bird. He will wean himself when he is ready.
 
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lac575

New member
Aug 16, 2018
24
1
Talent, OR
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1 Senegal parrot (Poicephalus senegalus)
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Our still nameless baby bird must have just needed a day to adjust. The girl wont stop eating. Loves veggies and pellets which she switched to pretty much seamlessly. Both our parrots switched to Harisson's instantly (the new baby obviously a little slower ) and they love it. Baby bird really likes pets and is stepping up very well. So far so good. We contacted the breeder we got her from and the lady said to wait it out for just a little while because it could be really difficult to rewean her. Pionus are notorious for taking a long time to wean. She said they were the babies that have taken the longest to wean in her 20 years of experience.
 

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