4 weeks old alexandrine

[Fabhianm]

dears,

got a new baby alexandrine 2 days before, the breeder says its 4 weeks old only. attached the photo , would love to get some of your comment on the age.

They have told to feed 25 ml morning and evening. is that okay?

Do i need to play with him other than than the feeding time?..

Appreciate your valuable comments

 

[Flboy]

Welcome, I have no knowledge in this area, but such a beautiful baby!

 

[Theone]

Hey glad to see your new friend, by the way he is not 4 weeks old. He is around 6-7 weeks old. I have 2 baby parrots which I got last week and believe me a 4 week old doesn't even have any feathers like your baby bird. I would suggest to feed him every 5-6 hours 12-15ml rather than feeding him only 2 times a day. I feed my parrots every 5 hours and at night around 12 and then early in the morning at 8. If you want him to learn vocabulary fast then do some talking with him other than feeding time and give him some love by scratching his neck and playing with him. He would start to feel comfortable with you that way.
https://ibb.co/eurhTv
The small one in the photo is 4 weeks old just wanted to show you how a 4 weeks old looks like .
https://ibb.co/eQnBMF
This is the small one after 3-4 days of the above pic.

 

[itzjbean]

Hello and welcome! You have come to the right place for advice on this. What a beautiful baby! I have no experience with Alexandrines but I would say more like 6 weeks, he/she has most of their feathers already. How is he/she eating? The general rule is 10% of the baby's body weight at each feeding.

Yes, play with the baby as much as you can! Keep your hands clean of course and keep the baby safe in an area where he/she can play and walk around, and touch the baby all over to get it used to human interaction and hands.

 

[EllenD]

He's adorable! Yes, of course you should play with him a lot! You have an advantage most people don't, you can bond with your bird while he is very young! Be gentle but yes, play with him, talk to him, and handle him and scratch him to get him used to it!

Yes, I agree he looks more like 5-6 weeks because of the amount of fully grown feathers...2 feedings a day is not enough, I'd say 3 feedings at least, but you must make sure his crop is completely empty before feeding him again. So early morning, early afternoon, and early evening feedings, based on his crop emptying and his begging. You may also want to do a small comfort feeding late night if his crop is empty and he's awake and wanting it.

Congratulations and good luck! Please ask any questions that you may have about hand feeding, especially if you've never done it before! Be sure to feed slowly, go with the rhythm of his head bobbing/feeding response, and please, please be using a candy or liquid thermometer at all times to make sure the formula is between 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit, no hotter and no colder!!!

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

 

[Fabhianm]

Thanks dears for
The valuable suggestions it means lots to
Me ��

Last two days we both were adjusting each other but he is yet to be in comfortable zone
He is not seen very keen on baby food he eats only 15 ml to 20 ml and stops
Today after noon I took a small apple slice crushed with hand and fed him , he was so happy and trying to get
More ,but I stoped after few as I am not sure I can give raw apple to
Him and read on somewhere it needs to
Be cooked,
Appreciate your views on this can I feed
Him till he decides to stop having apple ? Or how much should I be giving ? Is raw fruits okay at this
Age ?
And one more doubt is when is the ideal age to give bath or i can sprinkle some water to his feathers now itself once in a week ?

 

[EllenD]

You absolutely want him to eat a large variety of foods. This is how you wean him, it's called "Abundance Weaning", and it's absolutely the most healthy way to wean a baby bird. Absolutely, he can have raw apple, but a lot of fruit in general is not good for any bird, baby or adult, as it is full of sugar. But an apple slice or two a day (small apple slice) is not a bad thing. It sounds like he is starting to wean himself now, and that's why he is only eating a small amount of formula per feeding (though I'm assuming you are keeping the formula at the proper temperature, between 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the entire feeding, because if the formula temperature drops below 105 degrees he may reject it, keep the formula bowl inside another bowl full of hot water, and keep the thermometer inside the formula the entire time to monitor the temperature, this will keep the formula warm throughout the feeding).

Now that he is starting to take less formula per feeding you need to provide him with all of the foods you are going to wean him onto and the foods you want him to eat as an adult. So you always want him to have access to fresh, clean water at all times, a small, high quality, natural pellet like Zupreem, Harrison's, or Roudybush, an assortment of fresh veggies (this is very important, you want him to learn to like fresh veggies), and millet sprays so that he can learn to crack and eat seeds. You may need to soak his pellets in water or fruit juice to soften them before he'll eat them, then gradually he'll eat dry pellets. The apple can be given as a small treat, but you want to let him try a different fruit each day, not just an apple slice. As I already stated the small piece of fruit is only a once a day thing as it has too much sugar in it, but it can be raw, no need to cook it. The pellets, a variety of healthy veggies, and the millet spray (after he learns to eat the millet spray you'll want to give a high quality loose seed mix for small hookbills, as this should be a supplement to his staple diet of pellets. The idea right now is to provide him the pellets, a variety of healthy veggies, and seeds daily right now because he needs to learn how to eat them and to like them. The fruit is only a once a day, small treat or a small part of chop mixes if you're going that route.

So you'll need to offer him his normal feedings each day just as you have been, and as you've noticed he will gradually decrease the amount of formula he eats during each feeding. So feed him his formula first thing in the morning as usual, as much as he will eat, and then give him his pellets and a millet spray and leave them in his cage. He'll probably play with them at first (if he's not already eating pellets or seeds) and again you may need to soak the natural pellets in fruit juice to entice him to eat them (the colored, fruity pellets are full of sugar too and not nearly as healthy as the brown, natural pellets). Once you see him eating the soaked pellets you should start putting some dry pellets in with the soaked ones and gradually phase the soaking out. Then feed him his afternoon formula, as much as he will eat, then again make sure he has pellets and a millet spray or seeds and give him some fresh veggies to try. Take note of what he likes. Then give him his evening formula feeding, as much as he'll eat, then maybe give him his piece of fruit. I always left a millet spray and fresh pellets in the weaning cage overnight, that's up to you, but if you're soaking the pellets you must make sure to change them out and clean the bowl at each feeding time to avoid bacterial growth! This is important.

He will gradually eat more food and less formula at each feeding, but you must keep offering each formula feeding until he absolutely totally refuses an entire feeding. Usually it's the mid-afternoon formula feeding that they refuse first because they are eating more pellets and millet during the day. So when he completely refuses a formula feeding that's fine, just make sure he has pellets and millet/seeds and fresh veggies instead. Once a baby first refused a feeding I would always still try to offer it the next day, and if he refused it again then I would just give him the pellets, seeds, and veggies instead from that point on. Usually the morning feeding is the next to go, but they tend to hang on to the night feeding the longest. Once he is eating his pellets, seeds, and fresh veggies throughout the day he will eventually refuse all formula feedings. However, he may start begging, whining, and head bobbing for a "comfort feeding" of formula, usually at night right before bed. Make sure you give him this, as much as he wants, because it's an important part of the end of the weaning process. Once he has refused all feedings each day, completely stopped begging for any comfort feedings, and been regularly eating his pellets, seeds, and fresh veggies every day for a week or two, he's completely weaned and no longer needs any formula.



"Dance like nobody's watching..."

 

[Fabhianm]

Thanks Ellen for this great information. Any suggestions on the bath ?