Hello! I'm Renea. New to the forum and need help!

[renea]

I just bought a young ringneck today. Suppose to be 3 months old. Is clumsy and don't have all his feathers. So I am assuming he probably is close to 3 months, but not sure. The guy told me he needed to be handfed and sold me "exact" formula. Baby is not wanting to eat yet any suggestions?? could he be just getting settled in. He does drink water when I hold a dish up to him. and he does the same with the formula, but does not seem to know what the syringe is for....

 

[MarciaLove]

I agree sounds more like 3 weeks than months, never ever buy an unweaned baby! you need to get him to an experienced handfeeder right away! handfeeding is ver dangerous and if you dont know how to do it you could accidentally kill the baby bird. Are you in Dallas Texas or Dallas Georgia?? If you are in Georgia I could handfeed the baby for you or someone I know. I know lots of people who handfeed (myself included)

 

[renea]

Yes I do have experience, it has been a while. He is almost fully feathered is missing full feathers around his neck and on his back (he has down feathers), his tailfeathers are about 2-3 inches. He is trying to fly. So I am guessing he is probably about 3 months? should I be concerned that he is not acting hungry? He does seem content. I just brought him home today.

 

[MarciaLove]

no not three months I would guess form description 4-5 weeks and yes he should be eating he should still be on formula feedings every 6 hours if 4 weeks or 8 hours if 5 weeks, but also should be eating solid foods what food do you have in the cage for him???

 

[gemini84]

When i bought oxy my Alex home he was 11 weeks old and still on 2 feeds a day swell as eating solids. I was informed by my breeder and had seen in my research that when bringing a new bird home of any age may result in loss of appetite. For the first 2 days oxy wouldn't eat, he would maybe have a little but that was it. I just kept offering every hrs and had some soft fruit available all the time. On the 3rd day he couldn't get enough. Just keep offering her some. She is probably stressed

 

[renea]

I have some seed scattered around on top with him. which he is not interested in. I managed to get him to eat a little with the syringe, feeding from the left side but he is a fighter so that isn't going well either! He is not acting hungry at all. I have looked at photos of other ringnecks at ages 2wks to 3 months and he is definitely older than 3 weeks, older than 5-6 as well. Could he just be not hungry?? or just settling in to a new home? how do I insert a pic from my desktop.... :/

 

[MarciaLove]

to insert a pic go to ' go advanced' and insert a pic.

 

[renea]

you cant see his tail well, but like I said the feathers are about 2-3 inches long.IMG_20130330_152549_080.jpg

 

[renea]

He just ate a little bit of a "cutie" orange!! yay maybe this is a good sign...

 

[MarciaLove]

yay! yea he looks weaned he shouldnt be on an all seed diet so offer lots of fruits and veggies and some grain too. Also make sure in his cage he has many toys and real wood perches plastic ones arent good for their feet.

 

[renea]

Well we have established that fruits are good. Martinez (that's what my husband says new baby's name is!) is eating strawberries and oranges...according to a site I have found, this is ok.? Obviously not as his only nutrition, but at least I now know he will eat.

 

[gemini84]

i have to say that s/he is absolutely adorable

 

[renea]

awww thanks I think so too! with a name like Martinez, lets hope he's a boy...lol
So far he is really sweet, and hasn't made a peep until he heard another ringneck on youtube when I was watching videos. He is not scared of anything so far, he seems to like my small dog lily too. He is gonna be just fine!

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Martinez is a real cutie-pie. If he's a she, you can call her Marti, or Ms. Martinez, lol. I'm glad to hear he's eating and enjoying his new home.

 

[Turquoise]

Hi Renea, welcome to the forum. Glad to hear your feathered darling is eating & doing great. Will look forward to hearing all about his progress as he grows.

 

[icemanmatt]

Welcome and good luck !