Help wih 2 Baby Alexandrines

[Fayaaz]

Thank you... One baby is begging for the hand feeding but by my fingers..the other one seeking for variety dishes like sprouts veggies and fruit... For that I am mixing all together... They like corn more than anything... Elder one 189grams younger one is 217grams at empty crop...

 

[EllenD]

I'd stay away from Corn at all costs, it's not providing them any nutrition and is just loaded with fat, it's on the same level as Sunflower Seeds and Peanuts, and should only be an occasional treat, especially at their age, because they'll get accustomed to having it and then want it all the time...And just so you're aware, Alexandrines are very prone to obesity and Fatty Liver Disease, it's just their build, just like some of the species of Amazons...

I can usually help people along with the weaning process, but this situation is a tough one just because they're both all over the place...How many hand-feedings are they each getting per day? And how much formula are they each eating during each hand-feeding? How much seed-mix are they each eating per day? (I don't think you are feeding them pellets, correct? So seed-mix is going to be their regular daily staple food, correct?)...

It's good that they are both eating fresh Veggies, Greens, and Fruit, but again, that diet will not at all sustain an Alexandrine Parrot, they must eat a regular, daily staple food of either seed-mix or avian pellets every single day, and throughout the entire day to sustain them and provide them with the proper nutrition they need to grow, develop, and just live...Think of a person who is a vegetarian or a vegan...Even though they don't eat any meat, eggs, cheese, or other animal products, they still cannot only eat veggies and fruit, they absolutely must eat a source of protein, fat, and some complex carbohydrates every single day to survive and to stay healthy, otherwise they will waste away to nothing, they'll have very weak bones, their immune systems will fail, and they'll eventually die of basically starvation, even though they are eating a ton of veggies, greens, and fruits every day that are providing them with vitamins and minerals..So they have to eat a daily source of protein, fat, and carbs that comes from a plant source, and usually for human vegetarians and vegans these include different grains, seeds, soy products, and lots and lots of beans/legumes that are rich in protein, complex carbs, and fat.

Parrots are no different, and that even includes the Eclectus Parrots who eat a diet that consists mainly of fresh veggies, greens, and fruit...They still also have to eat sources of protein and fat to survive, and these typically include grains, healthier seeds, and beans/legumes added into their veggies and fruit, as well as egg...For most other Parrot species, when kept in captivity, they have to be fed a "staple" food as their main diet, and those are either a varied seed-mix, an avian pellet that is specifically made to provide all of the nutrition that birds need to live and be healthy, or a combination of both...

It's not unusual for a baby parrot, even after they are technically 'fully-weaned", to still cry/beg for a hand-feeding each day in the week or two after they wean...This is called a "Comfort Feeding:, and they usually beg for it at nighttime before bed, even though they are eating their seed-mix/pellets throughout the day and they aren't really hungry...So if only one of your birds is begging for an occasional hand-feeding but he's eating his seed-mix throughout the day (along with veggies and fruit) then it's probably just a "Comfort Feeding", and he should stop begging for it within the next week or two...

Just keep weighing them each first thing in the morning after they have their first poop but before they eat anything, and write it down with the date and time...There is a slight difference in their weights, but it's not uncommon for parrots of the same species to be different sizes...Also, if they are siblings from the same clutch (I'm assuming they are), then that means that they are not the same age, and depending on how many total eggs were laid in their clutch (not the number of birds hatched, but just the number of total eggs laid in their clutch, fertile or not), they could be up to a week or more apart in age, as each egg in a clutch is laid with at least a day in-between them, sometimes up to 2 or 3 days betweem each egg...And for little baby parrots, even just a day or two difference in age is a HUGE difference in size and stage of development each of them are in...So it's very likely that the reason there is a bit of difference in weight between the two sibling parrots is simply because the larger one is the oldest in the clutch, at least older than the smaller one, who may be the youngest in the clutch. Even their feather development, ability to walk, when their eyes first open up, etc. are vey different between two sibling parrots with only a day or two between them in age...

So, keep weighing both of them each day first thing in the morning after they both poop, but before either of them eat, write it down with the date and time, and then make sure that neither of them are losing weight (a few grams, even up to 10 grams is no big deal, that's the weight of a normal poop), but no more than that, and not losing on consecutive days...Hopefully the lighter, smaller bird will catch-up with the larger one...But even if they don't completely catch-up in weight, that's still normal, there are birds who are larger and smaller of the same species, just like people are different heights, body sizes, etc...It's only a problem when they start losing every day...

***Here's a big question I forgot to ask...Have they started flying yet? They appeared to have all of their mature feathers in the photos you posted, and they are both around 9-10 weeks old now (2 months), so they should not only be ready to fully-wean, but they should be Fledging by now...I'm asking for two reasons, the first is because when baby birds have issues with fully Abundance-Weaning, it can also cause issues with them Fledging, and then also because you need to be aware that typically when baby birds first Fledge (fly), they do normally stop gaining weight and actually lose a good amount of weight during that week or two that they are first flyling...Then after they fully-Fledge and are able to totally fly with complete control, then they'll quickly gain the weight back that they lost while Fledging...So depending on where they both are in the Fledging process will also have an impact on their weight...

 

[Fayaaz]

Thank for your reply.. The one begging is 220grams is the younger elder one 190grams.. Yes elder one started fly a week ago last Saturday suddenly rised to fly just missed in fan I was scared whether I would loose my baby.. Before it try fly dash in the wall.. That doesn't hurt him... When missed in a fan I just cut his feathers... Younger one is just start trying first fly and made a successful landing... Bigger one drinks only water whole day and had very little foods.. And urinating with little green poop.. Is that normal.. Thanks in advance..

 

[Fayaaz]

Can you see size difference between younger and older.. Long tail is older.. I think the breeder doesn't fed him much..

 

[Fayaaz]

Yes I don't have pellets I only have seed mix... I don't know what pellets to give...

 

[EllenD]

Pellets are a better regular, daily diet than seed-mix because they contain less fat, but they have to be introduced to them early in the weaning process, however I would definitely at least buy a bag of them and mix them in with their bowl of seed mix to allow them to start picking at them, and eventually they can make the transition over to only pellets, or what might actually be better for you is feeding them a mix of both...

What seed-mix are you feeding them? Is it a commercially-sold seed-mix, or are you just making your own seed-mix out of loose seeds? I don't know what you have access to buying as far as seed-mixes, pellets, etc., I know it's most-likely different than what is available in the US, but I could be wrong...If you want to start to introduce a pellet to them with their seed-mix it's a good idea, certainly can't hurt and the sooner the better...As far as exactly which pellet to give them, it all depends on what you have available to you...The "fruit-flavored" pellets, meaning the multi-colored pellets that are usually red, green orange, yellow, purple, etc., are actually very, very high in sugar content, which gets turned into fat and stored in their Livers just like the fat from the seed-mix does, and the same goes for any pellets that are "Nut-flavored", but they are much less common than the fruit pellets...So it's better to give them a "Natural" flavored pellet, as they have no added sugar...It's just going to depend on what you are able to buy on a regular basis, the same goes for the seed-mix you feed them...Can you give me an idea of what brands/types of pellets and seed-mixes you have available to you and that you can buy on a regular basis easily? Then I can give you my best choice for both a pellet and a seed-mix...What seed-mix are you currently weaning them onto? I remember you mentioned something about an "ND" seed-mix, but I wasn't sure what you meant by that...I'll be honest, I have no idea where in India you live or what types of parrot foods are sold there regularly...I'm assuming that if you live in a city in India then it's not going to be too different than what is sold here in the US, but I'll be the first to admit that I know very little about India...I was in Delhi once years ago on a graduate-school trip for 2 weeks, and it was absolutely gorgeous, just breathtakingly stunning, and I absolutely LOVE authentic India cooking, which is extremely difficult to get in the US unless you live in a very large city like New York or Los Angeles...So I loved the trip, I gained 15 pounds in the 2 weeks I was there eating nothing but different Kormas and other Curries, lol...But I saw no parrots at all...And it was HOT!!! SO HOT!!!

As far as their weights go, they both look healthy, and the difference between them isn't really too noticeable, so I'm not really concerned about that too much as long as you keep weighing them every morning and making sure that neither of them start losing weight every day. I'm very happy that they both have already Fledged, so that means that they both should not lose a bunch of weight suddenly, if anything they should have both gained a little bit of weight after they first Fledged, and from that point forward they should both have their weights stay pretty constant. Parrots are just like people in that some are larger than others in height, weight, etc. So it's quite possible that two parrots of the same species and even from the same clutch (siblings) are very different in weight, height, length of their legs, their wing-spans, etc. All that matters is that each individual bird is at a healthy weight and is eating a proper amount of their "staple diet" each day, meaning their main food source, which is either a seed-mix or an avian pellet, and then also eating a portion of fresh Veggies and Greens each day...

Living in India you have access to a really large variety of dark, leafy Greens that we can't buy over here in the US unless we're lucky enough to have a real Indian, Thai, etc. market, which again only exist in large cities...We're lucky to be able to buy Bok Choy in our regular grocery stores! And the same goes for the fresh Vegetables that you have access to...Parrots can eat ANY fresh Vegetables and Greens except for any in the Onion family or related to the Onion family, for example no Onions of ANY KIND, NOT EVER, and the same goes for any types of Leeks, Chives, etc. Any and all Onions and their relatives are toxic/poisonous to birds, so they can't ever have them...However, other than the Onions, they can eat pretty much ANY fresh Veggies and Greens, and that includes ALL of the wonderful Peppers that you have access to!!!

I meant to talk to you about this before, but birds LOVE all types of Peppers because they don't have the receptors on their tongues for capsaicin, so they sense any of the heat from any Pepper, even from the really hot ones like the Ghost Peppers, they only taste the actual taste of the Peppers. My guys LOVE all of the regular Bell Peppers we have here, like the Green, Red, Yellow, and Orange Bell-Peppers, and they also love Chili Peppers and their seeds! So since you have access to tons of different Peppers as well, your birds will absolutely LOVE not only the fresh Peppers chopped-up, but also the seeds from any of the Peppers, either the seeds fresh or the seeds out of dried-Peppers. They are not only healthy for them, but Pepper-seeds are like a treat to birds, that's how they think of them, but they are extremely healthy for them, so they really aren't treat at all...

Have you ever made any type of "Chop" recipes for your birds yet? "Chops" are just different recipes for mixes of fresh Vegetables, Greens, Fruit, and sometimes grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, etc. also mixed in...There are literally thousands of recipes for different "Chops" in the Food and Diet section of the forum, and you can really experiment with any and all Veggies, Greens, Fruit, etc. that you have access to...It's all about trying different recipes and finding out what Veggies, Greens, Fruit, etc. that your individual birds like...When you make a "Chop" or you give your birds fresh Veggies, Greens, and Fruit, make sure you're chopping them all up into small enough pieces for them to easily chew and eat. The possibilities are endless for the Veggies, Greens, and Fruit that you can feed them, and if they are eating their fresh Veggies, Greens, and Fruit more easily than the seed-mix, then something I suggest trying is making up batches of "Chop" with lots of different fresh Veggies, Greens, and Fruit, but ALWAYS mixing in a good amount of their seed-mix (and pellets if you start feeding them) into the "Chop", and by default they are going to eat a good portion of the seeds and pellets while eating the rest of the "Chop"...

******Just make sure that you TOTALLY AVOID the following Vegetables, Greens, and Fruit, as they are either Toxic/Poisonous to your birds, or they contain way too much Vitamin C for them:

-All Onions of any kind
-Leeks
-Chives
-Avocado

****All Citrus Fruit should be either totally avoided, or at the most only given once a week in a very, very small amount. The reason that you can't feed your birds much Citrus Fruit is because it is all very high in Vitamin C content...When you eat Vitamin C and it is absorbed by the body, it immediately enhances the amount of Iron the body absorbs from the food that is eaten...And birds not only don't need much Iron in their bodies at all, not even close to the amount of Iron that people or other animals like dogs and cats need, but birds actually become extremely sick if their bodies absorb very much Iron at all. They can quickly develop a disease called "Iron Storage Syndrome", which is fatal if not reversed by an Avian Vet. Once Iron starts being absorbed by a bird's body, it is stored over time, and if they eat Iron-rich foods or Vitamin C-rich foods on a regular basis, the amount of Iron in their bodies builds-up to the point where it basically starts to poison them. So while it's perfectly fine to feed your bird a small piece of Orange, Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime, etc. once or twice a week, they can't have it every day, and they cannot have large portions...THIS ALSO INCLUDES ALL TOMATOES!!! TOMATOES ARE A FRUIT, AND THEY ARE VERY HIGH IN VITAMIN C CONTENT!!!

 

[Fayaaz]

Thank you Ellen for your very prompt response... ND is not brand name it's just and in short form we I use.. Sounds really great that you have visited my country.. There are more and more curry varieties in India ����.. You visited northern part of India but down south to the bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean... There we have lots of meal varieties and biryani is main menu all down south.

I don't commercial seeds mix but I buy groceries in loose and mix them... And I serving them daily chopped mix of sprouts vegetables green leaf and separate full pepper for them.. I stopped serving them corns.. But in India there is no special product for birds.. But I found some pellets in Amazon.in I don't know what buy... Pls refer me one..
Today I gave them beetroot chop one bird poop is as same beetroot with urinating.. He is one who drink lots water.. Is it that normal...

 

[Fayaaz]

It's not like blood colours..

 

[Fayaaz]

Hi guys now one my alexandrine is not eating properly and I can feel keel bone, his urinate in green color but poop is green and hard.,urates is white .. Is that normal..