Should I be more patient, or am I doing something wrong?

[BiancaK]

I'd like some advise from the more experienced members out there PLEASE!!!

Layla (14 weeks old) has been with us for almost a month now. She's eating her veg but not much, maybe a teaspoon full per day, some days less to nothing. I put out fresh fruit and veg in the morning and evening, and seeds only over weekends. How much veg should she eat by now? (more or less?)

She is still on formula, and it seems like she wants more? I thought that she would start to resist the formula by now, but she screams for more after every feeding. I give her 3 feedings per day (3-4 5ml syringes), more or less 6 hours apart. Should I give more formula, or should I hold back and give less feedings?

She has bonded quite well with my husband and I, but seems to prefer me over him. She doesn't bite him or anything, but when I enter a room, or sit across from them she will fly to me, and come sit on my shoulder. Is this normal, or shoul I give them more "alone" time?

 

[Boysmom]

I have never hand feed an Ekkie so I can't give advice about the formula side of your question. You should be providing pellets in her cage at all times, not seeds. Ekkie have a tendancy to get fatty liver disease from seeds. Maybe soak the pellets in a bit of fruit juice to soften them to get her eating them. What types of veggies are you offering her ? They all have taste likes and dislikes just like children, so try some mashed up sweet potatoes and go from there.
My girl Ruby loves everyone in the house, but at times does prefer me. You may want to consider clipping her wings so that she doesnt have the ability to fly from your Hubby to you. We keep Ruby clipped for her own safety. She once flew into our glass door and suffered a head injury while her wings were grown out.

 

[LoryLover]

I've only handfed my chattering lory. We got her from the breeder when she was 6 weeks old. We continued the handfeeding for a few more weeks. At first it was 3 times per day, then it went down to 2 times per day. I was in contact with the breeder by phone and the breeder told me to keep handfeeding until the bird refused to take it.

Once the chattering refused to be handfed, I put the formula in a dish and set it inside the cage. For the first day, the chattering didn't touch it, and I was worried and called the breeder. The breeder told me that's normal, not to worry and especially don't worry that the bird will starve. By the second day, the chattering was eating the formula out of the dish.

It's been 15 years since then and I don't recall how old our chattering was when she was fully weaned. But it was quite an adventure for me, my husband and our teenage daughter - as we all took part in the handfeedings.

As for bonding - yep, if you notice that the bird is becoming more bonded to one person than another, then the one who needs more bonding with the bird, needs to spend more one on one time with the bird. Sometimes this has to be done in a separate room, in cases where the bird would just leave the person and go to the one it preferred.

That bonding issue happened with my husband and I. He was spending more time with our young chattering, and it soon became more bonded to him. Once I noticed that, I took the chattering to a separate room (where we have a desktop computer and tv) and spent time with her in there, in the evenings from about 8pm to bedtime. Our chattering goes to bed when we do.... how her bedtime got to be that way is a whole other story, lol. But I only had to do this for a week, and then she was bonded pretty much equally between my husband and I. From that point on though, I made sure to continue to have quality time with her each day.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I have hand-reared 2 Red Sided Eclectus, and yes, they can take a while to wean. Both of mine were completely weaned by 4 months. I NEVER pushed the issue at all. However, at 14 weeks, I was down to 1-2 feedings/day. Like I said, I didn't push. I fed them when they were hungry, and I found that they had a voracious appetite right AFTER hand feeding them. Mine would eat whatever I put in front of them. I had them watch me prepare their food (they were on the kitchen counter with me), and they were already all in their food before I was even done.

My Eckies were PIGS, no kidding! I didn't only offer fresh fruits and veggies, but also my home-cooked diet.
http://www.parrotforums.com/recipes/22594-cook-portion-freeze-my-recipe.html

Additionally they ate Birdie Bread.
THIS recipe:
Bobbi's Birdie Bread

The ONLY pellets my Eckies would get were Totally Organics. The other dry foods I offered was a mix of Goldenfeast mixes.

Oh, and they ADORED and relished sprouted seeds.

So, to answer your question, yes, please be patient.

 

[BiancaK]

We try to feed Layla all types of veg, broccoli, carrots, pumpkin, sweet peas, corn, patty pans, zucchini, chilli, green beans, and bell peppers. I usually buy a 2 person fresh pack, and then chop them smaller with a food chopper, so it's a bit more difficult to pick out her fav (any thing that has a seed). We then take a grain and dried corn and pea mix that I baught from the vet, which is softened with water and mixed with the fresh veg- equal parts.

I tried to put her on the kitchen counter when preparing the formula, but she has NO patience when she smells, or even sees the bowl that I normally mix it in. She runs straight to it (so cute though) and tries to feed herself. So now I leave her in the cage until the formula is made and then bring her to the counter, but half way, she thinks I'm too slow, and then flies of my hand to the counter. Another thing, sometimes after the feeding she will go to her water bowl and drink so much water, that she brings up some of the formula in the water. Is this normal, or a sign that she wants more formula?

When I put the veg bowl on the counter where I normally feed her the formula, she will stand and eat there until she's had enough. Can this be my problem? That she thinks the kitchen counter is her feeding place, and therefore doesn't eat much in her cage?

Yesterday I fed her about 14h00 (the second feeding), and when I got home after work (about 17h00) I could feel that her crop was still semi-full, but she has not consumed any veg. Now I'm wondering if she is only eating the formula out of routine? Would you recommend reducing her feedings to 2 larger feedings per day maybe? To "force" her to eat her veg during the day?

Regarding the seeds, I only give spray millet, and only a small bit on Saturdays and Sundays as a treat, as I've read that they are the "low fat" seeds.

I know, I'm so inexperienced, but lucky for me, all of you can advise!!

 

[BiancaK]

Jesey Wendy, thank you for the recipe, I have more or less the same recipe that I saw in the Eclectus Parrot book, just without the squash and sweet potatoe. I made a big batch that I also packed in small sandwitch bags, which I keep in the freezer until necessary. I try to feed this to her every second evening, (under supervision) but I prefer not to keep it in her cage during the day, as we are experiencing heat waves in South Africa and the pasta and brown rice turns sour very quick. She eats the beans, corn and peas, as well as the brown rice, but small amounts and I normally have to through away half of the mix. (I ussually only put 2 tablespoons, of this mix in her bowl)

 

[CathnPoe]

Poe was rejecting formula at 9 weeks, so he was an early wean-er.
Perhaps try pureeing the veg. so the consistency is similar to the formula. She'll get new tastes without the stress of solids. Also, try mushy chunks of pumpkin (if you haven't already), Poe adores this! And grapes... oh, the grapes, how he adores them.
Your seed quantity sounds fine.
Also, cooked foods are more easily digested than raw, so maybe stick to cooked mushy foods for now.
Try offering her the cooked puree before the formula, and only offer formula when the other food is utterly rejected.
You don't want to rush her, as this could lead to anxiety and stress.
Does she have any black horizontal lines on her feathers? These are stress bands, and while common during weaning, are an easy sign that she has been stressed.
The stress problems I refer to are more the screaming and feather plucking that can result in a bird that fears starvation.
If her crop feels firm after the feedings and she doesn't want more, that should be fine.
My breeder told me she feeds her babies 7 teaspoons of formula on average, per feed. (25mL approx.)
That was for a 8-9 week old on two feeds a day.
I think three feeds of formula might be too much, considering her age. Try making the middle feed soft cooked fruit and veg. (You want her to go to bed and wake up comfortable, and this way if she get hungry at lunch, she knows dinner is always coming.)
Not coming from an expert, just well-read.
Read her responses and feel her crop.

As an extra, Poe was under-eating when I first got him because he had a staph infection of the throat, so eating hurt him. A week on antibiotics and he's fine. Have a vet check if she's losing weight. So, WEIGH HER EVERYDAY! Morning empty weight (before food and after a poo) for an accurate measure.

My vet told me Poe should be eating between 80-120g of food per meal with two meals a day. He's probably around the 220g per day including midday snacking.
You'll be able to judge her for yourself, but if she's eating a lot less than this, then she might have something wrong and needs full blood work done to figure it out.

Best of luck.
Keep us posted!

 

[BiancaK]

Thank you for all your advise CathnPoe.

I decided to stop the afternoon feeding on Friday, and I'm glad to post that when I got home, she ate all of her veg!!! Yeah I could even count the pieces that was left!!

I still give the morning and evening feedings, and weigh her every morning (if I'm not in too much of a hurry), and she has not dropped in weight since she's been with us.

One thing that bothers me. She will sit next to her water bowl / bottle (which ever I put in for the day) and drink almost everything, and then she will through it up in her bowl again. Sometimes in her food bowl, (and then she still eats those veggies) so now I moved the water away from the food bowl, but she still does the throughing up thing. Is she just naughty, or is this behaviour normal?

Last night she screamed a lot, inside and outside the cage. I don't know if she is bored or what is wrong? Once we fed her, and got her back in the cage, I put the blanket over, and she was quiet, you didn't hear a peep until I opened her cage this morning. Maybe she was tired? I don't know, but it was the first time that she has done this screaming bit of hers, and it was only 19h30.

She doesn't play much with the toys in her cage? I have a lot of climbing toys, and ropes in there. I baught her a swing as well, but she does not seem to be interested? I don't know if it's too big, and if I should try smaller toys? What types of toys does Poe / other Ekkies out there prefer?

I have not noticed any black lines on her, but will check when I get home.

I feel so stupid and sometimes even hopeless, but I guess it's a case of trial and error....:22:and having to get to know each other...

 

[Thingamagigs]

I handreared an Eclectus once... and she did what you described... drank a huge amount of water and then regurgitated it again. She did it twice in one day but never did it again. I'm not sure what it was, I have never had a baby do it before (I had handreared a lot of bubs). Perhaps someone can enlighten us both???

 

[CathnPoe]

Great she ate all the veg and is not losing weight.
With the screaming, she might still be hungry. Maybe offer some weaning formula right before bed if you don'y already. Otherwise it might just be separation anxiety concerning being left alone. If the screaming is for attention (not hunger) then ignore it, you don't want to reinforce that.
Poe liked toys from the start, which was lucky, however I've read that many birds aren't that curious of new scary things. Try playing with the toy yourself, in front of her and make lots of "oohs" and "aahhs". Reinforce her for going near the toys, even in small increments, as she might be a little wary of them.
Poe LOVES his boing, coloured wood and beads the most.

Hope you're coping, it's easy to feel a little lost at times when you have a toddler incapable of communicating in a mutual language.

 

[Ozzie]

My little boy Ozzie is now 6 months, when I got him he was 12weeks and was still wanting to be hand fed. I have only stopped hand feeding him about a week ago. He does eat on his own but prefers to have me feed him. I make him a big batch of mashed up veg and freeze it in small containers. And I give it to him in the morning and at night with cut up fruit & veg and sprouted seeds which he goes mad for. I have put pellets in his cage and he will eat them when he feels like it. But he loves granadillas and pomegranites. And if he had the chance he would still have me feed him. In fact he wouldn't eat his food unless I fed him after I had warmed it up a bit. So then I decided to just put it in his cage and walk away and walla he is eating it on his own. He loves corn to eat off the cob as well.