Baby orange winged amazon

[prsgirl77]

Dear All,
This is my first post. I recently adopted my first pet parrot an orange winged amaon, affectionately called Kiwi. She's about 8 weeks old ( by my estimation), please see the attached photo. She's very affectionate, loves cuddles and head scratches and is mostly very observant and seems content to sit on her perch ( wherever she chooses mostly tables as can be seen in the photograph). She eats well and loves music. My concern is with the appearance of her feathers, is this what molting looks like? Or does kiwi still have pin feathers? Have a pleasant day. Cheers.
Sarah.

 

[Grinder]

If she is only 8 weeks old, she has a ways to go before all her feathers have grown in. Did she come with a hatch certificate from the breeder?

 

[prsgirl77]

Hello there, thank you for your kind response. I adopted her from a friend who was moving so I m not quite sure. I ve just been trying to estimate her age. She eats well and is very inquisitive. I am however concerned about the appearance of her feathers, she eats well I handfeed her with a spoon and white molen moist eggfood as well as a formula i bought for handfeeding babies at a pet store.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Sweet baby you have there with Kiwi. It's difficult to tell from a picture, but I think he's just starting to grow in his feathers, and that's why they aren't so smooth. Of course this is only a guess.

Does he still have a bunch of greyish feathers in the front?

 

[henpecked]

Welcome to the forum. yeah Kiwi looks like she might be about 8 wks old, maybe younger.(maybe a pic of wing spread would help with age) They should fledge at about that age.Is she flapping about alot? The feathers do look alittle weak,what formula are you using? I suggest you get a digital kitchen scale and start weighing her every AM before feeding. She should start to wean in the next few weeks and keeping track of her weight will help you keep her healthy. In all honesty she appears a bit under nourished. Was she the "runt" of the clutch? I can get some pics of OWAs at her age if you'd like to compare. I have lots of OWA baby pics,LOL. Like my signature says, if you need help just ask.

PS spread her wing out so i can see her primary feathers , after taking a second look i don't think she's much older than 5/6 weeks.

 

[prsgirl77]

Hello henpecked, thank you so much for you very informative response. I m giving her a petstore bought brand handfeeding formula its a mixed grain sort of formula that I mix with water till it resembles porridge and I feed her while its warm. Today I bought Witte molen moist egg food, we have yet to try it though, also i ve been feeding her pureed bananas. I ll go to the shops tomorrow and purchase a digital kitchen scale and start recording her weight prior to morning time feeding. A typical day for us starts with me waking at ^am, checking on her, taking her out of her sleeping cage, cuddles and play till 6:30am then we have a hearty breakfast followed by music, exploring head scratching, climbing on me/cuddles, then she falls asleep and I but her back into her sleeping cage, next up I visit periodically throughout the day, then we have lunch around 1pm short cuddles and play, then at 4pm we go into garden area where we stay till 6pm dinner occurs prior to 6pm after which she sleeps through the night and we meet at 6 am. This evening I tried her with pureed mangoes but she didnt like it after one taste. Also I clean her cage twice a day and theres fresh newspaper for when she roams around. Will upload some new pics of the wingspan to my original post in the forum now. Thank you very much. also I d appreciate some pics of what a healthy parrot her age should look like.

 

[henpecked]

These OWA babies are 6wks old. Both of these birds fledged at about 7 wks. Something you can try ,is mixing baby food or pureed veggies/fruit with the formula. I'd also look for daily maintenance pellets . You can start to feed them as a handheld treat or moistened with water/fruit juice. Glad to hear you are including her in your daily activities, before you know it ,you'll have a great lifelong companion.

 

[prsgirl77]

Kiwi's new food and her current items used during feeding, the jars are the pet store brand of baby feeding formula. I have a video clip with her wingspan but no idea how to upload it.

 

[prsgirl77]

ohh my those are quite beautiful and only at 6 weeks. My little one is a long way from that her feathers a very fluff like and the body feathers are waxy but softer towards the end of the shaft.

 

[prsgirl77]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-ObIXKHXWI&feature=youtu.be]kiwi testing her wings - YouTube[/ame] Please refer to the link for kiwi's wing span. Our afternoon adventure, sorry about the loud talking in the background. Cheers

 

[JerseyWendy]

I suspect your Kiwi is about 4-5 weeks old....but I'll let the Capt (henpecked) chime in.

 

[prsgirl77]

aww shes much younger than I thought. I hope I can do all that she needs to grow into a beautiful girl, although she already melts my heart She's my little sweetheart. I hope the video can help Also I had no idea she was a bit under fed guess I ll be keeping her well fed now that I ve got her Thank you very much for all your help

 

[henpecked]

Hey Sarah, thanks for the video. I agree with Ms Wendy on age. her tail feathers are a good indication. IMO she might have been lacking a bit on nutrition in the early stages put it;s nothing we can't fix now. good she has someone who cares about her.Your so lucky to have a chance at raising a young amazon. Get the scales and keep a journal. Socialize her as best you can. Don;t be afraid to ask question if you need help. I assume your not here in the USA but have you found a local Avian Vet? Never know when you might need one. Please take lots of pic/vids and post them here. We love to hear about Kiwi's progress.When you get a chance you should read though some of the older post here in the amazon section, loads of good info and insight to being a zon parront.

 

[prsgirl77]

Hello there Thank you very much for your response. Is it ok to give my little one a bath? If yes, should I mist her with the garden hose and dry her off with a towel? I ve had here for 3 days now and she hasnt had a bath. yes I ve got two avian vets actually James and Ruby they re both quite good. Good observation I m from the Tropics

 

[henpecked]

,Bath, it's not really important at this time. But if she seems like she wants too, fine. I wouldn't completely soak her , and give her some time in the sunshine. Babies don't have the fat reserves that an adult has and cold/draft can suck the energy right out of them. Which brings us to another issue. Temp of her formula. It takes longer for young birds to digest colder food. If their mother was feeding them the temp would be about 100F,. As they get older ,it's not as important. That said i'd warm her formula up to at least 85=90F.( not more than 105) It would help with digestion.

Belize ?

 

[tortoisekeeper]

prs do you preen her. I preened my Jelly Bean's (DYH) feathers when she was that age and she looked much better

 

[prsgirl77]

Good morning everyone,
Thank you very much for the kind and informative responses, Kiwi and I appreciate them very much. This morning I had a very pleasant surprise, please see the following link [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORoAhD42vNI&feature=youtu.be]kiwi takes flight - YouTube[/ame]
She's growing up very quickly
Henpecked- I will hold off on the bath also I reckon after this mornings surprise a visit to the vet is order Belize is a good guess, I am from the Caribbean although it has more appeal when Capt jack Sparrow says it
Tortoisekeeper- Thank you for that suggestion, may I ask a naive question, how do I preen her feathers? I ve noticed she's been doing a bit on her own. Also if I may ask, do you also have a pet tortoise? I love animals. I ve got kiwi, twi red eared sliders ( Luna and lucy) and 5 budgies ( they belong to my dad but they re included all the same ) .

 

[JerseyWendy]

WOHOOO....Kiwi took her first flight!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

Preening feathers means you straighten them out for her. When you feel pin feathers, you can VERY gently try and rub them open between your thumb and index finger. But you have to make sure the feather shaft is dry enough. If you try and rub open a newly "sprouted" pin feather, Kiwi may complain.

 

[prsgirl77]

Good morning JerseyWendy You re most welcome, thank you for helping Kiwi and I along, we ve had each other for 4 days now *yaaaay* Ohh I ll definitely try preening her. At the moment I m working on getting the builder to complete her new larger home, its much taller than I am and wider too Have a good day everyone. Tell me about your birds everyone I d like hearing anecdotes

 

[tortoisekeeper]

I no longer have tortoises but I had a tortoise rescue in my home for 18 yrs. We moved from Louisiana to Tennessee after Hurricane Katrina and I had to rehome all of the tortoises because it was to cold for them in TN. I lost my beloved DHY Pee Wee after 21 years while in TN. He loved to sit outside in his cage on our porch and had been doing so for over 2 years very happily. One summer morning I went outside to go to work and he called to me very sadly. I turned around and he was on the bottom of the cage. A raccoon had got him and chewed a hole in his breast, ate his whole wing and one leg. I was devastated. That was in 2007.

In June I got Jelly Bean my now 10 week old DYH. She also took her first flight today. Pee Wee's wing were always clipped but I have learned that now it is considered better not to clip the wings so she has full wings. I have been reading the forums trying to find out how you stop her from flying every time I take her out and have not found an answer so far. Any suggestions?