Day 3 flying around, not liking cage, not eating

Birdee

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May 21, 2018
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Well...Day 3 and I likely screwed it all up already. Sweetie came without a cage, or much of her own food. So I did not force her into it, and instead let her just hang out on the carrier. She flew to the counter and I tried to feed her various foods to find out what she liked. She doesn't like anything apparently much. She made the counter her 'play stand' and was good day two just cruising around and playing with the box and paper I put on there (the toys were ignored).

She did go in the cage easily for nite time. Day 3 - She spent about 5 minutes on the top of it (it has a play stand top), then flew around the room (we have an open living/dining/kitchen set up. She came over for morning breakfast, ate nothing. Now she is on a dogs exercise pen we set up to keep the dogs out (she is not left unsupervised at all).

She does not like the cage (she hangs on the bars), and she made this weaving back and forth with her head movements last night when we put her to bed. She flies or walks away from me. Not sure what she thinks of husband yet. She tried to fly to him twice yesterday. The work week starts today and we work from home. So she's stuck with me in the room.

How do I get her to eat? Perhaps I should have made her stay in the cage for several days? What to do now...a flighted, uneating, bird who doesn't want to do much with us.....

Help.
 

TiredOldMan

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Apr 24, 2018
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She just hasn't settled in yet and joined your "flock". Some eat right away but in my experience most don't. Just keep offering various things, just because she doesn't take it now doesn't mean she won't.

Behavior wise keep talking to her and including her in your activities as much as possible.

3 days is no time at all. It could take months for her settle down with you. And then again maybe not.

This is a marathon not a sprint.:)
 

TiredOldMan

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Also if you have a gram kitchen scale to weight her that would be good. Until she drops 10% of her weight I wouldn't worry about her eating.

It actually sounds like you are doing good for 3 days in.

Anakin has only been here for a little over 6 weeks. In my opinion he still isn't eating near enough. However his weight has improved since his wellness appointment and I have cut a ton of "no no" out of what he is given. He still craves salt which is a problem because he won't eat unsalted nuts.
 
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bigfellasdad

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no expert but id try and ignore sweetie.... id eat in front of sweetie probably colourful veg...carrots etc, making yummy and lip smacking noises in a sort of 'im enjoying MY food' mind set. Sweetie will come running, and if not immediately she will come as soon as you turn your back, rustling paper helps enormously
She is drinking isn't she? With Enzo I share a drink.... she sips then I sips (repeat) from a human glass, I think its a great way to bond and also to get very close face to face to check the fid out. Enzo definitely will not eat from her bowel if a human has a BIGGER bowel......typical wanting woman really (ducks for cover)
 
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bigfellasdad

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she made this weaving back and forth with her head movements last night when we put her to bed.

Side to side or up and down? enzo does a up/down ground butting the ground thing if she is bored and wants to play or demands more attention, she does an up/down thing when fluffed if she wants to play fight but i've never known her go side/side..... so when you work that one out please share ;)

CAGs also do this head twist forward back thing when they are adjusting the crop, usually during or just after eating, all normal
 

TiredOldMan

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CAG Hen-Gracie age unknown, U2 Rooster-Anakin 13YO
she made this weaving back and forth with her head movements last night when we put her to bed.

Side to side or up and down? enzo does a up/down ground butting the ground thing if she is bored and wants to play or demands more attention, she does an up/down thing when fluffed if she wants to play fight but i've never known her go side/side..... so when you work that one out please share ;)

CAGs also do this head twist forward back thing when they are adjusting the crop, usually during or just after eating, all normal

Gracie does a MAJOR side to side when the hormones are heavy. Which is constantly this time of year.
 
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Birdee

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she made this weaving back and forth with her head movements last night when we put her to bed.

Side to side or up and down? enzo does a up/down ground butting the ground thing if she is bored and wants to play or demands more attention, she does an up/down thing when fluffed if she wants to play fight but i've never known her go side/side..... so when you work that one out please share ;)

CAGs also do this head twist forward back thing when they are adjusting the crop, usually during or just after eating, all normal

It was not a side to side rocking, or the head bobbing. It was a weave sort of, swinging her head down to the right, rolling it over, and going to the left. Like a figure 8...never seen that with my other two parrots.

I will try to ignore her, and eat yummy looking stuff loudly in front of her. She is rail thin, so I really really do not want any weight loss. She is flighted, not sure why she is so skinny (keel prominent).

Discovered she likes the sink...currently preening on the edge of the sink, likes running water too ha ha! Funny girl...but no, you do not get to perch on the clean dishes.:)
 

bigfellasdad

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Enzo - adopted Female CAG circa 2004. A truly amazing young lady!
she made this weaving back and forth with her head movements last night when we put her to bed.

Side to side or up and down? enzo does a up/down ground butting the ground thing if she is bored and wants to play or demands more attention, she does an up/down thing when fluffed if she wants to play fight but i've never known her go side/side..... so when you work that one out please share ;)

CAGs also do this head twist forward back thing when they are adjusting the crop, usually during or just after eating, all normal

It was not a side to side rocking, or the head bobbing. It was a weave sort of, swinging her head down to the right, rolling it over, and going to the left. Like a figure 8...never seen that with my other two parrots.

I will try to ignore her, and eat yummy looking stuff loudly in front of her. She is rail thin, so I really really do not want any weight loss. She is flighted, not sure why she is so skinny (keel prominent).

Discovered she likes the sink...currently preening on the edge of the sink, likes running water too ha ha! Funny girl...but no, you do not get to perch on the clean dishes.:)

Hold on, maybe she has a problem with her crop!!!!! If it is maybe that's why she isn't eating, have you taken her to an avian vet yet? Has she started eating at all, drinking ok?? Assuming there are no poops either, or maybe just fluids?? Id have been at the vets 2 days ago if it was Enzo
 

noodles123

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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
If worried, you might try something like plain oatmeal sweetened with mashed bananas+apples etc (baby food is a good mix-in as well, but watch out for citric acid and sodium), or even plain (organic) non-fortified pasta noodles (cooked).
What kinds of dishes is the bird used to eating out of?
Have you tried placing bits of fruit (outside of a bowl) just on the cage top or a perch?
 

noodles123

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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Also- nekton vitamin supplement powder (in small doses) can be mixed into a food they like...again SMALL amounts (don't want to OD). Juice would also contain calories but avoid too much citrus or anything with lots of preservatives.
 
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Birdee

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Side to side or up and down? enzo does a up/down ground butting the ground thing if she is bored and wants to play or demands more attention, she does an up/down thing when fluffed if she wants to play fight but i've never known her go side/side..... so when you work that one out please share ;)

CAGs also do this head twist forward back thing when they are adjusting the crop, usually during or just after eating, all normal

It was not a side to side rocking, or the head bobbing. It was a weave sort of, swinging her head down to the right, rolling it over, and going to the left. Like a figure 8...never seen that with my other two parrots.

I will try to ignore her, and eat yummy looking stuff loudly in front of her. She is rail thin, so I really really do not want any weight loss. She is flighted, not sure why she is so skinny (keel prominent).

Discovered she likes the sink...currently preening on the edge of the sink, likes running water too ha ha! Funny girl...but no, you do not get to perch on the clean dishes.:)

Hold on, maybe she has a problem with her crop!!!!! If it is maybe that's why she isn't eating, have you taken her to an avian vet yet? Has she started eating at all, drinking ok?? Assuming there are no poops either, or maybe just fluids?? Id have been at the vets 2 days ago if it was Enzo

Thanks for all the suggestions!!! Will try all. She only did the head thing once. Yes, I do plan on getting her to a vet (3 hours away however). She is eating, but very picky...she eats safflower seeds just fine...LOL. I tried the idea of acting really excitedabout a food and actually ate a Harrison's pellet right in front of her, handed her one and she ate it all the while looking at me munching on mine...ha ha. Very thrilled about that. That was of course the last one she eat.

She lets me skritch her head a lot, so I will feel her crop. And I will try these other ideas too. I think the rescue tried real hard to get her on good food, they were really knowledgeable. But perhaps her history is seeds....?

I will get that appt scheduled. She is eating better today and much more settled. But skinny yikes. I wanted to add a picture but I need to find a "url" to put it on first.

All the advice is much appreciated, thank you!
 

texsize

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I wish I could help. When I got my grey I did not have any problems with her eating.

I did change cages 3 times though.
At first she was in a small cage to quarantine her. After that I moved her to a medium size cage. I was not completely happy with the size of that cage either but it was as large as I could accommodate in the room I had.

After my Pacho passed away I had a large cage that was no longer "in use". After cleaning with a spray washer and sterilizing with a steam cleaner I changed my Grey to the large cage.

Strangely enough it took a while for her to accept this big cage as home. I took all the toys out of her new cage (even though they were the same toys she had in her medium size cage) and let her get use to the cage with nothing but perches in it.
Once she was use to the empty cage I slowly put her old toys back on at a time.

It did work and she is very happy in her cage now. She is still very fearful of anything new I try to put in her cage, she is a big chicken when it comes to anything new.
 

bigfellasdad

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Enzo - adopted Female CAG circa 2004. A truly amazing young lady!
Great that she is eating, i thought she wasnt eating at all !! Have you weighed her? Enzo's breast is not very big, which is good, sort of boat shaped. She weighs 440gr (15.5oz) which the vet said was perfect for her size, this allowed for a few grammes due her just laying eggs. (or cake retention, dunno).



Ive tried Enzo on pellets and she just doesnt eat them apart from the occasional one so she is on a high quality seed mix along with veg and some fruit. She does love her veg though, and everything else that is bad for her and comes in a packet that crinkles when opened.....she loves potato in any cooked form but I allow that very sparingly. I bet a lot on here would be horrified with her diet but she seems very healthy and alert and loves to fly around the house.
 

GaleriaGila

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Good for you, for reaching out here.

As you see, there's plenty of good advice and general support.

Stick around, keep reading and researching (the Search Tab is great), and keep having that positive attitude!

There's so much to learn and share about diet, toys, cages, behavior management...

I'm glad you're here.
 

Caitnah

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Mar 24, 2018
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I had (have) the same eating problem with my adopted CAG. I have only had him for just over a month and her former owner had him on an all seed diet. The rescue center tried giving him better food.

When I adopted him, I had to experiment A LOT to see what he liked/disliked. He would only eat certain foods like banana, chicken, pasta, no vegs or pellets. I then discovered that his eyes lit up when I ate potato chips, pizza, and some other things.

As an experiment, I gave him some of these foods and he took them without hesitation. So this showed that he had been fed these foods before. Of course, I don't want him eating these things so I then tried more food experiments.

I make Birdie Bread and the first kind he didn't care for. But again, more experimenting. Made him a different type of bread and this type he liked. He tried watermelon and loved it.

But, so he doesn't stay hungry, I do feed him a fortified seed mixture with pellets mixed in, once a day for a couple hours only.
Also feed him Oven Bites made by Caitec which he also loves.

Like others, I too will try and eat things in front of him. When I first gave him watermelon he refused to eat it. He would instantly drop it. I then made a fuss over it by eating and smacking my lips. He looked on intently. I then gave him another piece and now it's one of his favorite foods.

Point of all this is you MUST experiment and have him try MANY different things. There is a lot of waste but after a month, I have been able to expand his better foods.
 
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