Help for baby Alexander feeding

[Kchohan]

Hi guys
I have one Alexander parrot which i bought 1.5 months ago that time.it wast almost 20 to 25 days old..it was going fine but now from.last 2 3 days it's rejected hand feed every time. I have tried every possible thing i could do to fed him. I have brought mix seeds, sunflower seed, vegetables and fruits but he is not eating as much ig should. It's crop is empty all the time. He tasted al those eat only a bit.
Is it Normal or there's something to be worried.
Anyway it's actice want to beout of cage all the time playing but not eating. Help please

 

[GaleriaGila]

Here is a link from an expert here. I hope she or others will be along to help you...
Please read...

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums! Hopefully one of our breeder members will join the conversation to assist!

Extremely helpful thread, please read: http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

Are you able to contact the breeder or store where purchased? They might be able to help.

 

[EllenD]

At only 25-30 days old, there is no way that your baby Alex can be eating any types of solid food yet, he needs to be eating a baby-bird hand-feeding formula, as he will only eat liquids at his age, and he must be eating the specially-formulated hand-feeding formulas only at his age, because they contain all of the specialized nutrition (protein, fat, carbs, vitamins/minerals, amino acids, probiotics, digestive enzymes, etc.) that a baby his age needs to properly grow and develop...Without him eating a commerically sold baby-bird hand-feeding formula multiple times a day (at his age he should be eating between 5-6 hand-feedings each and every day of the formula until his Crop is full), he will soon die.

***Are you using a cooking/candy Thermometer to ensure that the hand-feeding formula you are attempting to feed him is between 104 degrees F and 110 degrees F? If the formula is even 1 degree colder than 104 degrees F he will not only likely not want to eat it and reject it, but he will also develop a terrible Yeast infection in his Crop that will make him extremely sick. And if the fomula is even 1 degree hotter than 110 degrees F, it will burn his crop and cause a horrible infection. So you absolutely MUST have a cooking/candy thermometer with a metal probe you can keep in the formula at all times while you're feeding him, and if it is any hotter than 110 degrees F you must let it cool, if it is any lower than 104 degrees F you must re-heat water and add it to the formula until it is hot enough.

***What kind of hand-feeding formula mix are you trying to feed him? He may be rejecting it if you're not using a cooking thermometer, as if you're simply using hot tap-water to mix it, that will only put it's temperature around 60-70degrees F, far too cold for him to want to eat, or that is safe for him to eat...So that could be reason #1 why he's rejecting it.

****What ambient temperature (air temperature/environmental temperature) are you keeping him in? He should be kept in a Brooder, either a proper Brooder or a homemade one consisting of a cardboard box with the back-half of the box sitting on an electric heating-pad with adjustible heat settings and that same back-half of the box covered with a towel, and it also must have a regular, digital or analog air thermometer in the back-half of the box, because if he's not being housed in a warm enough temperature he will not want to eat, and he'll develop the same type of Yeast infection in his Crop and Intestines...

A baby bird who does not yet have all of his fluffly Down-Feathers in yet (so he's still bald and showing bare skin in some areas) must always be kept in an ambient temperature around 95 degrees F, much hotter than most homes are kept, even if you live in a hot climate...If a baby bird has ALL of his Down-Feathers grown-in (so no bald spots with bare skin showing), but he doesn't have all of his mature, outer feathers grown-in yet, then he must be kept in an ambient temperature around 80 degrees F. Again, any cooler and he won't want to eat and he'll develop a terrible Yeast infection....

The temperature of the hand-feeding formula being too low, the ambient temperature the baby is kept in being too low, and not feeding the baby a commercial hand-feeding formula are the top reasons why they won't eat and reject the formula hand-feedings...Again, your bird is WAY TOO YOUNG to eat ANY solid food yet, and even if he would eat some of the seeds, nuts, etc. that you're trying to give him, they won't provide him anywhere close to the nutrition that he needs at his age, which is what the commercially-sold hand-feeding formulas provide to them, without these formulas they will die of malnutrition at his age. The most commonly sold brand of baby bird hand-feeding formula is Kaytee Exact, and also RoudyBush is very common...I don't know what type of formula you're saying that he is "rejecting", but if you're actually trying to feed him one of these commercial hand-feeding formulas and he's still rejecting it, it's most-likley because the formula is way below 104 degrees F, and because his ambient temperature is below 95 degrees F, as he's very young and probably doesn't even have all of his down in yet, and even if he does he certainly doesn't have all of his mature, outer feathers in yet, not even close....

 

[EllenD]

Also, at his age, in addition to the formula not being between 104 degrees F and 110 degrees F, they also typically prefer the formula if it's mixed to be a little more on the runny, watery side, rather than being very thick at all. As they get older they gradually prefer the formula to be on the thicker side. But again, if it's not between 104 and 110 degrees F, or if he's being kept in an ambient temperature that is too cool, depending on his feather-development, he won't want to eat and he may already have developed a Yeast infection in his Crop/Intestines...But it's normal for him to not eat any of the solid food you're offering him, as Alexandrine Parrots don't even start the weaning process until they are around 6-7 weeks old, and won't be fully-weaned and off of the hand-feeding formula until they are around 12-13 weeks old.

 

[Kchohan]

Dear
U took it wrrong. It's 2.5 month old by now. I used exact handfeeding formulla.

 

[Kchohan]

It's not like he quit handfeed. He is taking that a bit only 10cc in morning afternoon and sometimes in the evening aswell. But i guess 10cc is not enough for him i offered him fruits and veg but he just taste those but does't eat it properly i have'tbseen his crop full since he started to do so. Anyway he like to eat sweet things as i noticed. So sny suggestions regarding that.

 

[Kchohan]

Here are couple of pics.

 

[Kchohan]

This is rhe feeding formula which i used to feed him.

 

[Cardinal]

Kchohan

I presume you are from India or the Indian Subcontinent. Welcome to the forum. You will get some of the best help here in taking care of parrots.

Having said that, I want to remind you and emphasise that the trading (sale and purchase) and keeping of Native Parrots of India (Psittacula, Loriculus) is banned by Law in India and I presume in most other countries too.

I request you to please not encourage this trade because you are directly encouraging activities like this :

Illegal Trapping of Birds in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka | Conservation India

If you want pet parrot family birds, best to go for Budgies and Cockatiels.

 

[EllenD]

Okay, 2.5 months is a lot different than weeks, lol...

So they aren't actually "rejecting" the formula completely? That means that they are starting the weaning process. From this point forward you need to ALWAYS have a bowl of the staple-diet food you're weaning them onto (seed-mix or pellets) in their cage at all times, 24 hours a day, so they always have access to it, and any other foods you want to give them like fresh veggies, greens, and fruit can be given to them fresh at certain times throughout the day. But they must always have access to the seed-mix or pellets that you want them to wean onto.

You must just simply offer them a hand-feeding first thing in the morning, let them eat as much as they want, and when their feeding-response stops then they're done. Then you need to make sure that they are eating the seed-mix/pellets throughout the day, and keep offering them formula feedings, probably 3-4 times a day...At their age, they should be eating the most formula first thing in the morning and then right before bed, with the feeding right before bed being the last hand-feeding that they'll probably eliminate (a "comfort feeding" that they typically cry for even after they're weaned)...

***If they aren't eating the seed.mix/pellets throughout the day and they are rejecting most of the formula, then they may have an infection of some kind, probably a yeast infection, especially if you were not making sure their formula was between 104 degrees F and 110 degrees F, or if you weren't keeping them in a Brooder at around 80-85 degrees F during the last few weeks. You need to smell their mouths (open their beaks up and smell) and see if you can smell a "sour" smell, if you do then that's yeast...Also, if their Crops aren't emptying normally (especially if their crops aren't completely empty first thing in the morning after going all night without eating), then that also means they have a yeast infection and a bit of Crop-Stasis, and this will prevent them from eating...

Based on their age and their size/feathering, they should be fully-weaned onto the seed-mix/pellets in a week or two...Their feathering looks healthy, so that's good, and overall they look healthy. They may be a bit on the thin side, but not horribly.

Have they fully-fledged yet? (have they both started flying regularly yet?)...If you don't have one already and haven't been doing this every day, you really need to get a digital kitchen scale if at all possible, and you should be weighing them every morning first-thing after they poop, but before they eat their first hand-feeding or any seed/pellets, and write down the date, time, and weight. They will typically keep gaining weight every day until they start fledging, at which time they typically lose a little weight, and then after they fully-fledge they will start to gain weight again. So if you haven't been tracking their weight you need to start.

Keep track of how much seed-mix/pellets you're giving them in the morning after you offer them the formula (again, make sure that the formula you're feeding them is between 104-110 degrees F, because the older they get, the pickier they are about the temperature, and they may be not eating as much of it as they should be at their age if it's not at least 104 degrees F...Also, they will like it a bit on the thicker-side at their age)...The temperature of the formula you're feeding them is extremely important, because they will spit it out and refuse it even if they're hungry and aren't eating enough seed-mix/pelets if it's not at least 104 degrees F, and at their age they like it closer to the top temp of 110 degrees F...