Help - new white-bellied caique regressing

[Jeanso]

I brought my new caique named Loki, home last week. I trusted the breeder when he said Loki was weaned and ready to go home, already eating fresh food. When i picked him up, I realized “fresh food” meant a high-seed ratio mix and fruit (prickly pear and grapes), from what i could see. So my first goal was to correct his diet. I offered different fruits, slowly weaned off the seed mix every day and replacing it with a pellet blend and roudy bush and offered a veggie mix of bell pepper, corn, peas, green beans, carrot and rainbow chard every morning. He seems interested in the veggie mix, picking at it, but focuses mostly on the fruits. today is the first day i didnt offer him fruit, since im work towards a 3x/week schedule for him and he completely regressed. Giving me all the tell signs that he wants a hand feeding (he seriously turned into a different bird because up until this point, he was great with cuddling, exploring, and trick training). Asking the breeder for his specific hatch date, I learned he is only about 3 months old, which shame on me for not clarifying sooner. Now i feel like the right course should he offering him formula via spoon until he eventually refuses and adapts to the new diet regimen. What do you guys think? Revert back to breeder diet and try to transition to new diet at a slower rate, or continue the course while offering formula?

 

[fiddlejen]

I am confident that if a baby bird still wants, or returns to wanting, formula, then making it available as much as the young one wants it, is Always the Right Choice.

Beyond that, IF it were me, I would take a middle course.. I would make sure to offer the bird foods similar to what the breeder provided, Along With the foods You want the bird to eat.

BUT. This is not experience nor knowledge speaking, this is just what my own approach would be. I have never Removed seeds from the diets of my own birds; I give them pellets and veggies and seedmixes. Others here might have different advice. However I do agree that birds do not really need much fruit much at all.

I would suggest adding baby spinach to your list though, just because my Mama Budgie is determined to feed it to her babies.