I purchased an unweaned Grey before I knew it was such an issue

[DonnaBudgie]

As long as her vet says she's fine I'd say she's fine. There can be a pretty big normal size range for parrots. I have budgies that weigh 28 grams and others all the way up to 65+ grams and none of them are obese. Cockatiels can weigh 70- 120 grams.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

They say that male Greys weigh more than females.

 

[newbaby]

Millie (new name lol) is now 12 weeks and two days old. She’s learning to fly and has had a few “successful” flights across my living room.

As of this morning, she’s 334g (she was 361g when I got her). She’s also refusing her food alot. Sometimes she will take up to 30ml in a feed and sometimes she’ll only take 2-3ml in a feed. She’s seen an avian vet and they said she’s fine and that she would put on weight when started to fly, but I can’t see how that happens when she won’t really eat her formula anymore. I literally chase her across the house to feed her lol. She acts hungry, takes 1-2 spoonfuls, then runs away?

Ugh. I’m sure this is normal and I’m just stressed. Weaning birds is hard and I’m so confused.

She has pellets and water all day. Her poops have definitely changed so I’m positive she’s eating pellets and not just smashing them into powder lol. I’m just worried that she’s losing weight.

Someone tell me she’s fine lol.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

She's fine. Seriously. If she's hungry she'll eat. I'd call the vet and ask. Keep monitoring her weight. I felt the same way when my hand fed budgies went from eating lots of formula to eating so much less when fully grown and they lost weight too. The muscle mass from flying will add some wight over the next couple months. Does she like chop? If you offer her some tasty foods maybe she'll eat more.
And have fun with your new flying toddler!

 

[newbaby]

Sigh. She is now 306g and shows no signs of ever wanting to eat. So she’s gone from 361g when I got her to 306g as of today. She just wants to fly around and play. I chase her down all day long sneaking food in here and there. Her poops always have food in them, so I know she’s eating. It’s just obviously not enough to keep her weight up. Not really sure where to go from here. She’s not sick she’s just more interested in flying around and playing than she is in eating.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Maybe you ought to keep her in her cage for half the day. She may get bored enough to eat.

 

[newbaby]

I do!

She gets fed morning and night as she won’t eat the afternoon feed at all anymore. I take her out in the morning, let her fly around for half an hour or so and then when I can tell she’s starting to “settle” I start the process of chasing her around to feed her. By the end she will finally stay in one spot, but still refuses to eat (won’t open her mouth at all). I keep her out for another hour or so, then she goes back into her cage for the day (while I’m in school). When I get home, I let her out and she’s out for 2 hours ish before I attempt to feed her again so she’s usually quite settled by then. Still refuses most of her food. In summary, on days that I’m in classes, she’s in her cage for 8 ish hours so she should be more than bored/hungry enough to eat the food she has in there. She does eat her pellets, just not enough of them. I’ve also tried brown rice, peppers, cucumber, and apples . She doesn’t really eat those. Just mouths them.

I mean, she’s not unhealthy. She’s very active. Full of personality. I just wish she’d stop losing weight. Vet is adamant she’ll eat if she wants too, but I’m not convinced lol. She’s got to be hungry? How does she fly around and play and be so full of personality and just not be hungry ever? She’s giving me grey hairs lol.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Have you considered getting a second opinion from another avian vet? I don't know what else to say. I know from your posts that you use Tropican. Do you have access to any other brands of hsndfeeding formula, maybe one with higher calories that you could mix 50-50 with Tropican? I mixed Kaytee exact with Higgins InTune and Harrisons formulas together and my baby budgies grew very well on the blend.

 

[newbaby]

Have you considered getting a second opinion from another avian vet? I don't know what else to say. I know from your posts that you use Tropican. Do you have access to any other brands of hsndfeeding formula, maybe one with higher calories that you could mix 50-50 with Tropican? I mixed Kaytee exact with Higgins InTune and Harrisons formulas together and my baby budgies grew very well on the blend.

The vet I saw is the leading avian vet in my country and people from across my country come to learn the specialty from her. I’m incredibly lucky to have such easy access to her. I suppose I could drive the 6+ hours one-way to see another avian vet but I’m not convinced they’d have anything different to add (and they were likely trained by mine anyway lol) and I don’t know how Millie might react to a 12 hour round trip (eating wise). The only hand feeding formula I’ve got access to is Tropicana which is what she’s been eating since she hatched.

So far today Millie is just as active as any other day. But if she loses weight again over the next 2 days, I will take her back to see the avian vet rather than just calling her office as I feel the weight loss truly does have to stop at some point.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Have you considered getting a second opinion from another avian vet? I don't know what else to say. I know from your posts that you use Tropican. Do you have access to any other brands of hsndfeeding formula, maybe one with higher calories that you could mix 50-50 with Tropican? I mixed Kaytee exact with Higgins InTune and Harrisons formulas together and my baby budgies grew very well on the mixture.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Duplicate message. It sounds like your vet is the best so I would listen to them.

 

[rheashard2]

You have an active cutie there. Aviator harness normal for a CAG is medium. But yours CAG is even smaller than mine. So consider a small. Aviator brand is expensive. In just over 2 decades I've had two. I had to replace #1 because I left it hanging near cage in chew range. It was fixable and is back up. My female CAG is a low weight struggle too. She stays between 380 and 450 gms. The low end is during molts and hormones. Her weight is considered on the low side for a CAG. She's been that way for just over 21 yrs. After reaching adulthood she's 390-420 gm. I cheer if I cheer if she's above 420. I moan and worry below 400. Her vet checks and blood works have been normal. Yes her low weight has and continues to bother me. I can't help it. But avian vet told me way back when. I don't know her heredity. Her 'low' weight may be normal for her line. I need to be a bit more alert to her weight. Bird weight is big indicator for problems. Have a way to monitor and document weight. You can see trends. Get your feathered dynamo into a variety of toys. Different chew textures, foraging and puzzle are a must. There's threads here on making toys. Post pics of your baby!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Do you think it's possible that she's part Congo and part Timenh? That would explain her petite size. Even if it wasn't her parents but maybe she had a Timneh grandparent.

My budgie Rocky is half English budgie and half regular budgie and she's intermediate in size. English can weigh twice what regular budgies weigh and her Mother was huge! Daddy Buddy's eyes almost popped out of his head when he met his new girlfriend, Lilibet, but I said "Don't worry, Buddy, she'll be on the bottom"!

 

[newbaby]

I suppose it’s possible. I only saw the parents who were both congos. She came to me at 361g and is now 306g. Even if she is a mix that still wouldn’t explain losing 55g. Wouldn’t that have prevented her from getting “big” to begin with?

 

[rheashard2]

There's too many variables here. Hereditary, environmental, dietary, activity and so much more. Try not to stress yourself out. Monitoring weight, good quality food and vet checks routine and as needed. I'm saying this from experience. In reading way back there's basically 3 types of grey. The larger Cameroon (spelling), Congo middle size and Gold or Ivory coast being the smallest. Your girl could be the later. My avain vet suggested that to me when my CAG was 6 months old. I was in a worried funk because she was a healthy and small 350 gm. Remember that there's the human element. People who didn't know breeding these types together. They look remarkably alike. In the wild the 3 types were environmentally separated. So the genetic stock in captive breed CAG is very different from their wild bred relatives. Enjoy your active one. Be alert to weight, activity, diet etc. Your baby sounds like she's gonna be a handful.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Does Millie let you handle her? If she will let you, try feeling her breastbone, the keel, running down the center of her breast. If her bone sticks out sharply she doesn't have enough muscle mass. If you can feel it but on either side yo,cevy6l⁶⁶u can feel some nice firm muscle, she's just right. If the flesh on either side is so big it bulges out obscuringthe keel then she overweight. It sounds like she's pretty athletic with a small frame. Surely some birds of a species have bigger frames than others.
Like with humans. A man can be 5'10"(178 cm) and weigh anywhere from 179 to 183 (76 to 83 kg) and still be at ideal weight for his frame.

There's another PF member who has a 4.5 month old weaned small species of Amazon that weighed about 300 grams before they went away for 5 days and boarded their bird. When they got home he had lost almost 80 grams because it apparently ate very little while they were away maybe because he missed them. He began to eat well again when they returned. I know this isn't the same situation but it shows how much weight a bird about that size can lose and still be healthy.
I'd course your vet's advice is the best advice. Your lucky to have access to a good one.

 

[newbaby]

Thank you everyone for such wondering advice and perspectives!

Millie’s growth chart has been going down since the day I got her, but she has been active and healthy the whole time. Usually she makes slight gains for two days, then drops more than she’s gained in the third day. Today I’m happy to report that it’s the third day of gains! No drop on day three! She’s also back to wanting her hand feedings of formula so I’m breathing a small, cautious sigh of relief lol. Hopefully she manages to maintain or gain some weight back.

Her keel is very prominent with nothing really on either side, but she only just started flying and (hopefully) is going to stop losing weight now and gaining muscle.

Today she is 323g with her lowest weight having gone down to 306g (highest was 361g).

ETA: She doesn’t really eat any other foods. She mouths a lot of things, but isn’t really eating any of it. Have tried pellets (she has access to all day), pellet mush (ran through grinder and mixed with formula), brown rice, green peppers, red peppers, cucumbers, and apples.

 

[rheashard2]

Is there a way to ask breeder avg weight of her parents? Also what is the nighttime temperature around her. She may be burning more calories to keep warm. 15-23°C or 60-72° F is an average range. Your local climate will influence your decision. You want warmth not heat. Your baby sounds so active.

 

[newbaby]

Is there a way to ask breeder avg weight of her parents? Also what is the nighttime temperature around her. She may be burning more calories to keep warm. 15-23°C or 60-72° F is an average range. Your local climate will influence your decision. You want warmth not heat. Your baby sounds so active.

My breeder likely doesn’t weigh their adult birds. I did see the parents in person and they were much larger than Millie.

The temp in my house is fairly constant as we live in a cold climate when it’s winter. We keep it at 70°.

But I do have a question about going outside lol. I got her an aviator harness and have taken her outside once when it was warm and not windy. What temp can they reasonably go outside in for 5-15 minutes? I don’t need her to be outside for long periods of time, she just really seemed to enjoy being out there. It’s about to be winter here and will get down to -45 or even colder so obviously we won’t be going outside for a long time when it starts. So just looking for a temp range to eh able to take her out as much as possible before it snows and gets gross here.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I remember when I was handraising a baby budgie last summer and at three months old he was still handfeeding. I was worried Tiki was never going to wean and had visions of having to handfeed him for the rest if his life! The vet said I'm doing all the things I needed to do to encourage healthy weaning and to be patient. He finally ate his last meal of formula at 3.5 months old- twice the normal weaning age.

Your baby will wean when she's ready. Don't worry! They say that handcraised parrots often wean quite a bit later than parent raised babies. The parents aren't interested in coddling their babies like we do.

I'd encourage flying to build up her muscle mass. Does she like any treats at all like pune nuts, sunflower meats or safflower seeds? Make a game out of flying to you.