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

[newbaby]

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.

I haven’t tried any treats yet. All I have access to right now is sunflower seeds and didn’t want to give her any just yet. I tried to find safflower seeds awhile ago and couldn’t find any but I’m going to look again when I go back to the city. When she flies to me I just make a lot noises and praise her and she seems to really like that so far.

 

[rheashard2]

Your baby sounds like a handful! Keep a variety of toys to keep her stimulated and busy! Many parrots like bells and noise makers. Get a 'tube' bell. She can go outside for brief periods depending upon weather and temp. Get her to associate outside with pleasure. It'll decrease anxiety and make going to vet easier. I always asked my CAG if she wants to go bye. Now she tells me when she wants to go bye. Keep up the good work. Next time you go to vet ask about her keel and muscle mass. Get them to show you exactly what you need to feel. Truthfully Nameliss would barely qualify for soup. She feels that thin to me. But vet says thats fine.

 

[rheashard2]

FYi; keep harness leash short unless you are doing flight training. Everyone has there own system for security. I hook Nameliss to a retractable dog leash with a lock. Then a dog collar (outgrown) to retractable leash. I have an easy way to hook leash to wrist or carrier. This leash is for under 10 pounds dog weight. The lock is on unless I am doing flight encouragement. I stress encouragement. Nameliss prefers to walk and climb. I have to use lots of verbal praise to get her to fly.

 

[newbaby]

Update.

Millie has successfully been gaining weight for 6 days now! To say I’m relieved is a total understatement. She is now voraciously eating three hand feedings/day (7-8 hours apart). She mouths pellets and smashes them up and throws them around (lol) but still isn’t really eating them.

The aviator harnesses arrived (I ordered two sizes in case she decides to grow lol). I put it on once a day and take her outside (if it’s nice out, will remain indoors if it’s not). She’s not the biggest fan of the harness. She doesn’t bite at it, which is nice, but she doesn’t really move around either. Hopefully that comes as she wears it more. I only put it on her for 10-15 minutes at a time right now, go outside, check things out, come back inside and remove it. As she decides to move around I’ll extend how long she wears it making sure to pay attention to if she starts to “get mad” at it lol.

My avian vet told me that we should either keep Millie on a schedule ish and do the same things daily at around the same times or keep her life “chaotic” (lol). and she’ll thrive either way. So I introduce Millie to new things daily and now that her harness has come, we go outside and we go for car rides. We are a “chaotic” family and having her be able to adapt to new things/situations easily is very important to us.

We have started recall training and while I’m sure the only reason she flies to me is because she wants to poop on me (I’m not joking, I think I’ve accidentally trained her to poop on me ) she does come when called and she adores verbal praise (still don’t have a treat she actually eats). I do make sure she’s “in the mood” for flying before I start though to ensure the sessions always have a positive tone. So it’s probably just coincidence that she comes when called, but I’ll take anything I can get lol.

She’s also already imitating us? Which the internet says they don’t do until 8 months or older? She does the “sexy whistle” and seems to do the syllables for “hello” when we say it to her. That could be wishful thinking on my part, but I swear she’s trying! Haha.

Thank you all so much for getting me through (hopefully we’re through it!) her eating aversion and weight loss. Your advice, encouragement, and perspectives truly helped me remain calm and stay the course.

Adding: Millie’s lowest weight was 306g and she is 334g today.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I totally agree with your approach. Expose her to lots of new things and keep the chaos. That's how you raise a bird who isn't fearful of new people, places and things. That's how I raised my budgies. Now, when someone new walks in the room they fly over, land on them, and greet them.

 

[nkrbkr]

I totally agree with your approach. Expose her to lots of new things and keep the chaos. That's how you raise a bird who isn't fearful of new people, places and things. That's how I raised my budgies. Now, when someone new walks in the room they fly over, land on them, and greet them.

I do this too…continually socialize my birds and introduce them to new people and things. Since I have a preteen, there are different kids around regularly, and my husband and I have friends over often. While the birds aren’t out of cage when we have company, they still interact with our guests when people say hello to them. The last thing I want is birds that are overly territorial/possessive of us and our home, or scared of anything new.

 

[rheashard2]

You're both doing great! Parrots don't really like change. Exposure will help keep her flexible. This will decrease her anxiety. I was a travel RN. Every 3-5 months I was in a new state, city, apartment. This with two dogs and a CAG. Sometimes I worked a different shift from my norm. Everyone was happy. Mental stimulation and exposure in any pet helps decrease stress. Nameliss doesn't like her harness. After decade of use she'll have an occasional attack of 'I'm being hung, strangled, being put in a straight jacket etc.' It rarely lasts more then a few squawks. She does enjoy going outside. I give verbal praise and remind her we're going bye. Then she's all for it.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

You're going to be very happy you harness trained her early
It's much harder when they're older. You'll be able to go for walks with her and do all sorts if fun stuff.