I ran out of Baby Bird Formula

[Kaytana22]

I have a 4 wk old baby GCC and i ran out of formula cause the one i ordered is delayed. Is it safe to feed him/her baby food *no added ingredients* and baby rice cereal til i get my food in? I do not have any pet stores around me that sells the formula; i made several calls and checked several locations for it and no one seems to have it, so i ordered some off of Petco.com and it won't be here til Tuesday. So, is this ok to use?

 

[noodles123]

Where are you located roughly?


Not usually, as they are fortified with added vitamins and minerals for human babies (and they lack the proper balance of vitamins needed in parrots)...Giving a parrot vitamin levels developed for infants can kill them depemding on the situation. Feeding cerelac and other baby formulas to parrots is bad news (although it is something that people often do when they don't know they shouldn't).


Can you drive a few hours to get some somewhere else? Even if the ingredients just say rice, look at the vitamin panel --99.999% are fortified or enriched, same with breakfast cereals designed for humans--- there is always more in rice baby food than just rice...plus, even rice for adults is not that safe for birds in the quantities you would need to feed, as it often contains high levels of arsenic (even when rinsed) but is also terribly unbalanced nutritionally. A few hours drive would be worth it...assuming you can get back for the next feeding...
Where did you get your bird? Contact the breeder and ask to buy some, flat-out.

 

[Kaytana22]

oh crap.. no i cant drive a few hours to get some sadly our vehicle wont make the trip longer then an hour and i got him/her from a breeder who is also pretty far away... what about giving baby food in a jar? with just the veggies/fruit and water? Ok i have given him/her some of this ceral mixed with some of the little bit of formula i had, along with some jar baby food. Now i am worried.. ....

I have not given it baby formula that you add water to just the rice cereal with mixed baby food and some of his formula that i had left over.

 

[Kaytana22]

The food will be here Monday... according to the tracking.. theres gotta be something that i can give that will be ok til then? i cant go get any... closest place is like 3 to 4 hours away with food. And the breeder is 4 hours away. I only was able to get it cause he met me half way.. and i can assure he wont do that again just for food.

 

[noodles123]

Disclaimer- I am not a hand-feeding expert:
You won't harm her from a bit, but you do need a better solution. Baby food in a jar can be okay in small amounts but not as an only food,-again, it is not balanced and often contains high levels of citric acid and preservatives. Too much citric acid is not good because it can mess with iron storage. It also just isn't complete enough for them.


I am hoping others chime in, because I am genuinely not sure. Babies are just so fragile and need such specific care/feeding. Human vitamins are too much for them...


If you look up hand feeding recipes, a lot of places do talk about infant cereal, but I always was told not to do this due to enrichment/fortification at human levels.


You might be best mashing up steamed foods etc and making your own puree, but I am not sure what ingredients I would add-- You want them to be digestible etc and not too high in sugars. It also must be sterile and at a specific temperature for hand-feeding, so if you make your own, cleanliness of all containers, hands, storage etc is extremely important..Do NOT use tap water-- needs to be purified.


I just found a site the says: "Never use foods based on baby cereal or Egg & Biscuit Mix as these are unlikely to have the right nutrient levels needed by your chicks. However, high protein baby cereal can be used in an emergency as a short-term food for a day or two until a proper hand rearing food can be purchased." https://scas.org.au/html/hand_rearing_part_1.html I am not sure if this is good advice, but I will keep looking...They are lactose intolerant, so definitely avoid dairy mixes.


here is another website with more details on hand-feeding: https://hari.ca/hari/research-facil...cine-pediatrics-housing-feeding-baby-parrots/

You could MAYBE try making some plain oatmeal and blending that up, while adding a few mashed pellets maybe..depending on the pellets? BUT you want to make sure you don't OD on vitamins or give formula at the wrong temp. I really hope others chime in because I am not sure about what I just said in terms of pellets or oatmeal. Again, I know people do use baby cereal at times, but I have only ever heard bad things about doing that, so I would be cautious about using baby cereal specifically. At the same time, if something is better than nothing, I am definitely not telling you to not feed your bird...I just don't know what the BEST solution is, aside from making some yourself.

Is there no breeder nearby?

Like I said, I know people do use baby cereal, but I've heard lots of bad things about doing that and so I am hesitant to encourage it, even though I know it would be short-term, it just seems like there has to be a better alternative. if it's super short-term, it might be okay, but it's definitely not ideal.


*do make sure that if you research this, that the sources are referring to parrots, as wild bird sanctuaries use a hand-formula in a pinch, but it's not appropriate for parrots*


I could be overthinking it, but I have never tried giving a parrot baby cereal because I just was always told not to...I wish I had an answer.

 

[Kaytana22]

I just don't want to hurt the baby bird and this just being for 2 days sigh i dont know i'm out of ideas here there is also suggestions of using chicken feed and cat/dog food but i dont know about that, that just seems .. wrong? Or is that just for wild birds?

 

[noodles123]

I just don't want to hurt the baby bird and this just being for 2 days sigh i dont know i'm out of ideas here there is also suggestions of using chicken feed and cat/dog food but i dont know about that, that just seems .. wrong? Or is that just for wild birds?

From what I understand, the chicken feed is not the best because it has levels of protein appropriate for more omnivorous birds than your parrot (same with dog food, which is largely meat and grain). I just sent the mods a PM (and also included the message to SilverSage because I know she has hand-rearing experience). I am hoping they get you some better answers.


Where did you get this bird?
Where is the mother/breeder/whoever?


If you are not sure what to do but know where you could get formula, you could technically rent a car or take an uber (unless you settle on an alternative). Again, I am very cautious with babies in general as they are super tricky. It is really unfortunate that the breeder sold you one that was not fully weaned. There is no reason for this, other than less work for them. It doesn't help you bond with that baby in the long run, so if you ever have the option again, get a fully-weaned baby.

I was hoping the breeder could help you out here, but given the fact that they sold you a 4 wk unweaned baby makes me doubt their advice...At the very least though, they probably have formula on hand.


Google an Avian vet (certified avian vet who deals with parrots) and call and ask them. An exotics vet that works extensively with parrots could also have info on this (although avian certified is preferable if you have that option)--You can call a vet across the country and ask questions, even if you aren't a client. Mine is closed, but I know there are some 24 hour places on the coasts who will still answer questions. I know some old-school breeders who I could call, but they are engaged in some other practices that I know are totally incorrect, so I hate to rely on them...knowing that they do things they shouldn't anyway.


*I would also order another batch of formula right now, in case you ever have this issue again*

 

[noodles123]

To be absolutely clear-- you need something, because waiting will be too long.

 

[Kaytana22]

I have never had this issue before. I used to raise baby birds a bit of time ago, but I have never ran into the issue where food was not just at the local pet store. So, sadly I didn't prepare for this. The guy who sold me her/him gave me 2 weeks worth I have had this baby since it was almost 2 weeks old. It is my fault more then anyone elses' as I didn't think to check local stores for the formula. I can just kick myself now and I hope and pray that I do not lose this baby. Other then the person I got him/her from I do not know any local breeders who could sell me some food. I will try and call local vets but without the ability to get the items, I am poop up a creek. I am located in a very rural area in the country and I don't think Uber even comes out here tbh. I will see what I can do. Thanks for the help

 

[noodles123]

I have never had this issue before. I used to raise baby birds a bit of time ago, but I have never ran into the issue where food was not just at the local pet store. So, sadly I didn't prepare for this. The guy who sold me her/him gave me 2 weeks worth I have had this baby since it was almost 2 weeks old. It is my fault more then anyone elses' as I didn't think to check local stores for the formula. I can just kick myself now and I hope and pray that I do not lose this baby. Other then the person I got him/her from I do not know any local breeders who could sell me some food. I will try and call local vets but without the ability to get the items, I am poop up a creek. I am located in a very rural area in the country and I don't think Uber even comes out here tbh. I will see what I can do. Thanks for the help

I know they say never do baby formula, but if you cannot make your own and have no other option, you will have to make a call on what to do. If it is short-term, hopefully any damage will be minimal. you will definitely need to feed something...you may have to decide before people respond, but don't cut him off food.



I'd check back again tonight and see if other members respond.



Sorry I couldn't help more!!! We have all made mistakes when it comes to trusting Amazon etc (at least, I know I have--- big fan of Amazon in general, but there have been times when I have trusted them too much).

 

[Laurasea]

I would get bird pellets soak them in warm water grind into a paste and add cooked mashed sweet potatoes to the mix. Make sure its a little thinner than yogurt

 

[Laurasea]

Thank you Noodles!
Do this it will work till formula
[ame="https://youtu.be/6RvSs_jDtoQ"]How To Take Care of a Sick Bird | Syringe Feeding an African Grey Parrot - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Laurasea]

check Walmart, some carry baby bird formula

 

[Kaytana22]

Pellets I can get thanks so much.

 

[noodles123]

Make sure your water is pure and hands/syringe are immaculate! Thanks Laura!

 

[Laurasea]

good call on water. I'd use bottle. Make temperature the same, I do a mug in a pot with almost boiling water.

 

[Kaytana22]

check Walmart, some carry baby bird formula

yea I have checked walmart petsmart petco local feed stores, local small pet shops.. called idk how many places in a 60 mile radius and nothing. I am jsut gonna do the pellet thing its supposed to be here Monday afternoon so not that long of a wait thank god.

 

[Kaytana22]

I don't use tap water even for myself, we use fresh spring water from a well. That should be ok? We don't add anything to it at all so its fresh from the ground. Also there is no pesticides or any type of chemicals used in or around the land where the well resides. So its pure.

 

[Laurasea]

Wells can be great. But they can be contaminated. My whole family once got terribly ill from a well that bats somehow got in and pooped in.....terribly sick.
I'd used bottle water for him while a baby

 

[noodles123]

I would not use well water for a parrot, as the types of bacteria and contaminants that are in ground water make it easy for things to grow (like gram negative bacteria, which is normal to humans/mammals but not parrots) not to mention pesticides, metals etc etc. A healthy adult parrot could even struggle with that, but I definitely wouldn't bank on a baby being okay with it (because even adult birds get sick from gram negative bacteria). Between tap and well, when it comes to a baby, tap would be safer IMO, BUT still not safe.


Animals with gram negative bacteria poop in the gorund..it gets into the water...A parrot can't handle what a human could.