Malnourished Conure

[Tazz]

I've just bought an 11 week old conure who has an over bite bottom beak. She has just been to the vet who says that she is malnourished. What is the best thing for me to feed her to get her better? HELP!!!! She has been eating fruit and seeds without an issue but I've now taken her off the seed and am trying her with Harrisons pellets. The vet says that I need to get her formula and feed her with a syringe?!? She is such a happy and loving little bird that seems to have been treated badly by the pet shop. Any advice for this first time new mum would be very appreciated!!!! Thanks!!!

 

[Mudkips]

Welcome to the forum Tazz!

Have you tried feeding her pellets soaked in a little water or juice? It would be easier to eat then seed - depending on how much you soak it - and it would have a higher nutritional value to a conure then fruit and seeds.

If the bird is truly malnourished then the baby formula would be ideal to fatten her up, so the vet is correct for the short term.
Have you thought about what you're going to do in the long term? There are a few parrot owners here that have seen a healed beak overbite. Did you speak to the vet about what you can do about it?

 

[greycloud]

Do not take her off seed! If she is malnourished she needs every bit she can get. Just add foods to her diet. Steam some sweet potato and add some cinnamon and mash it up. Serve warm. Make some Unsweetened oatmeal and add some jarred baby food such as apples, peaches even a bit of peanut butter. You can experiment with what consistency she likes. You can offer this to her in a bowl or with a spoon.
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Did your vet do some beak grooming to help her eat better?

 

[Tazz]

Hi,

The vet says that he can't do anything about her beak but that with constant trimming, it shouldn't worry her too much. We took her off seed 2 days ago and she is loving her fruit but I'm too stressed out to not give her formula. I just didn't know if he meant baby formula. I've got pellets arriving tomorrow so hopefully with them made softer, she will be back on form in no time. It's my first bird and she has changed my life, in a week!!!!! Thanks for your advise and help, it's much appreciated!!! Tazz

 

[DebsFlock]

There was an article in Parrots magazine this month showing a surgery to correct this condition with a prosthesis, but it was a younger bird. Is your vet an avian specialist? If you PM me an email address I'd be happy to share the article with you.

I would guess the vet meant handfeeding formula, but why don't you call him up and ask him to clarify? A good vet should not mind doing that! I definitely wouldn't take away anything she is eating, as the others have said. Maybe supplement the existing diet with a slurry of dampened pellets and babyfood veggies? Did the vet do bloodwork? Is there a specific nutritional deficiency, or is she basically underweight?

Good for you for taking on this bird! Please post pics when you get a chance!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Super long post

When I got Rosie she was super under weight(50 grams underweight to be exact! a lot for a bird that weighs 280 grams healthy) from her organs failing combined with the inadequate nutrients of a sun flower seed staple diet that she had for four years, and a abusive neglectful home that probably didn't feed her much better for who knows how long.

First week I removed sun flower seeds from her diet completely, in which safflower became her favorite and she would pick it all out. I also made sure to give her fresh veggies everyday even though she rarely touched them exept to throw them on the floor.

I then bought the fiesta conure seed mix(galahs have little beaks) because it has colorful pellets mixed in with the seeds. I didn't care that it was like junk food, all I wanted was for her to try something other then seeds. I( also bought Zupreem natural pellets and mixed them in with her seeds.
2 bags of fiesta and zupreem later she started taking the fiesta "pellets" and nibbling on them, she also started putting them in her water dish to make them softer. I started adding more zupreem and also lafeabers into her seeds but she lost 5 grams so I added more seeds. It's very important for a malnourished/underweight bird, never starve them to force them to eat a different food.
While still adding the pellets to her seed mix I added another bowel with a mixture of 3 pellets- Lafeabers, Zupreem Natural, and Roudybush pellets. It took a while(about $230 of uneaten pellets) but she eventually started to eat a little bit of the zupreem. I learned that Zupreem had sugar in their recipe so I slowly removed it from her food as well as putting more pellets into her seeds.

Now at about 5 months in she's eating a fair amount of lafeabers pellets along with her seeds but I can't seem to get her to stop eating seeds and she's still very underweight.

until the 6th month she is still eating seeds(although much less then before), for Christmas my friend gets her a fiesta seed foraging box. Rosie pretty much ignores it for two weeks until I decide to giver a very small amount of seeds one day and show her the seeds inside the box. I then have to go somewhere for 2 nights and move her into my parents room.

When I get back her foraging treat is entirely eaten and she was suddenly eating pellets perfectly. I'm not really sure how it happened but after being gone those two days I was able to completely remove seeds from her diet. Also without seeds in her diet she starts eating some of her fresh veggies everyday(yay)

Now on a staple diet of lafeaber's pellets she slowly starts gaining weight and having more energy(she slept a lot before). I'm still worried about her though and my mom decides to let me take her to the vet for a check up(Yay).

This is where the major improvement happens, so the vet pretty much forces me to buy harrison's(which is fine, it's a great brand)but Rosie absolutely hates it because it's too hard and doesn't like it soaked. I go through three 1 pound bags and decide to try something else. Iorder a bag of Totally Organic pellets and after two weeks I remove Lafeabers and she loves totally organic because of how crumbly it is. She is now gaining weight really good and her feathers(she had a calcium deficiency) are looking better and better. She also has more energy then she's ever had and just seems much healthier and happier.

Since being completely on pellets she went from weighing 230 grams to 280 grams and now after a year and 1 month her calcium deficiency is almost gone too(restored her calcium naturally with dark leafy greens and other healthy veggies and by using almond pieces as treats.) Rosie's avian vet told me that by feeding her a healthy diet her body will restore itself.

Hope that helps a little bit, it may take a while but it will be worth it in the end

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Pritti eats normally at home, but since taking him on vacation with me about 2 weeks ago, he wasn't eating enough even though I gave him all the same foods. I'm guessing just an adjustment issue. Some may disagree with this, but it worked for us, I started handing feeding him just to get him to eat. I also brought him to his food from top of cage perch to then picked up the food and lured him to the dish (sometimes that worked). But after about 7 or 8 days he started taking food on his own sometimes (especially mornings). Then after about 10 days, he started to eat much more regularly, but still a bit less than normal. I let him have a few treat foods that are on the higher fat / protein side just so he'd get the calories, but now he's nearly back on track. So maybe it's just a matter of trial and error to do figure out 'what it takes' to get your baby to get comfortable and used to eating enough. I wouldn't take anything away from his/her diet if it's being eaten... I would, however, keep adding bits of this and that (natural foods) - a few cooked beans, warmed foods, mushy foods - mine loves lowfat no salt added Friendship cottage cheese, a piece of soft whole grain high protein pasta or a bit of cooked quinoa or cooked wheat berries. I agree with the other members about trying the pellets in different ways - they are so important for your baby's ongoing diet. Good luck.
What kind of conure is he/she. Do you know if male or female?
Keep us posted.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

at one point when my sun conure was about 6, she was running a little too lean and the vet had me switch her to the high potency pellets and more table foods, particularly things like walnuts, which she loved anyhow. the problem just went away and her weight came right back up and she was very healthy. the vet you saw should be able to offer a good suggested diet, even if you have to call back and ask again.

 

[Tazz]

Thank you all for sharing your stories. Carmen is a very malnourished little girl. I'm honestly hoping to make a turn around for her as it's pretty obvious that she's been totally neglected in her short little life. She is the most amazingly loving and seemingly content little bird that is addicted to grapes but only if I peel them for her. I've got some Harrisons pellets arriving tomorrow and I hope to fatten her up as quick as I can. I've read the beak article and I would honestly resort to that if I knew it would give her complete happiness but she seems very content with her beak and doesn't have an issue eating anything unless she really dislikes the taste.

You guys have made both of us feel very welcome and the advice has been priceless ... for this we thank you, so much!!!