Thanks for the people who've responded so far. I realize now that in my haste to post i messed up a couple details and will fill those in now.
When I bought the parrot in October, i was told he was 4 months old. I honestly now believe he may have been even younger. I have had him for almost 6 months now, if the age i was told he was is accurate he is closer to 9 months old at this point.
I was NEVER told to put him on formula, and only after reading so much about them trying to figure out what im doing wrong did i see that this guy is far more than a baby than i realized. The pet store owner told me he just needed to eat zupreem fruit blend (which was also the one recalled), a handful of mixed seed/dried fruit which was his treat food, a few fruits and veggies like apples and green beans and water. What i learned on my own is that these guys actually need a lot more.
The first vet i took him too in November about 4 weeks after i got him, i asked for a general checkup to make sure he was in good health. The vet there admitted he didnt know much about parrots but that he appeared to be in good health and advised me that the zupreem food was inadequate. He then offered up his own 35 dollar a bag food which i said no to and decided to go to the pet store myself and start finding the best variety nutritional pellet/seed/dried fruits foods i could find. I tried buying some of the hanging feeders but my bird has shown no interest in anything. In fact, he hates toys and pretty much anything else, but is very affectionate and loves to sit on your hand or chest and watch whatever it is you are doing.
After a couple months i began realizing that something was real wrong, because i still couldnt get him to eat consistently, so i called around and was recommended the current avian vet. Every place around here says this guy is flat out the best. The vet told me at the time his weight was way low and i expressed my frustration that no matter what i bought, he just doesnt care to eat it. The vet said he had the bacterial infection and put him on a 2 week antibiotic. I told the vet that my bird wont touch his foods, but will eat rice, and there are times he tries to dive into my food and only wants stuff we know we cant give him. The vet said that at this point just to get his weight up, let him eat what he wants. Put food in front of him on the table when we are eating(aside from dairy and the other poisonous foods) and see what he reacts too.
So far, ive tried giving him: Sweet potatoes, Gerber baby foods, pepperoni, chicken, apples, white/brown rice, potatoes, carrots, green beans, corn, breads, tortilla, beans, tomatoes, mixed veggies, lettuce and a bunch more. Ive tried Zupreem pellets, Harrisons organic pellets, smaller parakeet/conure size foods since he seems to like smaller seeds, Fiesta Mix and he had no interest in any of those except the Zupreem. Ive tried watering it, cutting smaller pieces, mixing with soft foods like rice, doesnt matter. The foods he will eat semi consistently that id say are his favorites are: Corn, rice, apples, and some of the seeds and zupreem fruit blend. As for the doritos thing, i made a taco salad one day and use crushed doritoes in the salad. He was real interested in this dinner so he came over into my bowl and began eating bits of it. He ate the dorito chip and then began going nuts over them. Right now he is eating so little, i let him have some only because i know he has to eat something. We are at the point that the vet gave me a large syringe and told me im going to have to mix this powder in with his foods and inject them into his mouth to make sure he is getting this medicine. The vet told us its a medicine he usually only reserves for birds who are in serious care but he wants to see if this may help him while we wait for the culture results to come in.
Some days are better than others, but im seriously thinking my bird is gonna die and either has something terminal or that his terrible diet is going to cause something else to go wrong. I see you guys have recommended formula, and id love any help on where i can get it, and how to make it. I live in the US (Kansas City area) and not too many options for parrot stuff here, most pet stores only sell parakeet and smaller bird stuff.
As for documenting the issues, i dont have that since he's only been to this new vet 3x now and its way past when i bought him. Any and all help is appreciated!!
. Keep us updated on how he is doing.
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