Need help first time hand feeding Eclectus

M

Martin93

New member
May 9, 2017
121
0
Netherlands
Parrots
Eclectus, Blue & Gold Macaw
So as the title says, i need some help with hand feeding a baby eclectus.
And its my first time doing so. Now i've got some help from a friend who has done this before and he told me a few things like feel if the crop is empty when feeding it. make sure you dont overfeed it. temperature and all that other stuff.
But now there is a problem maybe, i dont know..

I've had the bird for a day now, 6 weeks old by the way, and it still feels like there are some seeds inside his crop. (seeds who the mother gave to him)
I'm feeding him a formula, not seeds.
So should i still wait for the seeds to be gone of just feed the bird anyway?
Its not like he has a full crop not at all but you can still feel something solid in there.
I know not to feed them when they still have food in their crop. But since it has been a while since he was last fed my friend advised to feed anyway.

Little help would be welcome!
 
My first thought is YEAST which can be DEADLY.

Please take your baby to a certified AVIAN vet asap!


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This morning his crop was nice and empty so i fed him his formula.
I've searched the symptoms of yeast infection in birds and i do not think he has an infection. I'll check how long it takes for his crop to empty now after this formula, if it takes too long again i'll see a vet quickly.

So just another question, how long does it usualy take for a crop to empty after formula?
 
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Oh and another thing that just came to my mind.
It is advised to feed the parrot about 10% of its body weight every time you feed it, but is this measured with or without adding water?
 
Thanks for reaching out. But in the future, please don't adopt/buy an unweaned baby parrot!! So much can go wrong. And at 6 weeks that electus is still very young. Hand-feeding is tricky to get just right, and you could easily end up with a dead baby.

That is good you have a friend to help, but even then, you should NEVER get a baby parrot you don't know how to take care of. How are you keeping it warm?

Some tips for formula.... Yes the 10% is after the water is added. I'm not very familiar with Electus but you'll want to focus on keeping the baby warm, keeping it fed and full, and of course socialized. How often are you feeding the baby a day?
 
How much are you feeding at a time? How warm are you keeping the brooder?


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I'm feeding the baby 4 times a day usualy about 40 grams at a time, he does not want more than that he start refusing the spoon and tries to walk away i keep a close eye on the temperature of the formula so its never to hot or too cold.

i'm keeping him warm by first of all having him in a room where its warm with heater always on and he has a bag i can fill with warm water to keep him warm (Sorry i dont know the english word for it..)

At the moment i dont have a job so i'm with him all day and try to give him much love and attention when he's awake, also i let him sleep on my lap keeping him warm with my hands, he seems to love that.
 
Martin93 said:
I'm feeding the baby 4 times a day usualy about 40 grams at a time, he does not want more than that he start refusing the spoon and tries to walk away i keep a close eye on the temperature of the formula so its never to hot or too cold.

i'm keeping him warm by first of all having him in a room where its warm with heater always on and he has a bag i can fill with warm water to keep him warm (Sorry i dont know the english word for it..)

At the moment i dont have a job so i'm with him all day and try to give him much love and attention when he's awake, also i let him sleep on my lap keeping him warm with my hands, he seems to love that.
Click to expand...

This baby needs a brooder. A brooder is temperature controlled and will keep the baby warm. What do you do when you go to sleep?? This baby needs a proper brooder and if you don't have a job, how are you going to get this baby routine healthcare from an avian vet?? How will you provide food/a cage/toys for it when it weans???
 
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itzjbean said:
Martin93 said:
This baby needs a brooder. A brooder is temperature controlled and will keep the baby warm. What do you do when you go to sleep?? This baby needs a proper brooder and if you don't have a job, how are you going to get this baby routine healthcare from an avian vet?? How will you provide food/a cage/toys for it when it weans???
Click to expand...

I said i dont have a job now, not that there is no money or income, i already have a cage, quite big i think and also toys so thats already taken care of.

So what i have for him now is a see through plastic box with a warm water bag and some hay for him, should i add a special lamp to keep him even warmer? becouse he does not seem to be cold as he usually moves away from the warm water bag.

I just finnished feeding him and this time it went much better he almost ate his 50 grams of formula and he even ate some pieces of apple! he really likes apple by the way.
Click to expand...
 
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The baby needs to be kept at a CONSTANT temp, different depending on how many feathers he has. Please show us a picture.

The formula MUST be between 40 degrees C and 43.3 degrees C. MUST!!!!!

Any colder and you will cause massive digestive problems such as major bacterial infections, test infections, slow crop, even crop stasis all of which can KILL you baby, as can his body temp being too low because he isn't kept in a proper brooder.

Straw is not the worst possible thing you could use as bedding but safe untreated wood chips would be much better.

You really must MUST get or build a proper brooder where you can monitor and control the exact temperature; your baby needs to be kept around 35 degrees C CONTINUALLY until he/she feathers out and then still needs to be kept around 29.5 degrees C until he/she is much older.


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SilverSage said:
The baby needs to be kept at a CONSTANT temp, different depending on how many feathers he has. Please show us a picture.

The formula MUST be between 40 degrees C and 43.3 degrees C. MUST!!!!!

Any colder and you will cause massive digestive problems such as major bacterial infections, test infections, slow crop, even crop stasis all of which can KILL you baby, as can his body temp being too low because he isn't kept in a proper brooder.

Straw is not the worst possible thing you could use as bedding but safe untreated wood chips would be much better.

You really must MUST get or build a proper brooder where you can monitor and control the exact temperature; your baby needs to be kept around 35 degrees C CONTINUALLY until he/she feathers out and then still needs to be kept around 29.5 degrees C until he/she is much older.


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Click to expand...

As requested, some pictures!

There he is! :) (He weights about 450 grams now)

Edit: For some reason pictures are not showing so here is a link..
http://imgur.com/a/51c7S

But ehm.. i heared from other sources that his formula should be between 36 - 39 degrees...
Also any more advice on brooder setup?

I was thinking about an infared heating lamp with control for temperature and a thermometer inside.
 
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I've been watching some more videos about people hand feeding their birds and i noticed something. my baby bird does not respond the same way at all when i'm feeding it compared to other people's birds in the videos. all their birds are biting at the spoon or syringe and cant wait to eat.
I need to force mine to just swallow a tiny bit and it takes about an hour to feed him before his crop is somewhat full, while other people manage to do this in 5 minutes???

I'm using a spoon to feed him but whenever i put some food in his beak he takes his time to swallow and does not want more before he swallowed. what am i doing wrong?
I really love the bird and i just want everything to be alright, i dont mind the long feeding but i was just wondering is this a bad sign or not?
 
Has your baby been to the vet? It should NOT take that long to feed him; he sounds like he is very ill, likely from not being kept warm enough and not having his formula warm enough. Heat the formula to the recommended temp; if he doesn't immediately gulp it down, take him a certified avian vet ASAP and have gram stains done to check for Yeast and Bacterial infections.


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At that age he should be kept around 32-33 degrees Celsius at least. Adjust the heat upward until he begins to act uncomfortably warm (standing up, or holding wings away from the body) and then adjust down from
There until he acts comfortable again.


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You can take any advice from SilverSage to the bank! If it were my bird, I'd do exactly as she says and not look for alternative advice online. There are lots of expert parrot owners/breeders on this forum and she is very experienced in raising healthy baby parrots. Babies are very delicate and can't survive many learning experiences on the part of the parront.
 
When I got my unweaned lories I used a small baby cage we called it with a heating pad (from a local CVS about 20 bucks the ones that don't shut off) to keep them warm and fed them their parrot formula 3 times a day. Sounds like you are trying to do your best! The only way you learn is by trying and I know hand feeding is a taboo subject here and most people would recommend against it but if you have the time, the will and the aptitude for it then keep up the good work and your baby will be okay. For bedding I used compressed wood shavings (I still use it because they love it and occasionaly I use recycled paper pellets) instead of hay because some hay can make them have allergies or make their skin irritated.
I was extremely nervous when I had to handfeed my 2 babies but we had a fantastic breeder who was really insightful and in no time we got it down. Try not to panic or let anyone discourage you, parrots although small and delicate at times are really strong and resilient and we should be helping you not scolding you.

*edit
instead of using a spoon have you considered using a syringe like from a medicine bottle? We used a syringe or even an eye dropper would work that way you can properly measure how much nutrients your baby is getting. Also get a food thermometer so you can accurately measure the temp of the food before giving it you don't what to give the baby anything below the recommended temp otherwise they will get sick or may not want to eat it and vice versa you don't want it to be too hot. I worked in a vets office for 4 years and have seen it all with animals as well as raising my own so as long as you are asking questions and trying your best your baby should be okay, but at some point a vet visit would be advisable.
 
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Today i fed him with a syringe, he did not seem to like that at all, struggling and just not cooperating... But it went way faster than with a spoon, but still took me about 20 to 30 minutes. At least now he had a full crop 3 times today. thats better then before. I noticed that in the beginning when he had an empty crop he'll swallow the formula pretty easy but once its a little bit fuller he'll start resisting more.
Monday i'm gonna give the vet a call, but you guys really dont think that the trouble feeding has something to do with him never being handfed before? it has not been a week yet since i got him, before that his mother just fed him.


I've build something which i think is working pretty well!
I gave him a little bit of shade with another towel over the box so he can choose where to be. he seemed to be responding very well to the lamp by looking at it and making some cute sounds.
I got a stable temperature of 28 degrees, i dont think he likes it any warmer since he'll just be avoiding the lamp by sitting under the towel.

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Your little baby box looks great and the heat lamp will keep him nice and warm so don't worry! Some babies don't mind the syringe but others do, just be patient with it and he will get the hang of it. You are doing great! One thing I would suggest is make sure you are giving lots of cuddles and affection; I know it may sound silly but baby birds love affection, ours were cuddle monkeys at that age and it really helps bond you both together. Don't be afraid to handle your baby and talk to it often. If there was one thing I could do over I would do that more.
 
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