8 Weeks old baby Amazon?

[DonnaBudgie]

Its unclear from your post exactly what she's been eating. If her diet is moist she will produce quite a bit of wet droppings. The solid part of the poop is well formed and looks normal. There's a lot of liquid part but it looks normal. When my baby budgies were being hand fed I kept them on soft white paper towels because they were so absorbent and they had very wet droppings. I had the change it frequently or he would get wet.
But I think a vet check is important to confirm and ease your worries.
If you're going to let her poop on something nonabsorbant like wax paper make sure you change it frequently or her bottom and tail will get soaked. Fold it up envelope style so it won't spill and put it in a Tupperware with a lid in the fridge and bring it to the vet. Try to write the time frame down so the vet knows how long it took her to poop that much. I'm assuming her behavior is normal. Try not to worry! She's going to be fine.

 

[Wingedavocado]

I think it's fair I update on Stormy. We just got back from the Avian vet a couple hrs ago. I feel so lucky because he was all booked until the 25th and they had a cancelation. Vet says Stormy is very healthy, she was nice enough to gift him the honor of a poo so we did a fecal and all was normal. Her wellness check went great too! Here's 2 pics of her being a good big bird. Thank you for all again guys!

 

[rheashard2]

Yeah! Give her a good scritch for me.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

That's great! Her first vet visit and she's perfectly healthy and you got pictures too! You must feel so much better. You're doing a terrific job raising her and you'll have a special bond for life. Of course, she'll grow up and push the boundaries but all teens do that.
Did she bite the vet?

 

[Wingedavocado]

That's great! Her first vet visit and she's perfectly healthy and you got pictures too! You must feel so much better. You're doing a terrific job raising her and you'll have a special bond for life. Of course, she'll grow up and push the boundaries but all teens do that.
Did she bite the vet?

No, she didn't bite the vet or the techs. So far she's only tried with my son this one time he decided it was smart to uncover the bin without announcing himself and putting his huge hands in from the top to touch her. I'm trying my best to have a many people as possible interact with her and as soon as she's a bit bigger I'll harness train her (her aviator harness is casually chilling by her cage and I let her play with it with supervision from time to time) and take her places so she can get socialized I'm sure nothing will save me from the amazon badges of honor from her (I still have one from the last adult one I trained with) but I'm sure it will help minimize a few triggers lol.

 

[wrench13]

I'd start with the harness training ASAP, its almost never too early to do that. If she is fully fledged, its time!

 

[rheashard2]

I'd start with the harness training ASAP, its almost never too early to do that. If she is fully fledged, its time!

This is true. The earlier the better! Give lots of praise. Being so young it's easy to get her used to having wings handled. That's the hardest part of harness training. I use Aviator brand. I don't have many complaints after over 4 decades.

 

[Wingedavocado]

Yes, it's the same brand I have and the one that worked for the quakers as well. One thing I've noticed (obviously they're all different) is that baby zons and quakers are very different, so now I'm struggling to find what can I use as treats to train her. She's used to the clicker and stick already but I'm excited to do some training with her and so far I can't think of anything of value it can offer to motivate her if that makes sense. Ofc I praise and all but I'm sure you know what I mean. She's a veggie lover but also a baby so she takes long with a peace for example. Also, she's not fledged yet but I can see her getting ready as she's refusing the last 5mls of formula per feed and yesterday and today she tried flying so I can see her there by next week. So far we've only dropped a gram but she also loves her veggies and greens so that gives me peace of mind. Pellets will be here tomorrow so I'll introduce those too.

 

[rheashard2]

Excellent. I am glad you two are doing so well!

 

[rheashard2]

Still flapping wings preparing for flight?

 

[Wingedavocado]

Still flapping wings preparing for flight?

She took her first little flight like 2 days ago from my fingers over the bed and landed on the floor. Yesterday she had a few similar ones and decided to make me jealous by flying to my husband who managed to catch her beautifully on his hand. Today she flew from her stand in the livingroom all to halfway in the hallway, her longest one yet. Yes, she flaps her wings a lot. Formula intake is still 10-12mls less per feed (shes on 3 a day) than it was before. I do offer her veggies so I'm sure that is also a factor and it gives me peace of mind because I know for sure I'm feeding/offering very healthy options and she does eat some. If there's any safety advice I would appreciate it (baby flying stage is so scary for me) so far all I could think of was putting some tape on the glass door in case she decides to try flying there and i take her there to "touch" the glass daily. I've never clipped a baby and I refuse to but I've also never had such a big baby.

Below is a picture of Stormy eating some freshly cooked veggies and some cooked organic Quinoa, carrots seem to be a hit now.

 

[rheashard2]

The only advice I have is the basics. I don't have a dedicated bird area. So I do a walk thru before opening cage. Bladed fans are off; ceiling, floor etc. Kitchen is off limits except after triple check that sink is mt, oven/stove off and cold to touch, same with pans. Toilet lid down, tub mt. All outside doors shut and secured. If possible minimize reflecting surfaces like mirrors, large windows. This to prevent crashing into. Once she learns about them this risk is decreased. Then sit back and enjoy the antics. (Landing then sliding across top of fridge, screaming at your betrayal.)

 

[Wingedavocado]

I have a slight feeling that this little girl isn't very food motivated or that could be because of the fledge stage she's clearly on (just refused morning feed and flew to my hand across the livingroom) but, I am desperate to find a yummy and safe for her age treat to start training her ASAP. I really need to harness and recall train her. Any ideas?

 

[rheashard2]

Not all parrots are food/treat motivated. Have had my CAG since she was just under 4 months old. She prefers her rewards to be verbal and enthusiastic praise, a cuddle and a good head scritch. Keep learning your youngster's preferences. I personally prefer giving verbal praise and a scritches. So much easier to 'carry around'. My CAG is manipulater based.

 

[Wingedavocado]

Are there many amazon owners in this forum? I ask because I've read this forum long before I created an account and there used to be a lot more that I can remember.
Anyways, waiting on vet to text me back, I just wanted reassurance on Stormy's weight, she has dropped around 10g since she started this whole flying/trying new foods thing. I really want to know if fledge and her attempt at weaning are supposed to happen together? She's refusing her morning feed completely now, the 3pm one, I'm lucky if she gets 10mls and the night one is the one where she'll actually finish almost all 40mls. I'm not amazon baby savy but to me this is clearly the beginning of her going away from hand feeding even though if it was up to me, I'd hand feed her for a whole year, I don't mind it at all. Is she going too fast? Hatch date is Jan 20 but according to breeder they only write the 1st egg hatch date on the box so could be 20-25

 

[wrench13]

Its not uncommon for weight to drop a bit when weaning, and if fledging too, a bit more. More then say 5-7% of the total and I would consult the vet.

 

[Wingedavocado]

Its not uncommon for weight to drop a bit when weaning, and if fledging too, a bit more. More then say 5-7% of the total and I would consult the vet.

Looks like she's right at 5% now, her highest being 360 before trying to flight and now at 343g. Completely unrelated question, I am a bit familiar with Salty since like I said, I've been reading this forum for a long time. Did you ever have her choose a person other than you? I've read so much about this and it's a little scary because I love this kid so much and she's looking like she likes my husband and daughter a bit which makes me the jealous amazon lol

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I wish baby birds would stay babies forever! It sounds like Stormy is growing up. Refusing her hand feedings, losing her crop weight, becoming more independent, and preferring one person all sounds very normal, unfortunately for you who loved being her mama.

The female budgie I raised since late October has gone and done the thing I most didn't want for her- she went hormonal, seduced the boys, and is on an egg laying binge at less than 6 months old! I can't even let her out in the room with my other birds because she bats her eyes, raises her tail, and arches her back and the closest boy jumps on for a ride! She's sitting on three dummy eggs on the floor of her cage in our bedroom where I hope some time apart from the boys will break the cycle.

You have done a fantastic job raising Stormy. I wish she was more grateful because it's not easy raising a baby bird and you grow to live them so much. I know very little about Amazon behavior after the handfeeding stage when baby birds are all very similar regardless of species.

 

[wrench13]

Any parrot can shift preferences, and sometimes without apparent cause. But Salty likes my oldest son the most I think. Amybe equal to me? But my son is not a big fan of animals that bite or nip, so he stayed pretty aloof from Salty. Only time he would let him near is washing dishes where Salty would sit on his shoulder and sing with him. Now my youngest son, he helped wean Salty and they got along great, but when he moved out, Salty did a 180 and now Salty goes into full attack mode when he visits. My wife also helped wean him, but she has always been hesitant about 1 on 1 with Salty, so he more or less tolerates her. SHe can get him out and into his cage and retrieve him from the floor with no issues, but in example if she tries to give him a treat during training sessions, he will lunge and if he connects, he delivers. Oddly during this mating season palaver, he seems to be a bit more open to her interactions - last nite he hung out with her on the couch and played a bit - a first time.

I would not over worry about shifting preferences. While spontaneous very occasionally, it most often occurs during or right after puberty. And even then I think some folks just dont know how to deal with the jeckyl/hyde aspect of puberty personality shifts, which DO happen all the time, and just back off unconsciously or dont know how to reintegrate themselves.

 

[Wingedavocado]

I wish baby birds would stay babies forever! It sounds like Stormy is growing up. Refusing her hand feedings, losing her crop weight, becoming more independent, and preferring one person all sounds very normal, unfortunately for you who loved being her mama.

The female budgie I raised since late October has gone and done the thing I most didn't want for her- she went hormonal, seduced the boys, and is on an egg laying binge at less than 6 months old! I can't even let her out in the room with my other birds because she bats her eyes, raises her tail, and arches her back and the closest boy jumps on for a ride! She's sitting on three dummy eggs on the floor of her cage in our bedroom where I hope some time apart from the boys will break the cycle.

You have done a fantastic job raising Stormy. I wish she was more grateful because it's not easy raising a baby bird and you grow to live them so much. I know very little about Amazon behavior after the handfeeding stage when baby birds are all very similar regardless of species.

I'm not sure she's chosen my husband or my daughter over me just yet, what I observed is that when they get home they can just hold her and that's it, they're not the ones setting her on a scale or putting her in her bedtime cage at 8pm haha. I'll be fine with her loving them because it's something I've said since the first post, I want her to socialize but yeah it would sting a bit if she goes all amazon with that lol. Since she's so young (12wks now) I've started telling my daughter than when she's here and it's time to put her in her cage (I have to go to the store or something) she will be the one to do that and I now have my husband doing "bedtime" so we can all share a bit of those things she probably doesn't find so fun. It's also my daughter that sets her up on the scale now haha I feel evil. Storms do seem to 'ask' me for a step up and she won't really do that with them but God knows I've lived with a clicker and bits of carrots on my pocket 24/7 for the last week. I didn't know budgies also has the egg laying thing. Isn't 6mo very young? I just recently found out budgies can talk so that's how much I know about them lol

Here's a screenshot from Stormy's recall training this morning ♡