Baby cockatiel

[Pepper2030]

Hello everyone,

I recently adopted a baby cockatiel, the previous owner said it is 6 weeks old. Looks somewhat older to me. Still using the syringe but is currently eating pellets and seeds. I have some experience with older cockatiels ans raisinf a baby love bird. But wanted to check a few things as I feel i did not have a good start with it.

I tried feeding it using the same syringe and baby food, but it is resisting. I succeeded 3 times but with the bird messing itself. When I tried to clean as I used to with the lovebird, it freaked out. I grabbed her gently, but I guess it didnt agree to it. It is tamed and steps up without asking. Oddly enough it gets airborne very quickly. And reaches high areas. My previous tiels were unable to do this. It is clearly you as her beak looks soft and red and she wobbles her hear and make the cranking noise when eating from the syringe.

My questions are, should I take her to the vet asap or wait till she gets used to the place. Should I force feeding it or continue with the current process. When I try to feed it now, it avoids me for the few minutes and accepts it. Also it keeps mumbling without a sound, which I think is driven by its fear. The odd bit my love bird, which is placed downstairs freaks out when this happens. And it bit me twice today. Does it sense the presence of the other bird in the house, and would the new bird cause any issues with our love bird. The latter is tamed and used to sleep in our laps and pockets. It has wheaned two days ago.

Any help or guidance would be highly appreciated

 

[LaManuka]

Hello Pepper2030 and welcome to the Forums! I'm sorry to say that unfortunately I am not personally familiar with handraising/handfeeding baby birds. While you are waiting for other more knowledgeable members to respond, I offer you the following resource which was written by one of our very experienced breeders and hope you may be able to gain some useful information from it. The first part is a little heavy-going and may not necessarily apply to your situation, but the thread is packed with info that you may find valuable...

http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatiels/88235-young-cockatiel-not-interested-formula.html

If I was in a similar situation I would definitely seek the help and support of a certified avian vet. The following link may help you to locate one if you don't already know of one...

https://www.aav.org/

We have a number of active bird breeders among our membership so hopefully one of them will spot your thread and will be able to help you out. Thank you for reaching out for help and i wish you and your baby all the very best!

 

[Saash]

What does it way, how is its feathering, have you tried it on any solids? If it is flying, it probably wants solids. Did you try millet?

Its very difficult to say offhand. Birds don't always take well to taking food from a new hand-feeder. How has the weight been since you got it and did the previous owner have any issues?

What temp are you feeding the formula, what temp are you keeping the bird? How often are you trying to feed it?

 

[Laurasea]

some birds wean at that age, or drop a few feeding. Usually they will take a morning abd evening feed and drop the others..

I would keep offering, but let him refuse. But just because he refuses one feeding doesn't mean he will refuse the next.

Track weights, watch poops. And veterinarian care is always a good idea. Babies get in trouble quickly. It's so easy to sour crop or other .