difficult umbrella

[sugarsdad]

need help....i have a year old cockatoo who refuses to eat. i believe was improperly weaned and always wants to be fed any help as to how i can solve this issue is appreciated...i am tired of hearing this bird cry for food
thanks

 

[Mare Miller]

aww...sorry to hear this. This might not help but maybe a try would be worth it. My Amigo is almost 10 yrs. but loves oatmeal. I didn't know this till I was sitting by his cage one morning eating my oatmeal and he came down his cage, onto me, very curious. I scooped him up a bite on my spoon and he was hooked! I had been trying to move him from parrot seed to Zupreem parrot pellets and he would just pick them out and give them a fling. I have a spice grinder, (that I cleaned out), ground up a few pellets, mixed it with his oatmeal before cooking, and he's going for it! All I'm trying to say is, oatmeal on a spoon - then to a bowl, might get him started.

 

[sugarsdad]

thanks for the input just trying to not be feeding the bird all the time. she should be eating on her own.. but we will try thanks

 

[Pedro]

More information is needed if we are to help. How long have you had this bird. How often do you feed it. I assume he/she is still on formula

If it is indeed 12 months old i would think it would have figured out by now how to be independent. The most likely reason it's still wanting to be fed is because the previous owner has made the mistake of feeding it from hand/spoon & not teaching it to eat food from a bowl.

I have a 8 month old Red Tail Too that still has formula once a day & will probably still require this feed until 12 months. But he does eat other foods. I just give this last feed of the day more or less as a comfort feed. Plus i know he isn't going to sleep empty.

 

[Mitchell]

I agree with Pedro, that bird was spoiled and now is screaming until it gets food the only way it knows how. Feed it in its cage with a spoon and then maybe let it see you spoon some in the feeding bowl. Maybe even spoon it out of the feeding bowl so it sees the source and will be willing to get some on its own. I have no idea if that'll help but its worth a shot. I never came across that issue in my experience.

 

[usamimi]

While oatmeal is a great way to get food into a bird that wants baby food, im finding that kevin is turning up his nose at the baby food for the goldenfeast cookable food. He's barely eating his baby food at night now.

 

[NuttyFeathers]

In the wild, these guys have been documented to be fed by their parents for up to TWO years. In new stressful situations it's a great bonding to hand feed your bird for the first few weeks, while still offering a bowl of pellets and things she is used to. Fresh fruits and veggies once a day is good. Mix organic baby food with oatmeal and spoon feed some warm stuff once or twice a day, and hand her food from bowls intermittently. This will really help you bond and teach her to trust you, and know that you care for her. YOU can't wean the bird, she must decide when to wean herself. They aren't like dogs or cats, the parents don't wean them. They will always provide food so long as the young bird is willing. It's likely she was force weaned too early and is reverting under stress. Long weaning times create more confident birds.