Help please

[Dj tweet]

Hi all I need some help
I just brought home my baby Alex
who we have called pheonix

The breeder told me he was syringe feed which I have done several times before but on picking him up today it turns out it's a syringe with plastic tubing in it ( also known as a crop needle )
now that we are home I'm having problems getting him to feed via a standard syringe

He is not used to actually having the food go into his mouth and just spits in out

Admitidly we had not long gotten home before feeding time and his crop wad still a little full so perhaps it is just stress etc but I'm worried he won't eat enough if it continues
The quikest I can get a needle would be 3 days
I need help / ideas now please
me and pheonix beg you

 

[antoinette]

Hi DJ, Congrat's on Pheonix, such an exciting time for all.
Yipe it is a worry when you don't know if they getting enough, and struggling to feed them.

Here's my 2 cents added. Don't know if this will be of any help but here goes
I started feeding Mishka, with a normal straight plastic syringe from the very beginning at 6 weeks old.
When feeding Pheonix, hold his head upright, try getting the syringe to "squirt" straight down his throat, going in from the side of his beak, but please do it slowly.

Whether you have hand reared a bird before or not, I suggest rather let the breeder take over as soon as possible, for a few more weeks. There is a big difference in syringe feeding and tube feeding. They know exactly what they are doing, they have the experience to handle most situations. It can be very stressful for both of you. Not knowing exactly what to do, is not fair on Pheonix, his life is in your hands.

 

[Bobby34231]

You may have problems converting to syringe feeding as feeding with a crop needle also known as tube feeding often takes away the natural feeding response (that herky jerky motion) the two methods of feeding, syringe and tube feeding are entirely different and if not experienced you can do serious damage, at this point probably the best thing to do for the bird is bring it back to the breeder, it may last a couple of days with no food, but not very long at all without liquids to keep it hydrated.

 

[Ratzy]

How To Use A Crop Needle - The Budgerigar Breeders Club Inc. Budgie Community Forums

The others have given good advice.

 

[Dj tweet]

I'm not going to use a tube myself as I have no experiance with it
for now I'm just going to stick it out for a few more feeds see if I can't achieve something
he did eat a little before and is due again Soon

If I need to do tube I fill get another breeder to do it as I'm not happy with the way this guy did it
the babies weren't handled at all just fed changed and put back in box
no weights taken or anything
he is lovely and happy boy but i'd rather he had love and food not just food

I'm just annoyed I was told he was syringe fed and he's not I would have gone else where if I had of known that wad the case

 

[Dj tweet]

Well pheonix is doing ok this morning
poos are still the same he is happy and alert etc
unfort the feeding is not going to well though and it takes me about an hour to get his crop even half full
I'm feeding him 30mls each time ( the amount he was on at breeder ) and just trying to get in as much as I can
for now I have switched to feeding every couple of hours when he crop is empty
and he seems happy with that
I'd say he gets about 15mls per feed

I'm trying to get hold of the lady who does bird rescue in myarea as she is likely to have experiance with crop feeding and hopefully help me out for a day or two until I can get to the vets

I'm keeping a super close eye on him but for now he seems fine

Grrrr I'm so damn angry with the breeder for lying to me
about it all
on a good note Merlin is happy and has a lovely new girl friend
he was super excited to see me yesterday and was not aggressive at all
I'm glad he's happy it makes me happy to know that I did right for him

 

[Ratzy]

I would weigh him, then calculate 10% of his weight. Then feed him that 10%. If it is 30ml, maybe add a bit more?

 

[Dj tweet]

Well I rang around and found a vet that had experiance with cropping so off we went
unfort the only size needle they had was a 14 which turned out to be to small
of course she only found this out after opening it and
charging me the 71.50 to use it
yes that's right 71.50 or a needle that I can buy online for 25
and is if no use to me
on a good note though she did show me how to crop feed and I must say it's suprisingly easy and something I would advice all bird owners to learn as it really could be a life saver in a bad situation
the 10mins it would take your vet to show you on your next visit it super worth it

Anyways so being the creative thinker I am I visited the pet shop and purchased some plastic tubing ( the kind you use for the fish tank to make the air bubbles )
it's a little wide but it does the job until I can get the correct one

Pheonix now has a lovely full crop and is hapily sleeping
think it's time I slept to
been up every 2hrs overnight and up since 6am trying to feec him and vets etc I'm exhausted but it's worth it for my precious baby

 

[Pheonix Rising]

Just replying so I can find it since name change