My new 20 week old GW / weaning

[Merv]

Two days ago i finally got the bird of my dreams, a greenwing macaw!
Its a beauty and a real sweety.
he's just starting to fly and often flies straight into walls.
So far he trusts me enough to sit with me and allows me to touch him, yesterday when we were outside in the sun he was really enjoying the nice spring weather.

Unfortunatly the only thing he eats now are peanuts and walnuts and its not even that much.
Now i know that the bird is in the process of weaning and loses weight but i'm a little worried.
He's been rejecting feedings since a week now, and the people i got him from told me he's been eating pretty well on his own.
He's probably still getting used to his new home and i asume thats why he's not eating so great yet.
I've tried giving him some formula with a syringe or a spoon but only took a little bit once, if i continue feeding him it will be a battle i dont like getting in to.

His food bowl is filled with pellets, sunflower seeds, peanuts, walnuts, oats and dried fruits. i also made a bowl of vegetables; beans, peas, corn, carrot and sweet potato.

Any advice on the best aproach here?

 

[wrench13]

I would stop the peanuts ASAP, they are not very good for him at best, can can carry deadly aspergilius spores at worst. Sunflowr seeds are another fatty low value food. If you give walnuts, do it in the shell, make him work for them. Good thing you found us friend, welcome. FOr the best Macaw advice uou will ever receive, go to the Macaw sub forum, and read all the stickie threads at the top of the lst, especially those by birdman666. He the senior expert on macaws here, and the thread is invaluable, itreally is. Another thread very valuable is in the amazon sub forum , a sticky at the top Titled Why I loveAmazons. Read it Just substitute Macaw for Amazon. Great info on diet. perches, medical, bite traiing, and so so much more.Both are along read and worth every seond it taketo read them. I personally red them every few months all over again. Again Welcome,and we lovepics and videos here. Mine are on facebook,link below, and a thread in the Amazon forum, "right now Saltyis......." Good Luck.

 

[Flboy]

Ditto on the above!
I would get together with the breeder ASAP!

Be very careful outside with the little tyke!

 

[DiscoDuck]

You are in for a treat! People often ask me how hard are they to care for. I answer..

"i dont know, how long do you spend for dinner every day" the stock answer is "20 minutes" I answer " okay, you have to buy the food, cook it, eat it, clean up afterwards"

The point is. My GWM was very easy to turn him into the celebrity he has become. I have a thread in Macaws I just started. I am happy to share info from my interaction with my little guy - Rudy.

You have come to the right place. I learned a lot. I tried lots of suggestions. The ones he liked, we tried them twice.

I formula fed my guy. My best advice is to go get a digital infra red thermometer. I noticed with my guy, that 104 was too cold and 108 was too hot. 106 was just right... As far as solid food. Make sure he gets his own food whether it both be hand fed and bowl fed, dont let him see you eating. He will adapt to that and beg.... IMO........ I imagine that that, will be a life long trait you will have imprinted in him. The general rule is everything in moderation. Peanuts and sunflower are a no-no due to oily content and other reasons.

I have seen other threads written as sort of progress reports. Posted First hand experience is knowledge! Welcome!!

OH! get him familiar with the aviator flight harness. NOW!

here is a pic of my GwM at 5 months old. 1200 grams. Now at 1550g

 

[DiscoDuck]

Oh!! hey, consider clipping the last 3 feathers, half way, at the end of each his wings. Rudy never flew into a wall. He would some times head for the blinds, but that was rare. Just something to consider while in the house. I got Rudy used to a flight harness at 5 months old. He still managed to fly away outside, so I dont know how to stress, keep a perfect unhookable wrist reign on the leash when taking him outside.

 

[DiscoDuck]

Okay last point with my own interaction with a GWM Rudy was originally on formula via syringe at 3 months, by 6 months the transfer had been made. From what i remember he too wasn't going eager for either. I remember feeling I was force feeding him formula.

I had a cheap little digital scale about 5 inch round which I glued a peice of 8x8 luan onto. I then wrote his weight with a sharpie right onto the luan. When he starting leveling out, he transitioned to solid food at about 6 months old. I then started taking him outside more often. He was about 9 months old at that time. IMO by about 7=8 months he will be full grown.

Obviously, there are a lot of experts here with decades of experience with the GVM. I dont remember reading much about fledglings... Just sharing my own personal experience. /stop yakkity yak

 

[Merv]

I know that the peanuts and sunflower seeds are a bad thing that actually what i meant but always good to point out! I'll check out those sticky's soon!

the problem now is that the people who handreared him spoiled him i think with the seeds and all and now he's having a hard time changing to a healthy diet + stres from leaving his trusted home and his "mommy".

I do have experience in handrearing parrots as i've also done a B&G, which took about 6 months to wean and i breed conures.
But the diffrence with my b&g and my new gw is that my b&g never rejected formula.

Just earlier this evening i gave him a new bowl of food with some apple, corn, pellets, grains, beans, peas and just a couple sunflower seeds in there. I'm happy to have seen him go straight for the apple which he ate first. the other things are just being touched but not eaten.

 

[DiscoDuck]

I'm happy to have seen him go straight for the apple which he ate first. the other things are just being touched but not eaten.

Funny story.. My boy says "apple, apple" it was one of the earliest things he repeated. Rudy doesn't mimic well. In other words, its more the other way around. WHen he says apple. I repeat back "apple" then he says " water". he rarely ever repeats what I say, yet he learned that from me. I think it has been said that the GwM is not a good talker. Thats not true. He talks well, just seems only when he wants to talk. He is seemingly in control of the conversation.


So outa the blue when he says apple. which is mostly when we are walking around.. I say "what, i dont have any apple, you want a pistachio" then he says something else... any ways have fun with teaching your bird to talk!

I wonder if apple is an attractive great food for a GWM. It cant be a fascinating total coincidence! Or maybe it is.
I get red delicious or granny smiths.... Oh.. not a mainstay. just another item similar to your list.

Apple Apple

 

[Merv]

@discoduck Ruby (my gw) is starting to say hello it sounds pretty funny but not when i say it just like with you.
--

Today i deceided to weigh my bird and found that it was an alarming 890gr!
So i started to force feed formula today by just shooting it in the crop and so far i like the results.
He's not making the higher pitched (sad) sounds and looks and acts much happier. he even wanted to take formula the second feed!
So i'll just continue the feeding until he understands how to eat on his own.
I found out that so far he's interested in apple and banana, no vegetables or pellets still..

Anyways thats about the update for now, i'll post some pictures perhaps later this evening!

 

[DiscoDuck]

@discoduck Ruby (my gw) is starting to say hello it sounds pretty funny but not when i say it just like with you.
--

Today i deceided to weigh my bird and found that it was an alarming 890gr!
So i started to force feed formula today by just shooting it in the crop and so far i like the results.
He's not making the higher pitched (sad) sounds and looks and acts much happier. he even wanted to take formula the second feed!
So i'll just continue the feeding until he understands how to eat on his own.
I found out that so far he's interested in apple and banana, no vegetables or pellets still..

Anyways thats about the update for now, i'll post some pictures perhaps later this evening!

Rudy will be 3 in June. all my interaction is with one GW. There are a lot of people on here with very deep first hand experience with the GW. My success is singular at best.

On the other hand I justify my interaction with what is known by observations of wild GWM's.

First off. written previously

"here is a pic of my GwM at 5 months old. 1200 grams. Now at 1550g."

Ive gotten old and it appears my memory has gone sightly awry. I pulled out the scale and will take a picture of the numbers I previously stated.

The first time I weighed him at 4 mos old he was at 1155, he is at 1350 now. I am apologizing profusely. Im actually a bit embarrassed with the misinformation.

I suspect that my GWM has a bit of a hybrid in him. Ill do what I can to get pics of his wings wo show why I think there is a bit of Scarlet in him. anyways...

GWM's are equator birds. what this means to me is that they are essentially 12 hour on, and 12 hours off. So what is important to us? uh.... There should be a consistent schedule. For example, Its been noted that the GWM flocks to river banks in the morning and late afternoon to get their fill of minerals at they clay river banks. so feeding twice a day might match their ingrained heredity better.

This where the experts can or should chime in. What I have learned intently is that this bird adapts very well to the environment, through repetitive exposure. The growing of a thickened down due to cooling temps is the best example.

My 2 cents would be that your interaction might have the best results by adhering to a daily schedule. My feelings are on that, is that, your bird will be training you, instead of the other way around.

Here again.. to me... my results were of my making, originally prompted by stories and advice from others on this website. I may have tried everything at some point during the first 6 months of our interaction. The things we liked, we tried them twice.

Last thought, empathy.. If i am a bit ornery, Rudy picks up on it right away. I do my best to fake happiness, it doesnt work.. lol

There are reams of posts outlining suggestions here. Find the ideas that you think will match you and your GWM and try them, be positive at certain times of the day consistently timed.

Keep posting, I am happy to share my experience