Nanday is losing weight

[athenaconure]

I need some help. I have a nanday I'm caring for and something is wrong. He was really skinny, so we fed him baby food 4-6 times a day, gave him millet, fruits and veggies and plain cheerios. He gained a lot of weight and then in the span of 3 days he lost 11 grams. Has anyone had this happen? Any ideas to get him to gain weight? his poop looks healthy. He has a vet appointment but the soonest they can get him in is in 2 weeks

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

Wow, that doesn't sound like a responsible vet to me. Okay let me find the vet links my wife usually gives to folks here. It'll take me a minute.Other than that I don't know much about birds. Good luck to the little guy.

Edit

Here we go.

"Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet."

I don't think that's a good diet for a parrot........... Hopefully somebody will chime in who knows more.

 

[noodles123]

Get him to a certified avian vet and at minimum, do a gram stain and blood-work.
It could be any number of things...2 weeks is unreasonable, as birds HIDE illness (as prey animals---showing weakness gets them killed in the wild).
What kind of baby-food, and does it contain citric acid? Too much citric acid can result in iron-elimination disease in birds (Some types are more prone to this than others)...Also, too much sugar, salt or protein can also be harmful to the liver etc (and some babyfood does contain salt etc).
Do you feed a mix of pellets and seeds?
Do you have a sleep-schedule for this bird?
Has he been tested for diseases such as polyoma, psittacosis etc?
Does he have any undigested food in his poop? How does his poop look in general?
How old is the bird?
Are you using any chemicals (candles, Teflon/ptfe/ptfoa, perfumes, air fresheners, cleaners, smoking etc) around the bird?
Do you notice tail-bobbing when the bird is perched and sitting still?

 

[athenaconure]

He was on the zupreem hand feeding formula but has been switched onto the kaytee exact. We offer him a mix of seeds and dailey select pretty bird pellets along with some fruits like blue berries, apples, bananas and veggies, kale, collared greens, squash, various grains, and a few others but he will NOT touch anything. He will only eat his formula. He spits everything out if its not formula and I am not confident with crop feeding so I don't want to do that in fear of hurting him.
His lights go on at 9:30am and lights out at 9:30pm
He hasn't been tested yet. I've been looking at different vets. I might end up making a 5 hour trip if I can't find someone who can take us sooner.
No undigested food in his poop. His poop is a light brownish green with clean white urates.
6 months old
no chemicals at all. No cooking in the building he is in, no scents anywhere in the building either. No smoking or anything.
tail bobbing, puffed up. lots of bad signs.

 

[Sunnyclover]

Please just look up how to hand feed on YouTube or something, it's not that dangerous with an older baby bird. My Nanday was sold to me force weaned at 11 weeks and I had to hand feed him because he went from eating his solid food to not wanting it and just starving until I started hand feeding him again and he took formula for the next month or so 3 to 4 times a day. I too did not know how to do it but it's easy to learn if you know what to do like make it the right temp and put it in the correct side of mouth ect. Please feed him as much formula as he needs. If you really don't think you can do it then go to nearest bird pet shop that has baby partots and ask them to help and bring birdie...they will likely not turn you down and tell you how to do it and show you. Bird people are nice people. My Nanday too was tail bobbing, puffed up, too weak to perch. I believe yours is also slowly starving itself...they can regress back to needing formula.

 

[noodles123]

Yes- I would make the trip just because it doesn't sound good- especially as the bird is quite young and the tail-bobbing is generally a sign of breathing difficulties.
If your bird will drink, you could try adding some natural juice (preferably no citric acid or added sugar) to his water for a very short-term calorie fix..As in, a day or so (but not for weight gain)...If you add juice, you need to wash the dish and change the liquid out frequently (every few hours), as bacteria grows much more readily when sugar is present. Time is just so important and you seem to know enough to be concerned as well. I am sorry you are going through this!
Many vets will syringe feed adults in times of crisis, but just make sure you know what you are doing..there can be major risks--it can be done, but I just wonder what else could be going on to cause this...in a healthy(ish) bird, syringe feeding could work (assuming the feeder knows what they are doing)...I just would feel way better about a vet in this situation.

 

[noodles123]

If he is literally NOT eating, then the transition may have been too soon.
Did he ever eat solids?