Need Help Please

[bukhari]

Hello folks,

So folks I have this African Grey baby which is about 3.5 -- 4 months old....I got him when he was appox 1.5 months old. I have hand raised him ever since, fed it zooperm feed using a syringe ....first he was on 3 feeds a day, then 2 and when he started eating on his own he has refused to take formula at all......he runs away from formula and does not eat much on his own....I have offered him boiled potatos, banana, apple, sunflower seeds. boiled rice and other pallets...some of these things he eats but does not eat like alot of it...he will just eat a little bit of it. I still feed him everynight thinking he might loose too much wait if i don't feed him because he won't eat much of other foods.....but its like I have to force him to eat formula because people say even after weaning you are supposed to night feed the parrot for sometime.......Anyway now the problem is that parrot does not like me much anymore......he is really active and plays alot, flies little distance....it will let me scratch his head and pet him when he is on my hand but when he is on the floor or somewhere else, he won't step on to my hand...its like he tries to avoid me when he has a choice. Please help me what to do ? Should I stop feeding him? Will he start to like me when I stop feeding him? if not how do i get him to start liking me.

 

[Mariar]

I can't offer much advice...sissy likes me then doesn't,but she's two and a severe macaw. Try getting him to step up on a stick,then offer him a treat. As for feeding...I hope someone chimes in soon...you don't want your little one to lose weight...keep a log, how much he eats,what foods he likes,dislikes and write down his weight.

 

[bukhari]

I can't offer much advice...sissy likes me then doesn't,but she's two and a severe macaw. Try getting him to step up on a stick,then offer him a treat. As for feeding...I hope someone chimes in soon...you don't want your little one to lose weight...keep a log, how much he eats,what foods he likes,dislikes and write down his weight.

Thank you for your input, I recently had him checked by a vet....he weighted him and everything said he was doing just fine....when i asked him about the feed he said "He does not need that feed anymore just give him other foods he will eat on his own" But I have read at several places that I should keep feeding the bird even after he has weaned (for a month at least) ...and this is exactly what i am trying to do but i think my bird is starting to hate me for doing this. I don't want him to get weak the vet gave me a Multi Vitamin to give him from time to time in his water which i do, he is very active and healthy right now, plays all the time....my arm is injured badly with scratches i got from his claws .....The vet told me not to trim his feathers or claws for sometime as he is still learning to fly and trying to hold on to things....so nothing I could do about that right now but some of the scratches are really deep.

 

[DRB]

I know my Perjo (from 15 weeks the day I took her home to about 18 weeks) didn't always let me reach for her or step up on my hand in every single instance. Things went extremely well for us, but still at about 22 weeks she started getting a tad sassy with me and nipped at me a bit. Probably testing her boundaries a bit. She'll be 6 months old next week. She's back to being super sweet and very comfortable with me, and has learned what is a nip and what is a bite.


My experience tells me they just have their moments when they just want things their way. If she is healthy according to the vet I wouldn't let her reactions to you get you too down. Monitor her eating habits and health, and give her some space in terms of when she will allow you to be close with her.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I can't offer much advice...sissy likes me then doesn't,but she's two and a severe macaw. Try getting him to step up on a stick,then offer him a treat. As for feeding...I hope someone chimes in soon...you don't want your little one to lose weight...keep a log, how much he eats,what foods he likes,dislikes and write down his weight.

Thank you for your input, I recently had him checked by a vet....he weighted him and everything said he was doing just fine....when i asked him about the feed he said "He does not need that feed anymore just give him other foods he will eat on his own" But I have read at several places that I should keep feeding the bird even after he has weaned (for a month at least) ...and this is exactly what i am trying to do but i think my bird is starting to hate me for doing this. I don't want him to get weak the vet gave me a Multi Vitamin to give him from time to time in his water which i do, he is very active and healthy right now, plays all the time....my arm is injured badly with scratches i got from his claws .....The vet told me not to trim his feathers or claws for sometime as he is still learning to fly and trying to hold on to things....so nothing I could do about that right now but some of the scratches are really deep.

I just took home a baby grey teil yesterday..he/she is 14 weeks old. The breeder gave me a bag of "weaning mix" even tho the teil is eating NuPreem pellets and cockatiel seed mix. He told me to feed the wean mix in the am and then in the pm. He said " give as much as he/she wants" He also said "they know when they don't want it anymore,so if you notice he/she isn't eating the mix anymore,stop feeding it"

He also said it might take a month or two before they decide enough is enough. So don't panic! < I know,easier said than done!> Sounds to me,your Grey has had enough..Is he/she eating other goodies?

Jim

 

[bukhari]

I can't offer much advice...sissy likes me then doesn't,but she's two and a severe macaw. Try getting him to step up on a stick,then offer him a treat. As for feeding...I hope someone chimes in soon...you don't want your little one to lose weight...keep a log, how much he eats,what foods he likes,dislikes and write down his weight.

Thank you for your input, I recently had him checked by a vet....he weighted him and everything said he was doing just fine....when i asked him about the feed he said "He does not need that feed anymore just give him other foods he will eat on his own" But I have read at several places that I should keep feeding the bird even after he has weaned (for a month at least) ...and this is exactly what i am trying to do but i think my bird is starting to hate me for doing this. I don't want him to get weak the vet gave me a Multi Vitamin to give him from time to time in his water which i do, he is very active and healthy right now, plays all the time....my arm is injured badly with scratches i got from his claws .....The vet told me not to trim his feathers or claws for sometime as he is still learning to fly and trying to hold on to things....so nothing I could do about that right now but some of the scratches are really deep.

I just took home a baby grey teil yesterday..he/she is 14 weeks old. The breeder gave me a bag of "weaning mix" even tho the teil is eating NuPreem pellets and cockatiel seed mix. He told me to feed the wean mix in the am and then in the pm. He said " give as much as he/she wants" He also said "they know when they don't want it anymore,so if you notice he/she isn't eating the mix anymore,stop feeding it"

He also said it might take a month or two before they decide enough is enough. So don't panic! < I know,easier said than done!> Sounds to me,your Grey has had enough..Is he/she eating other goodies?

Jim

Thank you for replying, Yes he is eating all other foods like fruits, boiled rice, sunflower seeds and other food but its like he does not eat much, will take a few bites and then the rest of the food will be spilled all over the place, what he is eating right now is a lot less than the amount of formula he was on (50cc)

 

[jdlehman76]

"when he is on the floor or somewhere else, he won't step on to my hand...its like he tries to avoid me when he has a choice." Sounds to me like he is just testing to see how serious the "step up" command is. I would suggest when he tries to avoid it gently pursue him and then do a series of step ups to reinforce that the command can not be ignored. Try to recognize when he will not listen so that you can avoid getting in that situation until he is a little better trained.
As far as the nails go, I don't see why you couldn't trim some. On cats I used to trim a nail a day when they were kittens so that by the time they were several months old they would lay there and purr when we trimmed nails. I don't see why that method wouldn't work for parrots, just don't trim that much off so that he still has plenty of grip.

 

[bukhari]

"when he is on the floor or somewhere else, he won't step on to my hand...its like he tries to avoid me when he has a choice." Sounds to me like he is just testing to see how serious the "step up" command is. I would suggest when he tries to avoid it gently pursue him and then do a series of step ups to reinforce that the command can not be ignored. Try to recognize when he will not listen so that you can avoid getting in that situation until he is a little better trained.
As far as the nails go, I don't see why you couldn't trim some. On cats I used to trim a nail a day when they were kittens so that by the time they were several months old they would lay there and purr when we trimmed nails. I don't see why that method wouldn't work for parrots, just don't trim that much off so that he still has plenty of grip.

Thank you so much for this, I tried reinforcing the command and he is much better now .... he still does get away sometimes (when there is a sofa or something around when I call him up, he would just hide under it lol) I took him to another vet and even he said I should not trim his Claws right now, he just filed them a little and they don't hurt anymore! Now I have another grey coming in Im posting another thread regarding that please help me on that as well. Appreciate your input