New baby alex and some questions!

[adz1984]

So bella is from a petshop suposedly 10 weeks old and handraised but I doubt she got much attention or handled well, I knew when I seen the store girl check her ring for dna numbers she just picked her up like a tennis ball while bella screamed.. Also the fish tank a few of these babys were in was full of seeds and a little piece of apple that looked old no pellets or anything fresh...
I've had bella for a week and I'm not sure whats normal or healthy..

In the pic below where my finger tip ends and further down i feel like a bone is that normal? also you can see blackish colour on her cheeks/head i don't think thats normal?

She also stands on her left foot all day pretty much even in the photo lol but will use both feet to climb and walk not sure what that means either..

Last thing is food, 1st couple days she barely ate now I think she's eating too much? I was told since shes young give her an all you can eat diet of pellets/seed fruit n veg.. problem is she is a sunflower junkie and i've seen her eat seed for hours the pellets she will eat for few mins if thats the only food in her cage, she would eat seed most of the day if i kept it always in her cage (mostly sunflower) don't know if i should?

Shes pretty quite but made a couple of loud noises, she makes a croak like sound quite often (break grind maybe) don't know, fairly active but not much, preens, climbs cage, hangs upside down etc

Anyways thats my rant i just hope shes healthy and well thanks for reading

 

[Loko]

Personally, I would use sunflower seeds only as treats. Then for the diet, leave the pellets out and offer fresh veggies and fruit, and add just like a Tbsp of seeds w.o the sunflower.

Beautiful baby you have! He looks great. As far as the bone - it should not feel sharp or protrude much, but you should be able to feel it.

 

[adz1984]

good news she's been eating pellets all day only giving her sunflower when she steps up, she's eating pretty bird pellets over roudybush though i think they are just easier for her to chew

 

[Terry57]

She's a beautiful girl! I'm glad to hear she is eating some pellets Is she eating any of the fresh foods now?

 

[adz1984]

Ya been feeding apple, corn, cucumber rockmelon brocoli doesn't eat much though blended it all to small bits and still just eat alittle. Probably not hungry from pellets/seeds, ill try put fruit/veg first thing in morning with nothing else around.

Trying to figure out her behaviour with sounds like how beak grinding sounds on alex's also sounds they make when angry or calling out not much luck on youtube
Some pics:

Sunflower bait (she would jump of a building for a sunflower)

 

[Puck]

She's beautiful! It's hard to describe the sound of beak grinding, but it does sound like something grinding against something else (at least to me and my definition of a "grinding sound"), so I don't think you would confuse it with a croaking sound... Here are a couple of YouTube videos of beak grinding. Birds don't all sound alike, but it is a very similar sound in all species of parrots.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIIoxKbrSbY"]Grinding beak sound - YouTube[/ame] - Budgie
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifze85z8e7g"]My lovebird is grinding her beak while half asleep - YouTube[/ame] - Lovebird
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odObS4Mrx_g"]Beak grinding - YouTube[/ame] - young African Grey
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ik2UNUpkSI"]My cockatoo's after shower happy dance & beak grinding - YouTube[/ame] - Cockatoo

You notice that while they all sound different, the sound is similar enough that you can tell they are doing the same thing. You should be able to tell if your Alex is grinding its beak from listening to these.

 

[adz1984]

She is definately beak grinding based on those video's she doe's quite often.. thanks for links
I think she's eating too much.. if she's not preening or playing she's eating.. should i put a certain amount of pellets like in tablespoons to see how much see eats in a day? if so how many spoons

 

[maverickbull]

bella looks pretty...

ok on the store part - most of them consider the birds to be commodities to sell fast so don't bother feeding good food. You should move away from the sunflower seeds - they are useless for a bird.

About the bone - you can tell if a bird is of the right weight or not by feeling her chest. But I'm no AV... so will leave it to them. I would suggest weighing her everyday to see if she is gaining or losing weight. This is the best option other than a AV's suggestion.

Eating - they will take time... so don't worry. Increase veggies & fruits in her diet. Also almonds as treats (not more than one per day)
beak grinding - that is a good thing don't worry...

Black color on the face - not sure what that is; see if it washes off (assuming bella likes being misted or is taking a dunk in her water dish )

Do keep posting updates. All the best.

 

[LeaKP]

A beautiful baby! As far as eating goes, I let my babies free feed on dry pellets or birdie bread during the day but give them chop, fruits, veggies, etc in the morning and evening (sometimes more). Usually the morning is the best time for fruits and veggies when they are hungriest.

 

[adz1984]

Thanks for replies..
I have misted her, the grey/black colour doesn't seem to come off..
I was told to freefeed but would you do it if they ate most of the day, anyways today I put only 2 tablespoons of pellets to see if she finishes them

 

[adz1984]

My seeds wont go to waste

 

[adz1984]

Ok so she's been up from 6am its 6:30pm now..I've put a total of 3 tablespoons of these pellets

what's left is about half or bit more tablespoon of crumbs, also gave her half tablespoon of seed.. like i said she eats most of the day is this normal for a 11 week old?