New Sun Owner

[Tequilasunrise]

Hello everyone,
I just got a baby Sun Conure on the 10 of Dec. The Breeder I bought "it" from didn't say how old she was, so I just kinda estimated that tequila, that's its name, was about 4-5 weeks. But I am still unsure about the age, but tequila has most of her feathers except for some under her wings "pit" area and some on her back. Now my questions are when should Tequila start drinking water or when should I introduce it? And how should I wean her from the formula? She was being hand fed by syringe up until two days ago when I mixed millet in with the formula and let her eat it on her own out of her bowl. Tequila is doing really good and is making lots of happy sounds. What should the next couple of steps be?

Thanks for the help,
TequilaSunRise
The first pictures are of what tequila looked like when I brought her home on the 10 of Dec. And The last two pictures I took last week Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[Amber]

She looks great! Are you confident in hand feeding her? You seem to be doing well so far!

You should have water, pellets (or seed mix, or the 'dry' food of your choice) and fresh fruit and veg in her cage all day every day at this stage (and probably should have for a few weeks already really so she got used to it). She will begin playing with it, and then eventually make the transition to eating it. She needs to become familiar with food and what it is.

I would not mix millet in with the formula. If she is swallowing the seeds whole she may have problems digesting them. Parrots shell their seeds for a reason. It's interesting that she will eat the formula on her own, she is probably trying to wean, so it would not be a huge step to get her to eat other things on her own. If you're giving her formula in a bowl, be sure to not leave it in the cage, let her have her fill and then remove it, otherwise it will spoil and go cold. I would still hand feed her as many times a day as she wants to ensure she is getting enough, and instead of offering formula for her to snack on in her own time, start offering adult foods. She will slowly make the transition, requiring less and less formula over the next few weeks.

You can mix pureed fruit and other soft items (cooked and mushed peas, etc) with the formula when offering to let her eat herself. When syringing it though, unless it is a baby food consistency item, do not add it. You could accidentally choke her with a chunky bit when syringing it.

It is hard to tell by the last two photos, but she looks the same as my boy did at 8-9 weeks (fully fledged but still scruffy) when I bought him home. In which case she will be starting to wean (and this is shown by her being able to eat her formula herself, so she is probably already trying to wean, and may have been doing so for some time) and you should have water and food in with her all the time! Now is the time to start offering her every type of bird safe fruit and veg so she will not be a picky eater later on. Continue offering formula whenever she wants it, but give her the option of eating adult foods in her cage herself.

 

[Pedro]

I would estimate Tequila is about 12 weeks old, should be on 1 or 2 feeds of formula a day depending on if she wants it or not. Only feed her what she wants & offered fruits & veg as Amber has posted.

Suns are good at weaning usually. Try sprouting some seeds.