Sleeping and morning feeding ideas are welcome

[DutchCaptain]

Hello to all,

I am with a nearly 6 months old blue golden macaw.
If you can answer my below questions I will be really happy.

1. when going to sleep, when I close the lights and say goodnight she makes 1 or 2 like crying.. loud screams and then becomes silent, is this normal or is there something disturbing her ?
2. She stopped taking her breakfast baby food with syringe in the mornings...I provide her with fresh water and pellets some nuts and banana slices and broccoli etc. but not sure how much she eats..she continues lunch and night feedings with syringe..is this okay? what should I provide her to eat more herself?
3. she never wants to leave me when out of the cage always at hand or shoulder how am I going to assist her to be with herself when she is out of the cage ? when she sees me if shes in the cage she moves left to right continiously saying graa graaa...slowly..and sometimes gets louder
4. I sometimes have to make business or family visits where I have to go lets say for a week to another country then I have to leave her to the breeders place where he has a parrot hotel with lots of other parrots in seperate places..would it be okay if she stays in a safe but noisy athmosphere with other parrots ? I have no other choice..

Thank you for your answers..

Kind regards

 

[LordTriggs]

wait you were sold this parrot unweaned? If so you need to report your breeder because that's illegal in the EU (no exotic animal is allowed to be sold unweaned) Not so much for your benefit right now but so other people don't get sold a baby parrot and either kill them accidentally or have to spend thousands at a vet to save them.

If you haven't have a gram scale and weigh her every single morning to make sure her weight is either staying the same or increasing. If it's lowering you need to speak to a Certified Avian Vet. Make sure you're using a digital thermometer for her formula and it's properly mixed. I forget the exact temperatures it needs to be between but it's a small window, the max temp being 110F I believe (check the breeding subforums as the temps will be there)

outside of that try feeding her pellets, maybe mix a tiny bit of water into them so they're easier to chew for her, also offer as many fruits and veggies as you can for her (that are safe of course) I would show her that it's food by having a couple bits yourself in front of her off the same plate as that will help her realize what to do with the food.

As for the noises, it could be something bothering her, is the room she sleeps in quiet when it's her bedtime? No moving shadows or anything? It could be something like that is giving her a little fright or it could just be her announcing to the world that it's bed time.

Her being clingy is because she's a baby and also a parrot, they're likened to a human toddler because they have the same emotional and mental capacities as a toddler and like a toddler all they want is to be with "momma"

Is there nobody you know who would be willing to come look after her? I would not send her to a "parrot hotel" that will be the fastest way to give her a potentially fatal illness or if they are all allowed in a single room injure her if she were to be attacked by one in a mood or even end up having babies if her and another one were to get on really well. I would only trust a close friend/family member to look after them or seeing if her vet is able to board.

I'm sure others will post with their thoughts and views but this is my 2 cents on this

 

[GaleriaGila]

I, too, am a little unclear on what's going on, so I'll offer this excellent thread for your reading.

http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

I'm concerned about the housing and diet questions, so I'm very glad you're reaching out. I share Trigg's queries.

I *AM* glad you are here...

 

[DutchCaptain]

first of all thank you for the detailed answer(Lordtriggs) and good wishes..(Galeriagila)
she was with me when she was nearly 15 or 16 weeks old on September 15.
she can now fly, and is eatin g from her large bowl sometimes I see her head in the bowl but not sure if she is eating sufficiently or not...when i come home for the lunch handfeeding formula, she usually gets 60+20 mm's of food..
at night nearly 19:30 20:00 o'clock she eats nearly two 60mm syringes and seems happy.
we stay together nearly 2 hours every night and approximately 1 hour for the lunch.

well unfortunately there is no one who will come and look after her...the breeder is the vet he only passess to a pro avian vet. whenever there is a serious issue..as he says..
trying everything to make her happy and peaceful..
any ideas to be on the safe and right path for her are allways welcome..
thank you again..

 

[DutchCaptain]

Dear LordTriggs,
the parrot hotel has a large closed area where big closed cages are present side by side..all parrots except the ones to be allowed outside are kept seperately..
I will start to weigh her..day by day to see the situation..
she only cries one or max three times when the light is off and then she is silent..the rooms curtains are closed..
thank you

 

[bill_e]

Sleeping squawk: She could be reacting to the sudden change in lighting. When putting her to bed, try darkening the room in stages. Try a nightlight so that when you turn off the lights, it's more like dusk than pitch black....then a short wile later turn off the night light.

With my bird I usually put her to bed in a darkened room but it's not pitch black. After a while I come back and cover her and turn off all the lights. I have put her to bed in a very dark room but she seems to stumble around in her cage while getting to her sleeping perch when I do that.

 

[EllenD]

You have a much larger problem than where to board your bird...Your Macaw should not have been sold to you unweaned in the first place by that breeder, it's illegal to do so in Europe, but forgetting the legality, He should have been weaned totally onto solid food and totally off the handfeeding formula at some point between 15-22 weeks old, that's the typical B&G weaning age range. What Triggs said is correct, your breeder did you a huge disservice, plus they are breaking the law...

It's extremely dangerous for an untrained, uneducated person to hand-feed a bird formula, as well as to try to Abundance-Wean a bird....Here's the issue that you're already starting to experience: Captive-bred parrots who are not properly Abundance-Weaned very often suffer from serious neurological and behavioral issues for the rest of their lives, one of the major ones being that they are perpetual baby birds who need to be hand-fed, treated like a baby, and cannot ever be out of the sight of their "mothers" for the rest of their lives...That's what is happening here!

You said you "have had him since he was 14-15 weeks old", well how old is he now? He should have been close to fully-weaned at the time you brought him home! Either way, you absolutely CANNOT try to "force" him to fully wean, but you absolutely need to start pushing the issue, but at HIS PACE...If HE has eliminated his morning formula feeding and is eating enough pellets and veggies to sustain him, then this is a good thing, and I'm not sure why you're worried about it, it's what is supposed to happen...But as Triggs said, you need to be weighing him every single day and writing his weight down so that you can be sure that he's gaining or staying the same and not losing weight! That's a part of weaning your bird! So please get a digital kitchen scale and weight him first thing in the morning every single day and write it down with the date...

You also need to keep very close track of how many pellets he's eating each morning, because you don't seem to know how much he's eating. This is extremely important, because he's trying to wean himself, but I don't think you quite know that he's supposed to be doing this and you may be discouraging it, which is not your fault, he should have been fully weaned before you got him...HE should be gradually eating a smaller and smaller amount of formula at each feeding until he totally eliminates feedings all together and REPLACES them with pellets and veggies. This is hopefully what he has done with his morning feeding, but since you haven't been weighing him you won't know if he's eating enough to sustain himself or not at this point, so you need to start tracking both his weight and the amount of pellets (exactly) that he's eating....And next he should decrease and then eliminate the lunch formula, etc. The last formula feeding to go is typically the one before bed, that's the hardest one for them to let go of, as it's a "comfort feeding"....

I'm sorry that you're in this situation, but this is exactly what happens when you buy an unweaned parrot when you've never hand-fed or Abundance-Weaned a bird before...All of his "clingy" and "needy" behavior that you're describing and that you're worried about, being stuck to you all the time, wanting to be with you all the time, the crying before going to sleep because he can't see you when you turn the light out, etc., this is all normal for a parrot who was not properly Abundance-Weaned within the normal amount of time, and is still being fed hand-feeding formula from a syringe at his age. And he may always be like this, probably will be, it's a common issue, and it typically never leaves them once they are like this...We have a member dealing with this with their Nanday Conure because he was improperly weaned by his breeder...I'm sorry, but this is what happens when an unscrupulous parrot breeder or not a breeder at all, as if you bought your Macaw at 15 weeks old and he was still not near weaned, then the "breeder" didn't know what they were doing either...

I would find your nearest Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet, make him an appointment, and go and talk to them about how to properly Abundance-Wean your Macaw from this point forward...He may need to see an Avian Behavioral Specialist Vet, that's the only thing I've ever seen help with the issue your bird is going to have...I'd also let the breeder know what's going on, because they have no business selling unweaned parrots, especially in Europe where it's against the law...

 

[DutchCaptain]

Thank you for the information,
he stays at home all day I see her morning, lunch time and evening out of cage..hes now 20 to 21 weeks old..
today i was at home at lunch after feeding i put her to cage and he was okay not yelling or wanting to come out..my chance maybe is he is alone with classical music and a little view of outside from side..he is getting used to be alone hopefully..and i hope by time he will be sitting on its cage out even if i am around..
do you think if i make a one week trip leaving her to breeder s hotel will work a little for the abundance weaning ? or more maybe ? all i want is his peace and happiness..whether with me or without..i did have quite difficult time and still sometimes but when he is with me calmly everything goes away

thank you for your consideration.

kind regards,

 

[LordTriggs]

I don't think you're understanding, that breeder is a criminal and needs to be reported! Don't leave your bird with them. Find someone else to care for them, a pet sitting service, a Certified vet, just not that breeder. You have no idea what diseases the other parrots are carrying and that bit of convenience of letting them stay there will cost Hundreds if not THOUSANDS if they do get sick.

Stay away from this person, there is something incredibly wrong going on.

A thought did just occur to me, did you receive a Cites A10 certificate with your macaw and do they have a closed ring on their leg?

 

[ChristaNL]

As long your "breeder" is not named "Dennis" or any of his branched out places - I would only board my parrot anywhere (else) if they demand that all birds be tested before they are accepted there.

What flaming idiot sold you an unweaned macaw?
( Plze PM me, I am dying to find out)
Most breeders are okay with one "comfortfood"-feeding at night, but the bird should be able to feed itself *period*.

Anyway- weight your bird!
Every
single
day
(at the same time, because you've found out already: the morningpoop is *huge* )
Weaning parrots will lose *some* weight (due to higher activity levels), but then you will know when the bird looses too much.
It's a rather simple and efficient way


There are better places to go (Hope for wings / hopeforwings.com etc. always offer boarding if you have not other option) and you'll have the guarantee you bird will not be "missing", (fake) "died" or "sold by accident" when you get back.
(Yes, this still happens a lot! Parrots get sold instead of propperly boarded - because any halfwit is allowed to run one of these-- and you have to track down your bird first to prove foul play!)

I would offer you to help - but Sunny is a plucker/ overbarberer and you would not want Captin Jack to copy the behaviour.
Your call ...



the wraaaa wraa is normal contact-call
It can get out of hand, so try to get him to say another one asap It will be a lot more fun.



http://www.koppiekrauw.com/Info/info-overzicht/info-wetgeving/info-wet-wetgeving2014.htm


it not like they came up with this list a few weeks ago... (grrrr)


Oh, and plze plze plze DO get your bird tested for everything under the sun.
(Gendica is not that expensive if you by the complete=test-package)
Especially with a breeder like this!


(a blue and gold is CITES 2-b so you do not need any papers, a closed legband is good, but not mandatory, unfortunately-- it helps track down breeders and age)

 

[DutchCaptain]

.......ok will look avian vets

 

[DutchCaptain]

Dear ChristaNL
for now i can not send pm s

 

[DutchCaptain]

Dear LordTriggs
yes he has aclosed ring as they were 2 babies together the other had the test which is okay but Captain did not has a blood test..

 

[ChristaNL]

In that case... you really need those tests asap!

That guy (well the empire) is a bad as the american "Ana" people were writing about.
He also rules by intimidation or groveling (depends who is the stronger party) so take this as a lesson and stay far far away from that person, his relatives, his shops, his breedingfacilities and his "rescuecentres"(breedingplace and shop) as you possibly can.

So... we go into damagecontroll
You are not the first or the last - Onze hoogheid Willem Alexander tuinde er ook in-
your parrot is in good health (or seems to be -> get those tests done asap)

No idea where you live but borrow mine -> gezelschapsdieren Universiteit Utrecht/ great CAV and they are experts in parrotbehaviour / well 2 out of the 3 or something like that.


If you are near Den Haag (the Hague) you can meet a few in De Vogelkelder https://www.de-vogelkelder.nl/itempage.asp?id=155&title=Papegaaien--en-Parkietendag and ask some of the questions without paying a consult, and see if you like that one as your vet.



Okay- I have you phonenumber now - you can remove it (you never know who reads these things and takes advantage).

 

[DutchCaptain]

Done.. thank you
Will wait for your call
Thank you a lot

 

[ChristaNL]

since you cannot pm ...I tried your number "it is not available" - will try again tomorrow (fixing my landline atm)

 

[ChristaNL]

Hello Captain...plze send me the legbandnumber?
(just email me- that way I can mail you as well)

I did not write it down yesterday, so I am stuck halfway in finding your real breeder for you.