Weaning confusion

[Tikazoo]

Hi everyone. Hope the holidays were good to you and your feathered friends. I think I am still confused on weaning Tika. She was born on Aug 30th, we are off formula, but she still likes softened pellets way to much (I think). She wakes at 7:30 and receives softened pellets with oatmeal and apples. Then around noon she gets assorted warmed veges or a skewer with veges if I cant be there at noon -I'll leave it in her cage when I leave I the am. When I return she cries and won't settle down until I give her some soft pellets warmed ( only like 5-6 ), to reassure her since I was gone. Then in the evening about 5ish she gets frozen veges warmed mixed with some quinoa, beans, flax and kale and again a few warmed softened pellets hand fed to her. I realize she is wanting reassurance from me but am not sure if I am abundant weaning her or if I need to just stop the softened pellets . She eats the hard pellets some but still doesn't seem to recognize they could fill her up. Am I abundant weaning still or have I just been trained? Oh and she has definitely accepted me as the care giver but wants to bite everyone else - so not good. We are still training...

 

[roxynoodle]

The breeders here undoubtedly will have better advice than me. The warm food is comforting to them I think. My Nanday also likes her veggies fresh out of the microwave. And she sometimes dips her pellets in her water bowl even though she's almost 12 years old. I just have to change her water a lot, lol!

What happens if you just leave the dry pellets in there? My bird dips about every other one she eats. My other conure never did, but sometimes threw one in the water to watch it expand and fall apart (for fun). My zon never dips them at all.

 

[Tikazoo]

Thanks Roxynoodle for your reply I do leave pellets in her cage and she does a fine job grinding up a few but never seems to eat much. Crop never feels full. You think instead of the warmed food I should start one meal at a time replacing most of the warmed food with dry pellets. So I could give her a few moist pellets for comfort and then give her a bowl of dry food? She hasn't gone for that yet, but I am assuming my intentions of abundantly feeding her have probably resulted in her training me. I would be happy giving her one nice warm meal a day but didn't know how long the transition might take. I'm home most of the time but worry when I'm not here at noon and she seems so panicked for food when I return - even though like I said I leave her with a vege skewer (so she can't doodle on it) and pellets. She eats the veges a bit but still has an empty crop.

 

[roxynoodle]

All my birds were completely weaned when I got them so it's hard for me to say. But, obviously the breeders got them eating dry food before I got them. My Blue Crown I knew from the moment she hatched as I was on a waiting list before there were eggs. She did spend some extra time with the breeder before I took her home to make sure she was totally weaned.

I'm guessing your bird won't starve itself if you begin forcing it to eat the dry pellets. Yes, I'm sure she will complain for awhile. And yes, she has probably trained you. Parrots are very smart and manipulative little things.

My birds get their warm foods in the evening, so yes, once a day. And they know when, too. They start complaining so I know when they are ready.

My opinion though may not be the best as I've never done handfeeding of a baby nor weaned one. Hopefully others will chime in here. Or you might try PMing Henpecked as he raises various amazons. But, I think maybe you will have to take a stand and ignore some of it's complaining while it gets on the dry pellets.

I don't know your living arrangements but the day will come when you might need to be hospitalized or take a vacation and who ever is caring for your birds may not be able to cook for them several times a day. If they are least getting pellets then you know they are getting a balanced diet.

Ok, I'm laughing at my Nanday right now because she has a beak completely covered in carrots! The zon is a much neater veggie eater.

 

[Tikazoo]

Yes I totally agree, I have hired pet sitters but never to come in three times a day to be short order chefs!! She try's to bite everyone too so she's hard to deal with, but I was trying to abundant feed her I think I just didn't know when to transition out of that frame of mind. Back to daily weighing and tough love maybe.... The carrot cookie face - love it!!

 

[lene1949]

She'll lose a bit of weight in the weaning process, and she'll soon learn to dunk her pellets in her water bowl... Don't panic... She won't starve herself...

 

[Tikazoo]

Hi everyone,
Okay so I have been trying to bear it out with Tika, but I keep giving in. She keeps crying and biting at my fingers like she's just starving on the pellets. I am going to start weighing her, I broke my scale so I just got a new one. She seems fine, love's her pm meal of veges but the rest of the day she has just pellets which she takes and just grinds them into nothing. How long will it take approximately for her to realize she could just eat them whole? They are not that big. I am stuggling because she just seems so hungry and is hard to socialize with because she keeps biting my fingers trying to draw food out of them.

 

[roxynoodle]

Well, guess what, mom? You gave in, lol! Remember they say parrots have the intelligence of 3-5 year olds, but the emotional stability of 2 year olds. So what you get is a 2 year old who is smarter than the average bear.

 

[henpecked]

If she's grinding the pellets,she's eating them. Sure she drops a lot,but that's just parrots.As babies grow their crops shrink (couldn't fly with a crop full like a 6 wk old).Don't expect to feel her crop and feel a large bulge like when she was a baby.A unfledged baby might eat as much at one feeding as an adult would all day.Using the scales will tell the tale.