Weight fluctuations in baby. What is normal?

[Brittany741]

My first baby bird - weight loss question

I am weighing him daily since he weaned just a month ago. What is considered weight loss? The first day, he gained 2 grams and then this morning he was down 2 grams from that.

I have him nearly completely switched to a better pellet (Golden'Obles from Pretty Bird) and I am providing him access to the same diet as my other Eclectus. Fresh fruit in the morning and my fresh veggie and bean mash in the afternoon. For knowing so much about the Eclectus diet, I feel clueless about having a baby. I've had so many birds but this is my first "new" bird.

Getting it right is very important to me. I am offering 3 hand feedings per day with a mixture of organic fruit baby food, formula, and water. He somewhat accepts hand feedings but far prefers eating on his own. It is not watery but instead the consistency of baby food. Having him lose weight terrifies me, as he is still quite small (368g) for a red-sided. Persie is 428 and she is a Solomon Island. I know he will bulk up as he matures so I'm not trying to compare them too much.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Brittany741]

Scooter the baby is home and doing well. He doesn't want to eat Handfeeding mix from me - formula mixed into baby food for flavor. He was Handfeeding on top of eating on his own before coming here.

I weigh him every morning. Sometimes I don't get to him before he's had a chance to eat.

I've read from https://theparrotuniversity.com/arthandfeeding that weight fluctuates but they didn't give parameters and I've had a hard time finding what those expectations should be. If he starts really losing weight, intervention is needed early.

Advice please?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Any weight loss before they start actively weaning is really undesirable, Brittany.

Depending on what time of day you weigh him, there will be fluctuations. Best thing is to weigh first thing in the morning, on an empty crop.

How many feedings is he on, and how much does he get at each feeding? Does he eat any solids on his own yet?

Ekkis 'can' be notoriously difficult if they switch hand feeders. They are also slow eaters, so it's important to keep the formula from getting too cold.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Re: My first baby bird - weight loss question

I am weighing him daily since he weaned just a month ago. What is considered weight loss? The first day, he gained 2 grams and then this morning he was down 2 grams from that.

I have him nearly completely switched to a better pellet (Golden'Obles from Pretty Bird) and I am providing him access to the same diet as my other Eclectus. Fresh fruit in the morning and my fresh veggie and bean mash in the afternoon. For knowing so much about the Eclectus diet, I feel clueless about having a baby. I've had so many birds but this is my first "new" bird.

Getting it right is very important to me. I am offering 3 hand feedings per day with a mixture of organic fruit baby food, formula, and water. He somewhat accepts hand feedings but far prefers eating on his own. It is not watery but instead the consistency of baby food. Having him lose weight terrifies me, as he is still quite small (368g) for a red-sided. Persie is 428 and she is a Solomon Island. I know he will bulk up as he matures so I'm not trying to compare them too much.

Any advice is appreciated.

Brittany, I merged the 2 threads together since they were so similar. In this one you answered some questions I had previously.

If he weaned just a month ago, may I ask why you are offering him 3 hand feedings a day? It is perfectly normal for weaning babies to lose some weight. No worries there, and a 2 gram loss isn't much.

Yes, Ekkis won't reach their full adult weight until they're about 2, and as with all species, there can be differences in size, even within subspecies. Are you 100% certain he is a pure RS?

You said you're offering Goldn Obles. That's a Goldenfeast Brand, not Pretty Bird.https://goldenfeastdirect.com/product/goldnobles-i/

Not sure whether you've read through some of the Ekki diet threads yet, but many (if not most) Ekki parronts try and stay clear of pellets, especially any pellets that contain dyes.
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/52737-so-you-think-you-want-eclectus.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/48375-eclectus-diet.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/49445-pellets-diet.html

 

[Brittany741]

Sorry for not being clear. He was on Pretty Bird with the breeder.

He eats almost completely on his own but she still offers her Ekkie babies formula because they are so slow to wean- one reason I wanted to wait at least an extra month to take him. And I'm glad I did.

I am offering still just for the sake of continuity. He only shows interest in his night feeding so I am dropping the first feeding as of this morning.

For pellets, I am slowly transitioning him over to Golden'Obles and that is going well. He also is getting the same mash and fresh fruits as Persie but he is only slowly showing interest. Today was the first day he made any noise at all, and that's when I was preparing Persie's breakfast. I put his in front of him and he DUG IN! It was obviously a joyous moment.

Sorry for being so concerned, it's just my first baby bird and even though he is nearly 5 months, I just want to be sure I'm doing it right.

 

[Brittany741]

And yes, I only give 10-15 pellets per day to Persie. That's why I am working so hard to get Scooter away from pellets- the bane of my existence. But it's what he came here eating and I am trying to avoid adding any additional stress.

He and Persie couldn't have come here under any more different circumstances. I am trying to stay as sensitive to making changes with Scooter as possible since he is so young and developing his personality.