Weight gain?

[getwozzy]

Last month when we took Chili to her 1st vet appointment, things went great- but the Dr said she's on the skinny side weighing in at 250g with her keel bone being VERY easy to feel.

Her diet consists of fresh fruits and veggies twice a day, some pellets, some seed mix, and then dinner with us. She's a pretty good eater overall, and I finally got a scale perch made and weighed her today...she now weighs 260g, so she's gained 10g in the last month. The dr wants her to weigh at least 280g "by winter".

My question is-
What is an acceptable rate of weight gain? Is she gaining weight too slow?

I feel that because she's only 7 months old, I shouldn't worry too much about it and let her gain weight at the current rate she's going.

 

[noblemacaw]

I remember for every just weaned baby parrot I brought home I was always freaking about how lean they were and how much lighter they were compared to adult weights. Even when I brought the giant green bird from Texas (Valentino) he came to me at 402 grams, 4 days later at the vets he weighted 405 grams. As predicted I worried about his weight but Dr. Blair reminded me that baby birds are lean especially after fledging. Valentino was and still is fully flighted and his keel felt sharp and pronounced. He was not considered underweight at all.

It took a couple of months to get him to 435 grams. He stayed around that weight until he started his first moult. In three weeks he went to 484 grams. There was a few times there he weighed in at 498 grams.

I freaked with the quick weight gain and picked up his flying schedule by increasing it to twice a day instead of once a day.

Tuesday I took Valentino in for his yearly check up and Dr. Blair was pleased with his weight. I thought Valentino was getting too fat but what I thought was squishy fat was his pectoral muscles from all that flying he does. LOL His keel although not as pronounced as when he first came home you can still really feel it. His weight at the appointment was 468 grams. He had little to eat (just a little breakfast) when I took him in vrs when I weight him before I put him to bed.

I wonder if this is basically true for all parrot species. I don't remember if Chilli is flighted but I know that makes a difference in the whole weight game.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Sounds to me as if Chili is on the right path. She's being fed healthy, good food, and she's slowly gaining some weight, so PERFECT!!

Does she get any nuts?? I know nuts are high in fat content, so maybe offering her some may speed things up a wee bit??

 

[getwozzy]

Noble-

Chili's wings are clipped, but that doesn't stop her from trying to fly wherever she thinks she needs to go lol she also is very active throughout the day, with the exception of nap time...otherwise she's always on the move.

Wendy-

There are *some* nuts in the seed mix, but I don't give her very much per day so who knows if she's eating any nuts or not lol. I plan on starting clicker training soon, so maybe I can use nuts for treats and hopefully she likes them....what about pine nuts?