Feeding Difficulties

[Barbara Hohmann]

My Parrotlett is 4 weeks old. I just took him out of the nest box but now am having a hard time getting him to eat from a syringe. Is this normal? What can I do to ensure he is getting enough food.

 

[Greycloud]

As I have posted before, Parrotlets are very difficult to hand feed if pulled later then 2-3 weeks at most. If he is not eating you may want to put him back. Hopefully the parents will accept him if you do. Other wise, what is the temp of the formula and thickness? This can have a lot to do with baby refusing to eat.

 

[Barbara Hohmann]

I make the temp. about 104f and the consistency is about a medium thickness. I did finally get him to eat a bit more this afternoon. Am hoping he continues to eat. The reason I left his so long is that a friend of mine pulled hers earlier and at about this age they refused to eat and died shortly after

 

[Wolf]

It has been nearly a week since you posted, how is your parrotlet doing now?

 

[Barbara Hohmann]

he or she is doing amazing, starting to eat seeds but still on pablum 3x a day.

 

[Wolf]

Have you ever considered weaning your parrotlet to a soft food in addition to seeds? I have several birds, one of which is a parrotlet that I cook for. I feed them a cooked mixture of whole grains, legumes and vegetables along with some raw fresh veggies and fruit and seeds in the evening.

 

[Barbara Hohmann]

thanks for the advice. I know that the breeding pair get cooked food along with fruits and raw vegs. but never thought of giving that to the baby