Baby quaker help!

[reffek94]

I recently bought a baby quaker (blue pallid). The breeder told me she was 9 weeks old and fully weaned. I told her I have plenty of bird experience ( parrotlets to macaws) but I have zero experience in handfeeding because all of my birds have been rescued and older. I stressed to her I literally have no clue about any aspect of hand feeding. She assured me that the baby was fully weaned. I got him or her (no DNA yet?) back home on Friday night. All night she was bobbing and flicking her wings so it had me a little worried that she was hungry. I kept a close eye on her and she literally continued every second that I was watching her nonstop. By the next morning I walked out to the living room in the morning and as soon as she saw me she started her bobbing and wing flicking again. Literally nonstop. She will do it for hours as long as she sees me. She is always out with me when I'm home but she keeps on. I tried to get in touch with the breeder but no answer other than "try spoon feeding her baby food." She wouldn't take it so I got some hand feeding formula and read up and watched videos of hand feeding. When she saw the syringe she just about lost it running around on the table freaking out trying to get to it. The issue I'm having is that I have no idea how much or how often to feed her. I have been feeding her once in the morning and again at night. Should I be feeding her more often? How much should i feed her at a time? I've read so many thing and some people say no more than 10cc and others are saying 24cc. I dont want to stretch her crop but I dont want her to starve please help me guys! I have experience with Quakers and I know they "quake" but I've never had a quaker do it all the time.

 

[Mizzely]

9 weeks is really young for quakers. Mine was "fully weaned" at 12 weeks and quaked for another 3-4 after bringing him home. He did eat off a baby spoon for me though with baby food and that's how I bridged it. I don't know anything about true baby feeding

 

[reffek94]

Thank you I will keep trying to spoon feed and offer fruits and veggies. I'm really just worried that shes not getting enough.. or getting too much I just have no idea and the breeder has been ignoring me ever since I started asking questions about her not being fully weaned

 

[Sylvester]

Take this bird back to the breeder and have her show you and explain. She caused this problem and she is the one who needs to solve it. It would be hard to ignore you if you are right on her doorstep. Take somebody with you.

 

[MahaSarah]

That's so so sad how a breeder would lie through their teeth to try and make a quick buck. Makes me so upset. :/

Has she been eating solid foods? How much is she eating?

You should reach out to an ETHICAL reputable breeder near you for some help. You would also need to buy a scale to make sure she isn't losing weight.

What handfeeding formula are you using? What do you use to feed her?

She has all her feathers right? Can she fly?

Next time look up the expected weaning time for what ever bird you decide on getting before purchasing one And read reviews on the person, ask around if they are a good breeder or not, ask a ton of questions, etc, etc. Sadly now a days there are more crappy breeders than ethical breeders.

 

[reffek94]

I did research before I got her and most of what I read said they wean around 8-10 weeks, some take longer. I'm feeding her with kaytee exact and a syringe. I've been feeding her twice a day 2.5tsp (12cc). But I really dont know if that's enough or too much. The breeder was awesome all the way through the process but as soon as money exchanged hands she was no longer helpful
She is not really interested in foods, corn flakes, cheerios, fruits, veggies, millet ect. She has all her feathers and can fly but I realized after I brought her home the breeder had clipped her wings already which I asked her not to do. I've read clipping wings too early is dangerous because it can cause a baby to starve itself thinking it's too heavy to fly. I dont clip my birds wings anyway but I really didn't want hers clipped.

 

[reffek94]

 

[reffek94]

 

[Mizzely]

What a cutie baby!!

Sometimes too they do appear to be weaned and then regress with the change in environment. So it's not a total impossibility, but 12 weeks is much more common from my experience/understanding for them.

Is there a vet you could call to ask? Even if they don't know they may know someone who could give you more pointers.

 

[reffek94]

I called my vet and I'm bringing her in on Friday. That's the first they could see me he did give me some tips on the how of hand feeding but not how much I should be feeding.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Sad that the breeder is not helping out with this. Possible that the baby was weaned and has regressed but there are many breeders who claim that their babies are fully weaned and they aren't. It's just @#$# (censoring myself) when they do that kind of thing. I also believe that I could breeder should be more supportive instead of just telling you to spoon feed. You should have been given some guidelines.
Generally the guideline is to feed @ 10% of body weight per feeding but can be less if baby is already eating some food on his/her own.. It's important that you have a scale so you can weigh your baby daily. I have experience hand feeding red-bellied parrots, conure, sparrow and a cockatoo but no experience with Quakers. Did you check out this website: Quaker Parrot Handfeeding and Weaning Articles | QuakerParrots.com

Does the baby have a name yet? Very cute, btw.

 

[reffek94]

Yes he/she has been named Mumble because she reminds me of the penguin on the movie happy feet the way shes always dancing around. Thank you for the info! I will definitely get a scale today! I really appreciate everyone's helping! I'm glad I decided to get on this site! I dont have anyone around me that likes birds so I never get to talk about them with other people

 

[iamwhoiam]

Yes he/she has been named Mumble because she reminds me of the penguin on the movie happy feet the way shes always dancing around. Thank you for the info! I will definitely get a scale today! I really appreciate everyone's helping! I'm glad I decided to get on this site! I dont have anyone around me that likes birds so I never get to talk about them with other people

You can use a digital postal scale or a digital kitchen scale as long as it can weigh in grams. Make sure you get one that has the tare function.
Mumble is a cute name. How is she doing today?

 

[reffek94]

I just got her on the scale! It had a hard time because she is constantly bouncing around and quaking . From what I can tell she is about 68 grams. She seems to be alright and shes moving around more and more every day. I am thinking about moving some of her perches a little higher up!

 

[SandraK]

If you can, find one or two of the ripest bananas or as ripe as they can be and mash them with a fork. It's soft, and at room temp should be ok to feed your little one. Possibly try baby food like sweet potatoes or squash.

 

[reffek94]

I've been trying to give her baby food sweet potatoes and squash and shes not taking it right now.. I'm going to keep working on it though!

 

[Sylvester]

The breeder clipped her wings to make her more dependent on you, which is so wrong.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Don't know what a Quaker should weigh at that age but maybe another member will know. @Mizzely @melissasparrots @saroj12

 

[Mizzely]

Jingo was about 80 grams when I brought him home at 12 weeks and topped out at 95g. Blues can be a little smaller than the estimates for greens and pallid maybe even more so but I don't actually have evidence of that

 

[melissasparrots]

My quakers usually weaned at about 97-107 grams. But they were standard green birds. I've heard some blue lines can be significantly smaller. Although 68g seems pretty low. My quakers tended to get about 15cc at a maximum, but they were bigger. I'd probably not give your's more than 12 at the most. I'd recommend a vet check personally as the vet will be better able to assess just how thin this bird is. If she's super thin, then I'd say feed her 2-3 times a day between 8-12cc. If the vet says she's thin, but not that thin, then maybe just give her a small 5-8cc feed in the morning and the full 10-12 in the evening if she'll take it. After a few days start phasing out the morning feed. My quakers usually weaned at about 9-10 weeks. But I didn't let them go to new homes until at least 12 weeks unless I knew the person well enough to just go over to their house any time to check on things. The 68 grams is a little scary to me. If one of my green birds were that light, I'd be in a panic. But, blue birds can be MUCH smaller. I just don't have enough experience with blues to give you specifics. I think you need a professional opinion to assess weight.
Also, do not just go on for days feeding the bird tons of hand-feeds. If the bird truly is terribly skinny, then by all means feed it. If it is not, jacking it up to 4 feeds a day unnecessarily will cause you to have to re-wean it and that can be VERY Hard to do after you've taught the bird to be dependent past the time it would normally wean.
Another very good option, as someone said, take it back to the breeder and tell them you'd like to get her back when she's been properly weaned.