First time Congo African Grey owner question

[Quinn]

Currently i got a 12 weeks old CAG that's stilll being handfed and weaning and have been bonding with it pretty well (i think), Got it from a breeder 3 weeks ago.

1st Question
Breeder gave instruction to feed him 3 times a day at 40ml per feeding, the first 2 weeks was fine, but starting this week he started to eat less for his morning and afternoon feeding and sometime night eating in different amounts from 20-30 ml is that something i should be concerned about or should i start reducing his feeding to twice a day as progress for his weaning?

2nd Question
He knows how to step up since the day i got him, so occasionally i bring him out to interact with him, recently he started flying off my hand not staying perch and crashes into the wall (he's able to fly and turn), i fear he might get injured if this continues so i have not been letting him out for interaction. Any suggestions on what i could do so i can get him to stay perched and not fly off?

 

[expressmailtome]

For the second question, he is fledging. It is when a bird learns how to fly, and is an important part of a bird growing up. He will get better at it over time.

 

[sunnysmom]

 

[cosmolove]

Question #1: When I hand fed birds to help a few breeders we really let the birds kind of dictate the feeding schedule. With him wanting less and less I personally would try to switch him to two meals and leave some pellets and other goodies for him to eat the rest of the time. Have you noticed him eating other foods yet? Generally we started decreasing the feeding frequency when we would notice them getting more interested in the other food we offered.

Question #2: Make sure he's in a safe area but this is pretty normal. He's trying to learn how to fly and it is very beneficial for him to learn to do so. Usually at first they're not very good at it. Think about a baby learning how to walk. They'll fall down a few times but they'll be running before you know it!

 

[Quinn]

I see, thank you all for the responses, and yes i provide him with a 50% mix of pellets and 50% of seeds and occasional cauliflowers and apples. He has been eating them but seems like he is still learning as most of the pieces he gets in his mouth gets broken into small pieces and drops off, i will try to find a suitable area for him to practice flying

 

[karen256]

I would try offering him a little more variety of veggies, especially soft ones a baby can eat easily, like cooked sweet potato.
It's normal for him to be practicing flying, if he in the wild he'd have to be able to fly to food sources before he could wean from his parents. Learning to fly well will help his confidence and help him wean more easily as well. I know you want to keep him safe, but all babies are clumsy and will crash a little when learning. It's better he learn to fly now at the right age, than later on when it will take him longer to learn. I'd try having him out when things are fairly calm and quiet and actually try encouraging him to fly short distances. When you're giving him a handfeeding, try getting you to come to you for it - coax him to walk over to you for some formula and progress to having him fly short distances to you. Show him some safe places he can land such as his cage top, playstand, even the back of a chair if that's ok, so he has some safe options to aim for when he's practicing flying.
Once he learns how to fly and his instincts are telling him he can find food and avoid predators, he should calm down a little and want to spend more time with you - though he will still be a baby and want to be active and play.

 

[Ribbit21]

I would cut down on the seeds and add more soft food. Something like mashed sweet potato and other soft veggies. Eating takes a bit of skill, so try spoon feeding soft foods.