Help me. Baby cockatiel not eating!!!

[barry collins]

They are out in force now..... attacking their mum....

 

[iamwhoiam]

Very cute.
Are you planning on keeping them?

 

[barry collins]

I'm not sure yet about keeping them all but as time goes by we're getting very attached to them and I have room for them if needed. I certainly won't let any go until they are fully trained well rounded adults.... 6 months at the earliest. I know how hard it is to gain the trust of a bird if it's not properly socialised before you get it, their mum Rocky was nervous for the first 6 months we had her but now she is really coming on leaps and bounds and is happier and much more confident especially now we've got foster who is a total clown and not scared of anything. He literally wrestles with me over my toast on a morning! I'll pop a picture of the parents up. Foster is a grey and Rocky is cinnamon pearl pied.

 

[SandraK]

Beautiful fids - both babies and parents. The little ones will learn their confidence from their parents too, so in a little while you may just find yourself wrestling a family of tiels for your toast.

 

[barry collins]

 

[SandraK]

Mom and dad tiel taking a break from their kids by having breakfast with one of the (equally cute) human kids!

 

[barry collins]

Just a quick update for anybody who was interested, Luna is once again the heaviest chick and all are doing very well. I have had to substitute a new clutch for plastic eggs and currently trying to reduce the parents hormones and get everybody back to normal again. I couldn't handle anymore babies now and I don't think it's fair to put the parents (or me) through the strain again. Here's a couple of pictures of mum and babies today.....

 

[SandraK]

Just a quick update for anybody who was interested, Luna is once again the heaviest chick and all are doing very well. I have had to substitute a new clutch for plastic eggs and currently trying to reduce the parents hormones and get everybody back to normal again. I couldn't handle anymore babies now and I don't think it's fair to put the parents (or me) through the strain again. Here's a couple of pictures of mum and babies today.....

Photos?

 

[barry collins]

Just a quick update for anybody who was interested, Luna is once again the heaviest chick and all are doing very well. I have had to substitute a new clutch for plastic eggs and currently trying to reduce the parents hormones and get everybody back to normal again. I couldn't handle anymore babies now and I don't think it's fair to put the parents (or me) through the strain again. Here's a couple of pictures of mum and babies today.....

Photos?

Having trouble with photos trying to sort it out now.....

 

[barry collins]

 

[Jennjenn]

I took her to the vet and to be honest they weren't really interested as it didn't have a problem as such and when she tubed she only gave 2g of formula and I was expecting to get a good feed. She showed me what to do with the tube and then refused to sell me a tube but would order me one to arrive in 5 days? No good I said bird may be dead in less. Anyway I have ordered the correct size tube and am pretty confident once I have it but honestly she wriggles so much when I try to get anything in her mouth that any other method is useless right now. I've tried baby fruit dessert and porridge and plain water and starting to get quite stressed about it and upset even that she is been so stubborn about food. I feel reluctant phoning the vet again as they made me feel a bit daft and said I should be dealing with it at home myself ( but got no tube?!) I've made a flexible tube but because she fights and clamps her beak closed it is impossible to try and insert it without fear of hurting her. A metal tube can hold the beak open while you insert with one hand and is so much easier.... Just gonna have to wait for the post man. I really would like to know if anyone else has had such a drop in appetite at fledging. I suppose 78 grams is still OK for a young bird but after a peak of 99 it has scared me.. they now have millet and water to nibble on permanently in the cage.

20 grams loss is very alarming. Exactly what have u tried feeding him? And how have you tried to get him to eat it---just by placing food right up to its mouth? I don't have any experience with a fledging bird refusing to eat. But I do have experience with very sick untamed birds that don't have energy to eat. I put small broken up pieces of grape up to their mouth. If they don't eat it out of my hand, I leave the grape sticking to their beak and they eat it themself when I remove my hand. I learned about feeding grapes from my avian vet, who said grapes are good when a bird is sick and weak because it provides the much needed calories (sugar) for energy and water for hydration, birds like it, and it's easy to eat. This tip has saved my bird.

 

[barry collins]

20 grams loss is very alarming. Exactly what have u tried feeding him? And how have you tried to get him to eat it---just by placing food right up to its mouth? I don't have any experience with a fledging bird refusing to eat. But I do have experience with very sick untamed birds that don't have energy to eat. I put small broken up pieces of grape up to their mouth. If they don't eat it out of my hand, I leave the grape sticking to their beak and they eat it themself when I remove my hand. I learned about feeding grapes from my avian vet, who said grapes are good when a bird is sick and weak because it provides the much needed calories (sugar) for energy and water for hydration, birds like it, and it's easy to eat. This tip has saved my bird.

Thanks for the advice all is well now and back on track..

 

[barry collins]

 

[barry collins]

 

[greys4u]

the last photo looks like shes saying, now class pay attention, I said pay attention

 

[iamwhoiam]

They are all very cute!

 

[Lwalker]

Such a lovely family!

 

[Heather F]

Awwww what a cute family, and looks like Tiny is catching up too!

 

[Rolanda]

Very cute. Sharing breakfast with a cute little Blondie...the best part is that she isn't even phased. She's more like "Hey, I'll share, but save some for meeee"

 

[Tiel Feathers]

What an adorable family! I love them all!