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My 9 Weeks Old Blue and Gold Macaw Refuse to Eat.

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Hankmacaw

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At this point in time, I would not give the possibility of PDD another thought. As a general rule a bird with PDD will eat very enthusiastically, because they are not digesting their food and they feel like they are starving. Your baby's poop looks fine.

Does he have energy? Does he beg? Is he alert and are his eyes bright? Check him over very well to see if there may be something else wrong. You don't need to write answers to these question unless you find something wrong.

Last and most important - keep asking questions.

ML
 

Hankmacaw

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Happy is a fine name for a macaw. Especially for a Blue and Gold macaw.
ML
 

boat2530

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he does not usually beg for formula if i use syringe but using spoon he will,(not often use this method). how can i know my Happy does not have energy? he walk, play, bite normally but he does not often crying or screaming. i have seen him crying just 4 times since i got him.
 

Hankmacaw

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If he is walking around exploring and playing and biting, he isn't feeling terrible. Count your blessings that he isn't crying or screaming - there will enough of that in the years to come.
ML
 

suncoast

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Maybe he needs to be fed with a spoon and not the syringe?

Ginger
 

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boat2530

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I will try to use spoon instead giving him formula and some mashed fruits.
Thank you everyone for giving me great advices.
i appreciate it so much..
Now it 2.30 am over here. i am going to bed now.
have a nice day everyone.....Thank you again...
i will update my baby tomorrow ( in my time on my town )
 
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thejoie

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You know what? Happy sounds exactly like my Summer... Summer started eating solid food early too and her mid day feeding was cut pretty early as well. Keep giving it to Happy but let him go at his own pace. As long as you keep weighing him it will be ok. My macaw lost a little over 150 grams when weaning but has put some if it back on after she was done!
I think the most important part is that you're offering lots of different foods too and that the baby is taking good sized morning and night feedings. Summer's night feeding went UP after decided she didn't want as much of the afternoon feeding anymore.
Are you giving the baby soaked weaning pellets?

Its very hard to wean a baby macaw. Summer is now 6.5 months old and she's still getting a little bit of a night feeding every other night :)
 

PerfectlyParrot

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One thing I found with Einstein is that there must not be anything to distract his attention from eating. Even my husband being in the room will make him want to play, not eat. He is also picky about temperature 102F to 103F is where he likes it, no cooler, no warmer. You can also mix formula in with whatever mash you make so he will still be getting a little more nutrition. Einstein loves beans and rice so I mix the formula in with that and then some birdie bread. 10 weeks is early to be weaning, but the important part is that he EATS. While formula is optimal at this age, he may have other plans! :) He is a very good looking bird by the way!
 

boat2530

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thanks for both of you.
i have read your post,Joanna that made me wonder my bird is like yours because the post you posted was when Summer was 2.5 months.it is close the age of Happy now.
 

thejoie

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One thing I found with Einstein is that there must not be anything to distract his attention from eating. Even my husband being in the room will make him want to play, not eat. He is also picky about temperature 102F to 103F is where he likes it, no cooler, no warmer. You can also mix formula in with whatever mash you make so he will still be getting a little more nutrition. Einstein loves beans and rice so I mix the formula in with that and then some birdie bread. 10 weeks is early to be weaning, but the important part is that he EATS. While formula is optimal at this age, he may have other plans! :) He is a very good looking bird by the way!
I agree about the picky temperatures. Summer likes hers at 107 degrees... if it wasn't 107 she didn't touch it!!
I also agree about the mixing in pureed fresh foods with the formula. Summer actually got peanut butter with her formula. Then I started adding different things, carrot puree, squash puree, pumpkin puree...
she loves it!

thanks for both of you.
i have read your post,Joanna that made me wonder my bird is like yours because post Summer was 2.5 months.it is close the age of Happy now.
Yea! She came home at 10 weeks and it was a loooonnng road to get her eating :)
 

Mockinbirdiva

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How great is it that someone can reach out to a world wide community for advice from others who have experienced first hand hand feeding young birds. I've hand fed my amazons and they did give me a bit of trouble taking all the formula they needed. The conures on the other hand.... greedy little gobblers! I used a digital thermometer for an exact reading of temp and I've fed at 107 degrees and not less than 105. I would place my cup of formula ( I used styrofoam cups to hold the heat longer) and would place that cup in another cup with the same temp of water to keep the temp even. I've added the ACV to my formula ( with the "mother" in it) but not for every feeding. This year I fed Zupreem Embrace Plus for it's higher fat content and once a day would add a tad of almond butter to the formula. I based my feeding formula from a vet tech in Charleston who raises hard to find species and has a net work of avian vets he consults. Also be sure the crop is empty or very near empty before the next feeding to avoid "sour crop" and as one other member stated .... be sure you sterilize all of your hand feeding implements after feeding so they are ready for your next feed. Which is one reason I've used the styrofoam cups... disposable... yes, I know , not very "green" of me but they certainly work in a pinch and are cheep!
 

Kimba

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I love the name!!!!!!

Do you have sweet potato or yams? You can cook them until they are tender. let them cool a bit and add some veggies and fruit, and serve warm. Sweet potato is a whole food, so it will be better balanced than bananas. And if served warm....the better he will be at trying it. In the morning. make sure you feed formula first!!!!! This way he will be hungry and eat more of it. About a 30 minutes later, give him a dish of some type of warm mash.(like the sweet potato mash) The morning is going to be you best shot at filling him up on formula, the evening or last feeding will be too, but not as much as the morning. So use that time to your advantage!

If he is not crying much......and he is active.....he is most likely getting enough food. Hungry babies cry and beg, and macaws, wing flip... Their head will bob, and one or sometimes both wings will jerk upwards with the head bob. That is classic macaw food begging behavior. If you are not seeing this AND he is actively playing, walking, and such, he is getting enough food. The question than becomes, which is he getting more of? Formula, or fresh foods? It should be formula at this point. If it is not, try to make the most out of the morning feedings.

If you do not have sweet potato or yams, do you have any type of squash? That will work as well.
 

JLcribber

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When a parrot weans and starts to fledge they will naturally cut down on eating and become leaner, losing baby fat in the process of preparing for flight. Once they have fledged their appetite usually returns to normal. Just so you know it's not unusual for a bird to drop weight at that point. :)
 
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