My Missy is underweight, ideas?

[JeanetteMcgraw]

My baby is underweight. She had been since we got her a few months back and it worries me. The vet said she was fine but I still worry.

She weighed in at the vet at 184 grams. She isn't the healthiest eater but I am working on that.

From what I've read, 184 is pretty low.

Any suggestions on what I can do to get some healthy weight on her ?

 

[SallyQZ]

Try offering her some cooked foods like Asian Medley (by Goldenfeast) or Higgins Worldly Cuisines. My pionus gobbles up these cooked foods like a little piggie! If she doesn't like it at first, just spread a thin layer of it over top of her regular food. She'll have to move it aside with her beak to get to her food underneath. Eventually she'll get used to the taste or texture, and will try some. It doesn't take long for them to start eating it, and soon she'll be impatiently waiting at her food dish every morning.

You can get Asian Medley or the Higgins food at www.mysafebirdstore.com

Good luck!

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

How about some high calorie snacks? Nuts have fats and are usually limited because of the high calories. Will she eat nuts? Some birds just aren't food motivated. Sunny is like that. But if I put a bite of something in my mouth she flies right over to find out what it was and grab a bite! You can try that, too.

 

[luvsgreys]

Both of mine love cooked foods like the mashes mentioned. They like them nice and warm with some mashed sweet potato mixed in. I have purchased from Kathie (mysafebirdstore) and Doris (AvianOrganics). Fabulous mashes!

 

[JeanetteMcgraw]

Great I'll take a look at those sites and give the mash a try. Before I joined Here, i had no idea that parrots even eat mash

She eats nuts, mainly roasted unsalted peanuts. She eats those often.

Ty for the ideas and advice ! Will definitely give all of them a try.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Try pieces of the higher fat nuts, walnut, pecans, macadamians. I had to teach my skinny minny to like them, but again, if I put it in my mouth, she will as well.

 

[sodakat]

You can also make your own mash. There are lots of recipes online that you can tweak for her likes/dislikes. If you start with soaked and well-cooked 15 bean soup mix (without the seasoning packet) mixed with 2 parts cooked brown rice (i.e. 6 cups cooked rice to 3 cups cooked beans) and a large bag of frozen mixed vegetables, you'll have a simple base that can be frozen in daily serving portions. Take a portion out the night before and let it defrost in the fridge then add fresh chopped vegetables, greens, fruits, sprouts and serve! You can thaw enough for 2 days and only chop once every other day if that works best. Treat with nuts a couple times a day and offer a good seed mix in the evening and I'll bet she'll start putting on a few grams.

I sometimes buy Organic, non-GMO tofu and add a bit of this to the dish before I serve. It's a nice boost of protein when they are molting. But tofu does not keep long so you'll need to help eat the block. Be sure to rinse the leftover block each day.

 

[abbydp]

Everyone has given you great ideas. I will say that weight and size seems to vary a pretty good bit. When I got Peep she weighed 187 healthy and was not in any way underweight. 8 years later when she was sick and very very thin she was in the 140's. Piglet weighed 204 when I first got him after two pretty stressful days, and 208 on his last check up after being here a little more than a month. He is a good deal bigger than Peep, though. Everything on him looks huge compared to her - feet, size of his body and head, and even his eyes. If she doesn't seem to gain weight or looks unthrifty I would get her checked again, and possibly have an x-ray done. Give her time though, it is a big adjustment and the picky ones are so much tougher!! Piglet earned his name out of my appreciation for having one that will try anything! Peep was picky and wouldn't even consider the stuff she really needed such as bird bread. You can also try palm oil.

 

[parrotluv]

Hi, I breed pionus and some are just smaller than others. What you should be looking at is if you are felling her keel bone. This is the bone that runs down the chest. If you can feel it sticking out with not much padding on the sides then yes she is underweight. If you can feel that she has padding around the sides it could be that she is on the smaller side for a pionus. Perhaps this is why the vet was not overly concerned. Pionus love peanuts but do not feed this often, best to feed more natural foods, like beans and grains. Also pionus do not do well on high protein pellets, and only give very little seeds as they are know to get high cholesterol from seed diets.

 

[Monica]

Muscle weighs more than fat. It's better to have a bird that is muscled out rather than fattened one up, if they aren't necessarily underweight. A bird that's been on a poor diet would probably do better with muscle than fat, anyway.

That said, there are supplements out there that can help a bird put on weight. A diet change can also facilitate weight gain. Don't give up on getting her onto a healthier diet!

 

[JeanetteMcgraw]

Yes you can feel her bone that runs up and Down her chest pretty bad. :-(

Been trying different food still.

Found out she loves walnuts. So I assume that's great. She also loves lefebers nutri berries. I also give her fresh corn now every day and eggs when she will eat it. I also give her carrots apples etc as I have them available.

She seems to never say no to the nutri berries. yay something she likes.

Still worried though.

Switching to an avian cert vet and getting a full check up and lab work done soon.

I want her to get better :-(

Ty everyone !!!!

 

[Monica]

Keep us updated on any news from the a-vet! Hope all turns out well!

 

[dionisis]

I wish the best for your beautiful Missy!

 

[abbydp]

When you go into the vet, I would reccomend an x-ray as well. I don't want to scare you but if there is something going on you may have time to treat it. I found out too late due to a bad vet and misdiagnosis. I am sure your beautiful girl is fine

 

[Pumpkin]

Keep us posted. Hope your baby is ok!

 

[allison]

Toady has had weight issues since I got him. He was 180 when I got him and now weighs between 184-190. My vet ran lots of tests and couldn't find anything wrong. She thought he just has a fast metabolism. I've had him almost a year and it hasnt caused any issues but I monitor his weight very closely because if he got sick it would be critical if he stopped eating. My vet told me not to increase his protein and fat intake too much since Pionus are prone to gout and liver disease. She told me to feed him meaty veggies such as squash, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes.