6 weeks old greenwing macaw

[maounm]

Hello everyone i am new here and i need help. I have a 6 weeks 3 days old Greenwing macaw and i have been handfeeding him tropican 125ml 3 times a day. I crop feed him with a psittacus red soft tube. I add about half tea spoon of peanut butter in every feed. Is my feeding schedule alright? He is gaining weight and growing well.
Also since i got him which was 8 days ago he has been sneezing. He dosent sneeze all the time but he does sneeze or cough alot. Why is that?

 

[maounm]

One more thing. Should i nebulise him with normal saline? The vet recommended that but he is not an avian vet we dont have those here.

 

[maounm]

Hello everyone i am new here and i need help. I have a 6 weeks 3 days old Greenwing macaw and i have been handfeeding him tropican 125ml 3 times a day. I crop feed him with a psittacus red soft tube. I add about half tea spoon of peanut butter in every feed. Is my feeding schedule alright? He is gaining weight and growing well.
Also since i got him which was 8 days ago he has been sneezing. He dosent sneeze all the time but he does sneeze or cough alot. Why is that?

 

[maounm]

Since i cant upload the videos, here is my pet insta account you might get better a better perspective by watching a video.
@Aouns_flock

 

[Hankmacaw]

Tropican is not a bad pellet, in fact it is pretty good, but the the b aby bird foods are designed specifically for baby birds. Can you buy ;

Amazon.com: Kaytee Exact Handfeeding High Fat 5LB: Pet Supplies

Amazon.com: Kaytee Exact Handfeeding High Fat 5LB: Pet Supplies

smile.amazon.com

or maybe I misunderstood and you have this Tropican baby bird food.

Amazon.com: Tropican Baby Bird Food, Parrot Food, Complete Nutrition Diet, Hand-Feeding Formula, 11 lb Bag: Pet Supplies

Amazon.com: Tropican Baby Bird Food, Parrot Food, Complete Nutrition Diet, Hand-Feeding Formula, 11 lb Bag: Pet Supplies

smile.amazon.com

Cut out the peanut butter. It is way too high in saturated fats. Try to get some Almond Butter, if you want him to have good fats. Normal saline is fine to nebulize him with (0.9% saline).

@Macawnutz @macawpower58

 

[macawpower58]

I have never fed via a crop tube, I've heard that feeding with a syringe is a more natural way to feed as the baby gets to taste the food.
I did syringe feed my GW from 5 weeks to 8 months.
I'm pretty sure I used Pretty Bird formula, but it was over 20 years ago.
I never nebulized. Why would you need to? Just curious.

 

[Hankmacaw]

As @macawpower58 said, I much prefer syringe feeding. It allows the baby to taste food and there is no danger of punching a hole in the crop.

 

[aooratrix]

You need to switch to a syringe. I've known 2 baby macaws that never got to taste their food that starved to death. Your baby should be getting 10% of its body weight at each feeding; the temp should be 105 degrees fahrenheit. As Mary Lynn said, you shouldn't need to supplement the formula with anything. Your baby will take approximately 6-12 months to wean. My Annie took 7; frankly, I was surprised she refused feeding that early.

I am very concerned about the sneezing and coughing. I'm afraid some food went down the trachea, which is called aspiration. It isn't normal for a baby macaw to cough and sneeze "alot", as you indicated. A few sneezes here or there is normal per my experience. A lot is not. I realize you don't have avian vets there. I'm not sure how you would diagnose what's going on with your baby. @Macawnutz

 

[maounm]

I have never fed via a crop tube, I've heard that feeding with a syringe is a more natural way to feed as the baby gets to taste the food.
I did syringe feed my GW from 5 weeks to 8 months.
I'm pretty sure I used Pretty Bird formula, but it was over 20 years ago.
I never nebulized. Why would you need to? Just curious.

He was fed with a syringe for first 5 weeks. At the end of every feeding i feed some formulae through spoon so can taste the food.

 

[maounm]

I

You need to switch to a syringe. I've known 2 baby macaws that never got to taste their food that starved to death. Your baby should be getting 10% of its body weight at each feeding; the temp should be 105 degrees fahrenheit. As Mary Lynn said, you shouldn't need to supplement the formula with anything. Your baby will take approximately 6-12 months to wean. My Annie took 7; frankly, I was surprised she refused feeding that early.

I am very concerned about the sneezing and coughing. I'm afraid some food went down the trachea, which is called aspiration. It isn't normal for a baby macaw to cough and sneeze "alot", as you indicated. A few sneezes here or there is normal per my experience. A lot is not. I realize you don't have avian vets there. I'm not sure how you would diagnose what's going on with your baby. @Macawnutz

I know about temp and everything i have hand fed before. He dosent sneeze or cough all the time just more than a few times he is otherwise active and takes feed normally and digestion is going great as well. He was fed with a syringe for first 5 weeks. At the end of every feeding i feed some formulae through spoon so can taste the food. Will nebulisingHe was fed with a syringe for first 5 weeks. At the end of every feeding i feed some formulae through spoon so can taste the food. Will nebulising with normal saline help with sneezing? Can i give him tripple c antibiotic by vetafarm?

 

[maounm]

Tropican is not a bad pellet, in fact it is pretty good, but the the b aby bird foods are designed specifically for baby birds. Can you buy ;

Amazon.com: Kaytee Exact Handfeeding High Fat 5LB: Pet Supplies

Amazon.com: Kaytee Exact Handfeeding High Fat 5LB: Pet Supplies

smile.amazon.com

or maybe I misunderstood and you have this Tropican baby bird food.

Amazon.com: Tropican Baby Bird Food, Parrot Food, Complete Nutrition Diet, Hand-Feeding Formula, 11 lb Bag: Pet Supplies

Amazon.com: Tropican Baby Bird Food, Parrot Food, Complete Nutrition Diet, Hand-Feeding Formula, 11 lb Bag: Pet Supplies

smile.amazon.com

Cut out the peanut butter. It is way too high in saturated fats. Try to get some Almond Butter, if you want him to have good fats. Normal saline is fine to nebulize him with (0.9% saline).

@Macawnutz @macawpower58

I am using tropican hagen hand feed not the pellets.
almond butter is better than peanut butter? How? I will use it next time thanks.

 

[Macawnutz]

Switch over to a 60cc syringe. Imagine someone pushing a feeding tube down your throat at every feeding and imagine you not coughing.

It's unnatural. It can cause more issues than feeding by syringe. as your sweetie gets older it will become more difficult and your sweetie will bite the tube in half. Switch now so you don't have troubles later.

 

[maounm]

Switch over to a 60cc syringe. Imagine someone pushing a feeding tube down your throat at every feeding and imagine you not coughing.

It's unnatural. It can cause more issues than feeding by syringe. as your sweetie gets older it will become more difficult and your sweetie will bite the tube in half. Switch now so you don't have troubles later.

Thats worrying. I use psittacus red soft tubes they use it at their aviaries. I can feed with a normal syringe but i create alot of mess. Actually thats how i have been feeding my birds since last year and a half this is my first time crop feeding.
will it really become more difficult when he gets older? I have no problem feeding an older macaw with a syringe

 

[Macawnutz]

Life with a macaw is messy. Better get used to that now.

Your sweetie is not tasting the food and it's uncomfortable during feedings. When that baby can move around/fly/and bite why would it want to come to you to eat?
How are you not going to jam that feeding tube through her crop when she is a little older and fighting you? You are creating issues by not hand feeding normally.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Almond butter is better than peanut butter, because it has very little of the bad fats ( saturated fats ). is high in calcium. One of the risks that all of our pet birds face is Atherosclerosis (plaques building up in the arteries and veins restricting circulation). Atherosclerosis is the cause of the death of many pet birds, especially those with high fats diets and little exercise.

I have had three Greenwings with serious atherosclerosis (all three I got as adults). My girl bird Jasper had atherosclerosis so seriously that for the last couple of years of her life she was not getting enough blood flow to her digestive system to digest her food. It was difficult for her and me and heartbreaking. Many birds that just "drop dead" for no reason die from atherosclerosis.

Move It! ...continued... — For The Birds DVM — Avian Vet

Even though we intellectually grasp the idea that caged birds rarely show signs of progressive disease before they completely decompensate, we have been hopelessly slow to acknowledge the risks of...

www.forthebirdsdvm.com

 

[aooratrix]

Just because others use something doesn't make it a good practice. Tube feeding directly to the crop should only be done if the bird has a medical issue. Think about how babies eat in the wild. Mom and dad respond to head bobbing by bringing up partially digested food. Baby has mouth agape, so a parent shovels the warm, wet food into baby's mouth, allowing the baby to feel both texture and taste. Tube feeding removes that experience. I'm glad you spoonfeed some, but that's not enough; I'd switch to that or a syringe like @Macawnutz recommended. Yes, it's messy, but that's part living with parrots.

I'm glad Sarah (@Macawnutz ) put 2 and 2 together and realized the baby's esophagus was probably irritated from tube feeding. Whew! That' s much better than aspiration.

 

[maounm]

Okay i w

Just because others use something doesn't make it a good practice. Tube feeding directly to the crop should only be done if the bird has a medical issue. Think about how babies eat in the wild. Mom and dad respond to head bobbing by bringing up partially digested food. Baby has mouth agape, so a parent shovels the warm, wet food into baby's mouth, allowing the baby to feel both texture and taste. Tube feeding removes that experience. I'm glad you spoonfeed some, but that's not enough; I'd switch to that or a syringe like @Macawnutz recommended. Yes, it's messy, but that's part living with parrots.

I'm glad Sarah (@Macawnutz ) put 2 and 2 together and realized the baby's esophagus was probably irritated from tube feeding. Whew! That' s much better than aspiration.

Okay i will do that but which method has a higher chances of aspiration? I spoonfeed some formulae and he goes mad after it. Is feeding with a syringe more dangerous than crop feeding?

 

[MR. Mango]

No I would say crop feeding is the most dangerous then syringe and then spoon

 

[BrianB]

I’ve only used a syringe to feed my baby Greenwing. The idea of tube feeding scares me. I’ve added peanut butter to the formula just twice in the 6 months I’ve been feeding her. Once after she spit food all over the place and had it coming out of her nose. After a vet visit to make sure she hadn’t aspirated the vet suggested it along with backing off in the amount of food she was getting for a few days and just to boost the protein during that time. One other time when she started to refuse the syringe. Turns out she doesn’t like it anyway.

syringe feeding can be messy but I think it’s more natural for the baby to learn to bob to get the food down properly. Less chance of ending up with food issues later in life.

 

[aooratrix]

Okay i w

Okay i will do that but which method has a higher chances of aspiration? I spoonfeed some formulae and he goes mad after it. Is feeding with a syringe more dangerous than crop feeding?

Crop feeding is the most dangerous. You could damage the esophagus, aspirate the bird by mistake, and cause eating problems its whole life. I'm old school: I prefer a Dixie cup which I shape like a parrot's lower mandible. It's slower than a syringe and can be messy, but it's more natural, IMO, just like a spoon with bent edges.