~8week old alexandrine (almost) won't eat

[hufwe]

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong section i have just joined to ask this.
I have had many birds before but I have never weaned one before.
I got a ~6 week old alexandrine, the seller said that they were feeding twice a day.
Everything has been fine for the last 2 weeks, I have been very strictly following the temperature for the formula I got, and warming it with a bowl of warm water and not microwave, feeding with at first a syringe (not the long one into his crop but just into mouth) but then just from a spoon.
The crop empties every night and doesn't smell and droppings look fine.

Since 2 days ago he has started showing reduced interest in the formula, and today I can barely get him to have more than 5-6ml before he just starts flicking his head and throwing it everywhere.
He still makes the begging sound when he sees the preparation bowl but then stops eating after only a couple of mouthfuls, but still makes the sound for a while.

The problem is that he is still not yet eating enough solid foods to replace the formula, he has pellets, chop as well as chunks of vegetables available all day.
Over the past 2 weeks he has shown plenty of interest in these foods by mouthing/chewing them but not really eating, as I understand is normal.
I have tried offering them to him hot, cold, softened or mushed, mixed with formula/each other and everything else I can think of.
The stuff he has includes, corn, peas, chilli, broccoli, lettuce, carrot, cucumber, and sweet potato.
He won't eat any of it for the last couple of days, yesterday in desperation I just poured a bunch of seeds into his bowl which he will eat, but he's so slow at eating them I think he'd need to non stop eat for the entire day to get enough calories. But he loses interest after half an hour of munching (which at his pace is like a dozen seeds total) and will fly off back to his cage to preen or to me to snuggle.

If it means anything his peak morning weight was achieved just as he started showing less interest, which was 224g, if that morning was day 1, it is now the evening of day 3, and he is down to 220 after eating a tiny amount, where as just previously after eating he would be ~250.
To clarify that mess of words his weight has gone like this (where morning weight is pre-feed, evening weight is post-feed)
evening0(before the problem started)=255, morning1=224, evening1=245, morning2=220, evening2=236, morning3=216, evening3=220
He is almost fully feathered and is flying around, just the last couple days he has mostly gotten the hand of landing. When we first got him he slept in a box but he has started perching and is now in his covered cage, I keep the room to at least 24C.
He is still cuddly and interested in mouthing and chewing his toys and me, but perhaps slightly less so than a few days ago.

I have read that it is common for birds to lose a little weight as they wean or fledge, but the thing that concerns me is that it's happening from him barely eating as opposed to him eating less caloric foods.
Anyway to summarise he is still eating, just very small amounts not sufficient to maintain weight, and based on the pattern tomorrow I wouldn't be surprised to see him down to 210-ish
What should I do or try?

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

It sounds like you've covered quite a bit in feeding, introducing a dry and wet ( veggie, pellet and some seed ). Are you cooking the sweet potato? Honestly reading back you've done pretty much everything to get your little one to gain interest in eating other foods with a good variety. You are already aware they can lose some weight as they gain independence with flying and it is typical for them to start transitioning to more independence from the person that feeds. Don't be surprised if all of a sudden he attempts to or acts like he wants to bite when he doesn't want to interact and don't let it hurt your feelings or be disappointed either. It's great you are keeping an eye on his weight and do keep a log on the days and the weights. You can also try some cooked grains ( quinoa, kamut, farro ) and in the pasta isle you'll find pasta made from chick peas and red lentils. Those, cooked will offer protein and you can chop them up. ( might as well cook a cup and freeze the majority so you don't have to make it too often and just thaw a couple of pieces at a time. ). Would he still prefer the formula with the syringe if you offered it? Could it be he didn't transition to the spoon well? Also try a couple of tablespoons of the cooked sweet potato mashed well with a few seeds sprinkled on top and mashed in if you have tried that yet to see if he'll pick the seeds out of the sweet potato and maybe have a little more interest in eating some. You can also squeeze the bits out of the cooked corn kernels to make it easier to consume. Lastly, what is the temperature of the formula and which brand are you feeding? I would not let him have fly around time in the mornings until he starts eating more. There's a lot for him to explore and with free fly time he may not be focused on eating as he was when he was kept in a box and fed on a schedule.

 

[hufwe]

Hi, yes I have been cooking the sweet potato, I have tried sprinkling millet over his vegetables but I guess I haven't specifically tried the larger seeds mixed into sweet potato mush, I'll give the pasta a go too.
He doesn't want much formula from either spoon or syringe, and had been eating from spoon successfully for almost a week before this. I have tried deshelling the peas for him but I'll try the corn too.
The formula is passwell and says to give at 38C, he's extremely picky on temp and wouldn't touch it even when he was eating properly if it went below even 37.5 XD.

To clarify though he's being fed on the same schedule for the whole time.
He spent all of every day for the first week I got him either on me or my fiance, or next to me or my fiance, the second week we started letting him have some of his naps in his cage, whereas before he would just nap on/next to us during the day when he wanted to.
At night he started in the box in the cage, then in the cage but without perches and the whole floor covered in cardboard and paper towel, and now he's up on perches.

He's never shown any kind of aggression to us so far in any circumstance.
We have a parrotlet who keeps trying to feed him, but he's gradually been accepting less feeding from him for about a week already, also never aggressively just not turning his head upside down to accept it anymore.
Not that the amount a parrotlet could feed him ever mattered I just mean from a feeding acceptance pov. We don't allow them to be together unsupervised for any moment.

 

[Parront]

I would personally have him vet checked to ensure that he does not have any issues with his crop. Good Luck

 

[hufwe]

I spoke to both the seller and the owner of the only dedicated parrot store near me (who has also bred alexandrines and other birds) and both of them said that this is something that is actually fairly typical.
This was apparently the normal loss of weight that occurs when fledging and both of them said that it happened to them numerous times with alexandrines that they suddenly went several days eating very little around this time.
Both of them told me that so long as every other health indicator is okay (activity/droppings/smell/breathing etc) and that weight remains above 190-195ish to just leave food available at all times and he will eat when he finally feels like it.

His weight was 208 on morning4 and he did eat a little of that pasta that was recommended. He ate a little else here and there (more than yesterday) and eventually got up to 216 after an hour or so.
I did have to go out today so not entirely sure what he ate throughout the day but he had food available in his cage.
Then finally as if to mock all my worries on evening4 he was back down to 208 again and he literally flew to the place where we feed him (which he has never done before) and just started making his begging noises and walking around in a circle before happily taking a bunch of formula.
So he has ended evening4 at 224, which while not a complete recovery in that sense has at least reversed the trend.

Combined with the breeders telling me this has happened to them as well several times I'm feeling much better about it.
224 to 208 is only around 7%, it was just the rapidity that took me by surprise and the manner in which it was achieved.
Thanks for the replies, if I don't post here again it means all has gone well.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

I spoke to both the seller and the owner of the only dedicated parrot store near me (who has also bred alexandrines and other birds) and both of them said that this is something that is actually fairly typical.
This was apparently the normal loss of weight that occurs when fledging and both of them said that it happened to them numerous times with alexandrines that they suddenly went several days eating very little around this time.
Both of them told me that so long as every other health indicator is okay (activity/droppings/smell/breathing etc) and that weight remains above 190-195ish to just leave food available at all times and he will eat when he finally feels like it.

His weight was 208 on morning4 and he did eat a little of that pasta that was recommended. He ate a little else here and there (more than yesterday) and eventually got up to 216 after an hour or so.
I did have to go out today so not entirely sure what he ate throughout the day but he had food available in his cage.
Then finally as if to mock all my worries on evening4 he was back down to 208 again and he literally flew to the place where we feed him (which he has never done before) and just started making his begging noises and walking around in a circle before happily taking a bunch of formula.
So he has ended evening4 at 224, which while not a complete recovery in that sense has at least reversed the trend.

Combined with the breeders telling me this has happened to them as well several times I'm feeling much better about it.
224 to 208 is only around 7%, it was just the rapidity that took me by surprise and the manner in which it was achieved.
Thanks for the replies, if I don't post here again it means all has gone well.

Continue to post as you wish. We like to hear success stories and other members who are new to bird keeping learn valuable information even with concerns from trials and tribulations from others. Of course we'd love to see some photos of your baby. I can't think of any members who have an Alexandrine. Share if you want and post when you can.