SasikumarM
Meeting neighbors
- Joined
- 3/21/23
- Messages
- 39
- Real Name
- Sasikumar M
I'm sharing my experience with my Pineapple Conure and I hope this thread will help out all the newbies. Currently Coco (My Pineapple Conure) is around 8 weeks old and still on handfeeding. I got him when he was just 3-4 weeks old. So I faced a lot of problems in the past 4 weeks and I'm gonna share my experience with you all. I read a lot of articles about weaning a Conure and most of them mentioned that a baby conure should be completely weaned by the time they are 8 weeks old. As being a newbie I tried to go with what I read there and guess what I made the mistake of forced weaning. Following the instructions mentioned in the articles I started skipping the handfeeding in the evening and after a week started skipping the morning and afternoon feedings. And while I skipped the formula I would put some vegetables and fruits in the cage in a hope that he will eat when he gets hungry, but it backfired as he started staying hungry and would scream all day and I wouldn't know why. He would scream whenever someone crosses by or talks to him. It was stressing and worrying for me. I tried feeding him the fruits and vegetables by hand. He did eat some but would still not stop screaming. Luckily I came across this forum and started asking my doubts out. I even met @Pixiebeak @Mizzely @April who guided me through the process and I learnt a lot from them. Never try to make your baby wean exactly at the right age. All birds are different and they take their own time to start eating other food. Be gentle on your bird and don't starve them. I did that mistake, but the current update is that his behaviour took a u-turn once I started feeding him the formula back again. Yes, he was just hungry and asking for the formula. And I realised it's not that he wants to be full with the handfeeding formula. He would have just a small amount of the formula and would go back to his cage and eat the pellets and vegetables put up in the cage. The handfeeding process gives them a sense of calmness and the sense of still being loved by their parent. He is doing so so well now, no screaming, no agressive behaviour. He is playful and happy. Don't force wean, let your baby take the enough time to start the process of weaning. Even today he sometimes avoids eating the vegetables and I don't force him. He is just like any other small baby, they are Moody sometimes. Hope this thread helps you learn from my mistakes.
Patience is truly one of the best tools we have available to us 
