ok Dr. Tony called me about half hour ago. I tried to write down every thing he said
1st off, this baby is very young (which we already know) he said that this li'l one should be getting at least 4 feedings a day. you should weight this lil one and 10 to 15 % of his body weight should be his next feeding. which is what Sarah said
2. like I said he is not fond of feeding tubes. he said that bird babies need to taste their food before it gets into their crop so they learn what eating is. you will need a good tutorial to help you and there are a lot on U-tube. he said some are good but a lot of them are NOT worth a hoot. but he also said to read thru this web site because their suggestions are very good.
The Science of Handfeeding and Weaning the Baby Parrot | The Parrot University, llc
please read thru all the sections in this article before you attempt trying any of this.
because you are in Thailand you may have trouble finding this there. a
turkey bulb baster if you can't find the right size syringe. heat the formula and suck it up slowly into the baster then fed the baby. the baster can be pulled apart and scrubbed properly and sterilized. he said it does work. because Vader has never been fed with a syringe it is going to be messy at first. and will put your patience to the test. but it's worth it. if you are worried that the crop is slow at emptying try a little bit less then 1/4 teaspoon of unsweetened apple sauce (even baby human apple sauce will work) in the formula. or apple cider vinegar about 1 to 2 cc every other feeding. he recommends Bragg's Apple cider vinegar with the mother in the bottle.
he also said better to feed abundantly then not fed enough. the baby will wean himself and in his own time.
3. don't give any pain meds if he is not in pain. it's most likely because the vet there thought the bird is in pain. he is not clear why the antibiotics were given either. if they did a proper culture you would not have the results for a day or two. if they just looked at it under a microscope then it's not a culture. cultures take a couple of days to get the results. most likely the vet there just did a crop flush and examined it under microscope. same with fecal sample. his words were "that is useless in his opinion"
4.the container that you are using is fine. what he would like to see is a little more warmth, like a heating pad under 1/4 to half of the box set at medium setting. baby's container should be closer to 90dregrees. part of what slows the crop down is not enough warmth. he did ask what you were using to absorb the droppings with and how often you are changing that? and whether you are disinfecting the box daily?
he wish you well and hopes that this little one grows to healthy happy GW macaw.
