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My Black Capped Conure refuses to gain weight

C_Olson

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Hi all, I'm new to the forums, but have been looking for some advice on how to help my black capped conure gain weight.

A little about my bird: she's about 2 or 3 years old (exact age unknown) and has bounced around a couple breeders/homes for most of her life before we got her in October 2018. She's a sweet little thing, but has always been underweight. We took her to a vet when we first got her even though she didn't show signs of being sick (besides the weight), and she weighed 69 grams with her keel well-pronounced. Her stool gram stain was normal, and no bloodwork was done. We figured she needed time to adjust and with more attention she would fatten up.

Fast forward to April this year, we took her to a different vet because she STILL hadn't gained weight, still at 69 grams. Her stool gram stain was slightly abnormal, so she was placed on antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory for 2 weeks. Her personality perked up almost immediately: she was more confident and curious than before, she didn't nap as much, etc. So we thought, WOW! Maybe this is what was up all along. On our follow up, she had LOST weight (65 grams), and recommended a specialty blend of food (a high fat, high protein bar type deal) to give her in the morning to help her gain weight back. We've added it to her diet, and still aren't seeing much improvement.

She has unrestricted access to Zupreme pellets, and Kaytee Supreme parrot food, and now the vet-recommended fat/protein bar, with fresh veggies/fruits/etc throughout the day. She doesn't favor pellets over seeds or vice versa, but doesn't seem as interested in the vet-recommended food without a lot of fuss from us praising her for eating it. She has plenty of an appetite, but I'm suspicious she doesn't eat without us nearby fussing over her.

Is there anything else I can try to encourage her to eat more? It almost seems behavioral over medical at this point. Any ideas would be really appreciated.

Note: the next vet's follow up is in June where we plan on running the gauntlet of bloodwork to rule out any other underlying problems. But in the meantime, I'm still trying to fatten up my little bird.
 

Tazlima

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Ruling out medical causes is always the best first step, but assuming everything looks normal, maybe it's behavioral.

My quaker is about that age, and he's super-hyper. When I'm home, he's constantly zipping around, flying from me to the door to the playstand to the couch and repeat.

Like an overexcited little kid, I sometimes have to remind him to eat. When he starts to get irritable, or has simply been flying around for a couple hours without eating, I'll put him in his cage and shut the door. Something about being forced to sit still for a second reminds him he's hungry and he immediately heads to his bowl for a snack. I give him five or ten minutes to chow down, then open the door again, and it's back to the races.
 

AmyJas

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Millet, millet, and millet.

At least this is what is recommended for underweight budgies. You could also try offering limited amounts of sunflower seeds, nuts, or hard-boiled egg with the yolk.
 

sunnysmom

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So her keel bone does stick out? Because some birds are just small. Maybe talk to your vet about adding probiotics to her diet for awhile if other medical issues are ruled out. And yes, what @AmyJas said. :)
 

Peachfaced

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I'm no vet, so take this with a grain of salt. I'd be suspicious that maybe there's something preventing her from absorbing the food she's eating. I'd ask the vet about an enzyme issue or intestinal blockage?

Birds are definitely social eaters, so her preferring to eat with her flock's company makes sense. I do hope that she eats when she's hungry and not only when she's got others around her.
 

Ripshod

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Millet, millet, and millet
If you want a fatty bird yes.
Quinoa, boiled egg whites, chicken breast meat, hemp seed, lentils, green peas, .flax seed, oats. Protein is better than fat. Exercise will help put this protein into muscle growth so encourage flying too.
 

AmyJas

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If you want a fatty bird yes.
Quinoa, boiled egg whites, chicken breast meat, hemp seed, lentils, green peas, .flax seed, oats. Protein is better than fat. Exercise will help put this protein into muscle growth so encourage flying too.
Normally yes, but I don’t think fattiness is much of a risk here since the bird is underweight, and the owner says s/he has already tried a high protein diet. Once the bird gains weight, you curb it again. Millet still has a good amount of protein in addition to fat as well. There are more damaging form of fat that can raise bad cholesterol, etc. Just my opinion though.
 

Mizzely

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I have the same problem with my Jardine's. He's about 30 grams under weight.

I just ordered some of these to try Hy Potency Better Bites – Unapproved Vendor's Dailies

Will your bird eat bird bread or mash? One thing I do is offer a Harrison's High Potency Mash wetted with almond butter and sweet potatoes to get more calories into him. Bird bread you can use to sneak lots of stuff into him.

The biggest thing is just making him take breaks from playing to eat as Ripley loves to play. I have like 4 food bowls in his play area so he's reminded a lot to eat. I've also had success with social eating... He loves to eat when I eat!
 

simon777

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I had to super encourage Simon to eat after his heavy metal poisoning, he was refusing to eat and had lost half his body weight, so I hold his breakfast or dinner bowl and tell him how good he is for eating. I still do this and he likes me to. He doesn't eat much from his food area during the day. Simon also knows that if he doesn't eat enough and losses too much weight he will have to go back to the vet for a crop feed, which he does not like, so he eats for me when I ask him to.
 

C_Olson

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Thank you for all the responses! She does take pro-biotics that the vet prescribed, but she really doesn't like them (it is a fight for her to eat it). I haven't tried birdy bread, but my bird definitely dislikes mushy food. She will eat mushy food with encouragement, but really prefers anything with a crunch to it. For a while, we mixed dry chia seeds with millet, and she definitely enjoyed it, but would get bored with it quickly.

My only concern is trying to encourage her to eat without me having to hold the bowl and supervise (like simon777 does). I worry she doesn't eat when I'm at work, and some mornings I don't have a ton of time to hang out with her to make sure she eats.
 

webchirp

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anti-inflammatory for 2 weeks. Her personality perked up almost immediately: she was more confident and curious than before, she didn't nap as much, etc.
In this instance I would recommend testing for abv. I have two or three birds with pronounced keels that just won't gain weight. Two are abv positive and currently on celebrex which perks them up immensely (anti-inflammatory and helps their digestive tract). I give critical care every day to these guys. Almond butter and any other high calorie content thing they will eat. While give critical care every day is a bit of a pain, it does save you from worrying about them eating as much as they need too. But you'll have to watch the scale. The other bird who is having a hard time...well actually I have four.

Bitty is elderly and has gone into heart issues. His keel is getting thin. He's gone to being a wild bird now so I put his critical care in a spoon on his platform. He also gets celebrex but mostly for arthritis. Lola is a younger bird but has severe heart disease and is full of plaque. He got to the point he looked so bad and had no energy that I asked for pain meds. He gets two mls of critical care. He is also wild but he loves the cc so much that he will come over by my chair and wait for me to get his syringes out.

Kari was getting oncior shots which perked her immediately up but only seemed to last a week so we put her on celebrex. I noticed an a difference within a few days. Amada was the same. No energy and presented with dull eyes and just looked tired. The critical care gives her a boost of energy too.

Ask your vet if you can try the celebrex to see if it helps. So essentially ruling out possible pdd symptoms and heart disease might be your first actions. Treating symptomatically to see if quality of life can be achieved.
 
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sunnysmom

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Thank you for all the responses! She does take pro-biotics that the vet prescribed, but she really doesn't like them (it is a fight for her to eat it). I haven't tried birdy bread, but my bird definitely dislikes mushy food. She will eat mushy food with encouragement, but really prefers anything with a crunch to it. For a while, we mixed dry chia seeds with millet, and she definitely enjoyed it, but would get bored with it quickly.

My only concern is trying to encourage her to eat without me having to hold the bowl and supervise (like simon777 does). I worry she doesn't eat when I'm at work, and some mornings I don't have a ton of time to hang out with her to make sure she eats.
What form are your probiotics in? Mine was just a powder. I would sprinkle on some rice, pasta, etc and my tiel ate it without any problems.
 

C_Olson

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In this instance I would recommend testing for abv.

... So essentially ruling out possible pdd symptoms and heart disease might be your first actions. Treating symptomatically to see if quality of life can be achieved.
I worried about that, so that is in the planned bloodwork in June. But she doesn't have any other issues/symptoms: no un-digested food in her droppings, no regurgitation, etc.
 

webchirp

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I worried about that, so that is in the planned bloodwork in June. But she doesn't have any other issues/symptoms: no un-digested food in her droppings, no regurgitation, etc.
Not all PDD birds will show with seeds in their droppings. An xray of the proventriculus can also show any enlargement. There is a lot of back and for about abv and pdd. It's not a death sentence immediately either way and episodes can be supported. Dr. O said way back when, she had a woman who had a roomful of birds and one definitely had pdd and was at the end. She kept him alive with feedings, etc for a couple more years. She said not another bird in that room contracted pdd or abv. But again lots of stuff out there and scares. I wouldn't be overly fearful. Just make an action plan and see if you can get her feeling better. Maybe she has heart disease as you might not know what she was fed from the beginning. That is what has done Lola in...sunflower/corn crap seed in the beginning of life. He was supposedly 2 when adopted and is 5-6 now. Everytime Dr. O looks at him she asks me if I'm sure he's not elderly. I think the thing that would scare me would be aspers but perhaps I just have to experience it?
 

camelotshadow

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Bird should have a base blood lab work up to look at its health. Could have some underlying issue or is a small bird but if the kee; bone is pronounced & it is suspect she is not at optimum wt then hopefully the reason is found. Most healthy well birds will eat to a good weight. Lack of appetite is not a good sign as is eating & still underweight. See what the vet recommends...69 is not too small as some small conures are in the 75 80 gram range. Rio has always been a chunky guy but he;s crimson belly & he has a wide chest. He is much bigger than most GCC I see & black caps are not huge conures...Anyway hope he is OK.
 
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janicedyh

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Thank you for all the responses! She does take pro-biotics that the vet prescribed, but she really doesn't like them (it is a fight for her to eat it). I haven't tried birdy bread, but my bird definitely dislikes mushy food. She will eat mushy food with encouragement, but really prefers anything with a crunch to it. For a while, we mixed dry chia seeds with millet, and she definitely enjoyed it, but would get bored with it quickly.

My only concern is trying to encourage her to eat without me having to hold the bowl and supervise (like simon777 does). I worry she doesn't eat when I'm at work, and some mornings I don't have a ton of time to hang out with her to make sure she eats.
About the chia, be careful, chia absorbs fluid so be careful giving it dry because it can lead to dehydration. I either mix the chia in with a moist chop or I mix it with a small amount of water, leave for a half day (yes you can refrigerate. It will have a gel consistency, you can add that to his fresh food. I learned this from someone who was feeding it dry and her bird ended up very dehydrated, prior I wa feeding it dry also. Her Avian vet informed her of the issue
 
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