New Family member eating very little

[Dragon Lady]

Hi All,

I got a new family member 6 days ago. A 7 month male IRN. He is hand reared. He still settling in and doesn't trust me as yet. I am not handling him, he comes in and out his cage on his own terms lol

My concern is; he was on a corn, sunflower seed and pea diet ..... Since with me he is eating very little. I have given hulled sunflower seeds and offered pellets and fresh chop (I don't think he really knows what that is )

He nibbles on the pellets (I know this will take time), and has a few bites on a berry or pepper. My concern is that I am unable to weigh him, and from what i see he is not eating enough. How much should an IRN eat daily? Is there a possibility of him starving himself?

Besides the eating and us not being his family yet, he is moving around well, starting to venture to the toys in and out the cage. So I do not think that he may be ill. Appearance wise he also looks well, no signs of being ill.

Any advise will be appreciated.

 

[Mizzely]

Even if his old diet is crap, give him that for now. A bird should eat 10-20% of their body weight a day which for a ringneck might mean about 2 to 4 tbsp of food a day.

Birds are naturally neophobic, meaning they take to new things very slowly and it's better for him to eat than to not. Yes, birds can starve themselves if they don't recognize something as food.

 

[Dragon Lady]

Thank you!!!!

 

[SunTruth]

To give some perspective my family has a Senagal parrot for almost 6 months now. We still have not managed to convince him to eat pellets, and we probably tried every pellets on the market.

The vet told me that I needed to only give him pellet and even if he does not eat he will. But it turned out that I tried that for a single day and he did not eat at all, and I will not try again.

So here is the strategy we try now: we give a mix of seeds, that he eats, and we put a small amount of pellets inside. The idea is that slowly perhaps he will try pellets. On the other hand we give a mix of fruit and vegetable.

So from my little experience convincing a bird to change his diet is very complicated, and obviously for now we failed but I think it is still better than letting the bird starve. I just think it takes time. Of course I am a little bit worried he might miss some vitamins but I do not know how to do it better.

 

[Dragon Lady]

To give some perspective my family has a Senagal parrot for almost 6 months now. We still have not managed to convince him to eat pellets, and we probably tried every pellets on the market.

The vet told me that I needed to only give him pellet and even if he does not eat he will. But it turned out that I tried that for a single day and he did not eat at all, and I will not try again.

So here is the strategy we try now: we give a mix of seeds, that he eats, and we put a small amount of pellets inside. The idea is that slowly perhaps he will try pellets. On the other hand we give a mix of fruit and vegetable.

So from my little experience convincing a bird to change his diet is very complicated, and obviously for now we failed but I think it is still better than letting the bird starve. I just think it takes time. Of course I am a little bit worried he might miss some vitamins but I do not know how to do it better.

Thank you! This is my approach today as well. Along with offering what he already knows. He did manage to eat a snap pea, I was so happy LOL

Hopefully tomorrow He will want to eat more.

 

[Dragon Lady]

Do you perhaps know how long it will take for him to settle. He is here a week today, still very new.

He is so wary of us it's heartbreaking

Would clicker training help at all, even thou he is currently not food motivated.

 

[Mizzely]

The amount of time for a bird to settle varies. Some it is days, some weeks, some months. In my experience it takes about 6 months for them to feel fully comfortable.

 

[sunnysmom]

If he is that scared, I think I would continue to take it slow. Where is his cage located? Is it against a wall? They feel more secure if it is. You can also try covering his cage on three sides, leaving the front open so he doesn't have to be on "alert" for danger from all sides until he settles more. I would spend time just sitting with him and talking to him. I even read to my new birds. That way they get used to my voice and presence without scary eye contact. Then I would try to start hand feeding him some treats. Will he eat millet spray?

 

[Dragon Lady]

The amount of time for a bird to settle varies. Some it is days, some weeks, some months. In my experience it takes about 6 months for them to feel fully comfortable.

I have a feeling that Echo will be a long hauler when it comes to be settled

I assume that in the settling in period that the least amount of handling the better. In other words, only handle if he needs help after fluttering off of his cage.

Is there a possibility that Echo would become completely wild again and need to be hand friendly trained again?

He was totally smitten with the ladies that hand raised him, and gave loving kisses and cuddles.

 

[Dragon Lady]

If he is that scared, I think I would continue to take it slow. Where is his cage located? Is it against a wall? They feel more secure if it is. You can also try covering his cage on three sides, leaving the front open so he doesn't have to be on "alert" for danger from all sides until he settles more. I would spend time just sitting with him and talking to him. I even read to my new birds. That way they get used to my voice and presence without scary eye contact. Then I would try to start hand feeding him some treats. Will he eat millet spray?

His cage has one backing wall. I do move him into the sun as my home is quite chilly. I will do the covering of the other sides and see if it helps him.

Eye contact OMW, yes he does not like that at all. I will try the reading, that's a brilliant idea, thanks.

I will try millet spray, I have not tried that with any of my previous birds. I raised them from baby, and being Greys. Sadly they are not here anymore.

 

[SunTruth]

When we got our parrot it tooks maybe one month for him to stop yelling when there was noone in the room. Honestly the only thing that is for sure is that you need to take everything slowly because they are smart, and they need time to get used. Think about it everything is new to him: the place, the people around, the food… Just take time.

 

[Dragon Lady]

When we got our parrot it tooks maybe one month for him to stop yelling when there was noone in the room. Honestly the only thing that is for sure is that you need to take everything slowly because they are smart, and they need time to get used. Think about it everything is new to him: the place, the people around, the food… Just take time.

yes indeed. A move he didn't ask for and a family he doesn't know.

Thank u... Hopefully soon he will be a happy chappy

 

[Dragon Lady]

Hi All,

I hope you are all well.

An update on Echo, he is settling down nicely!!! He is also eating much better.

The pellets are still new but he is at least trying them. He has also eaten a better variety of veggies, other then just corn.

Thanks again for all the support.