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Some help with a young cockatiel

Pkolt

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Hello, all. I recently (last tuesday) acquired a young tiel that was reared by its parents in an aviary. Though the breeder claimed it was weaned, I have been offering it several types of solid food and it refuses to eat.

So to help it wean properly, I've bought some formula and am trying to handfeed it, but am running into some trouble. Put plainly, the first time I tried it refused to eat the formula. However, I noticed that when near my other cockatiel (who is a male about 2.5 years old and I've slowly been introducing the youngling to) it would start begging for food, even jerking at the older bird's beak in an attempt to get fed. Whenever this happened I noticed it would be prepared to eat a tiny little bit of formula from the syringe, but would soon stop eating, only prepared to wash it down with a few mills of warm water.

Now, I can barely get it to eat and drink a total of 3-5 ml of formula and water per feeding, which I've tried twice daily.

It doesn't seem to not want to eat out of fear, because it's very relaxed around me and will happily preen while sitting nearby on my desk or on the playstand. I've scattered some food around its cage, but alone inside the cage seems to be where it is most insecure.

At least I'm happy that my bird is not dehydrating and willing to eat something, but I could use some tips to try and get it to more readily eat its formula.
 

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Zara

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Welcome to the Avenue :)

This bird has never been handfed, he doesn´t know what it is or what is happening. He will be very confused and possibly a little scared right now with all of these big changes happening. This bird knows he´s a bird, and that a bird feeds him, and you are not a bird.

To start, this new bird should have been quarantined away from your bird for 4-6 weeks in case he has a hidden illness.
However, as the quarantine has been broken, maybe you can get your bird to help teach the new bird.
Lay down sprigs of millet for them to share.
A large bowl of vegetables (use a bowl big enough for the two to eat at the same time while still having their own space)

Keep trying the formula, offer it on a metal teaspoon.
Be sure a bowl of water and a bowl of pellet/seeds are always available low down in the little ones cage.
(Your bird may be eating when you are not looking.)

I highly recommend to weigh the bird every day, am and pm, and keep a diary of his weight journey.
 

clarousel

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Hello!

Preeno was never hand fed when I got him too so he really disliked the syringe. I used the towel method by soaking it in formula just so he'd taste it by chewing and at least it got his attention. I didn't use this method for long as I know fibres can be ingested.

The spoon really worked for him so it's worth giving it a shot!

How old is your baby tiel? I agree with what Zara said about scattering food. I think by natural instinct and curiosity he would check them out and try biting/eating them!

I scattered millet seeds and offered bread at the start when Preeno refused to eat formula. He quickly learnt how to hull the seeds :)
 

Pkolt

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Thanks for your replies.

I've been trying today to get it to eat seeds from my hand. It wants to eat the millet and hulls it succesfully but doesn't seem to have enough strength in its beak to crush the seed yet. I can get it to eat softer solids like cracker crumbs, though. Serving formula on a spoon worked very well, it makes it possible to give pretty thick paste and it it isn't quite as much of a mess as working with the syringe, it'll just take bites off the spoon and chew them down. I help it clear its beak with a bit of warm water from the syringe which goes fine.

Still not eating very much, but at least it's getting more curious about seeds so I'm confident we'll make some progress over the coming days.
 

Zara

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but doesn't seem to have enough strength in its beak to crush the seed yet
Try offering the millet soaked... or cooked quinoa.

Serving formula on a spoon worked very well,
Great. You can also offer mashed sweet potatoes (cooked) on a spoon too, on on a little plate (or espresso coaster).

. I help it clear its beak with a bit of warm water from the syringe which goes fine.
I advise against this. It is very easy to drown the baby doing this.
Offer water in a small pot or dish. Dip your finger in then touch the birds beak gently so a little goes in. Gently swill the water around in the dish to catch your birds attention. You could even offer it on the spoon if you are worried about dehydration, though best to try get your bird drinking from a dish.

but at least it's getting more curious about seeds so I'm confident we'll make some progress over the coming days.
I´m sure your bird will try more as they settle in with you :)
 

Aoi♡

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If your baby is weaned you can
offer pellets you can soak them in warm-hot water (not to hot) for 15-10mins to make them soft and serve it to her.

When she gets used to this you can make them harder as time goes by for each serving

This is similar to comfort feedings so you don't need to feed her formula especially if you have no prior exprerience in doing so.
 

Pkolt

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Quick update, thanks to your advice my bird is doing very well and is now eating and drinking independently. Still very excitable when it becomes hungry but has figured out that when that happens it's better to forage around the cage for dropped seeds than to start jumping around and making a lot of noise. It's become very comfortable around me and as I type this is preening away right next to me.
 

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Zara

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Nice update! And your bird is very cute :)
 
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