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Won’t transition from formula to food

Crystina

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Crystina
I have a 4 month yellow naped Amazon. last week he decided he is no longer interested in the baby formula but he will not try anything.He nit picks at his pellets. He is eating some of it I believe but most of the pellets end up on ground or he turns it to dust in bowl. He won’t take anything from my hand. I have tried fruits, vegetables, nuts, pasta, etc etc. I have tried letting him watch me eat and making a big deal about how good it is (I’ve eaten more bird food than him) I’ve tried hiding it in his toys, I’ve tried bringing him to a friends with a bird so he sees the other bird eat, I try changing his environment, I’ve hid food his pellet, HE DOESNT CARE WHATSOEVER. I’ve tried all the tips I found online but nothing work. He has lost 50 grams over the last week. I don’t know

Ive been trying to transition him for little over a month but he was still taking small amounts of baby formula. I’m concerned now that he has stopped accepting formula.
 
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Crystina

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He went to vet. They gave me a list of things to try. He has a follow up appointment tomorrow. Vet said I appear to have the only amazon that doesn’t like to eat everything. In other words stubborn because he appears to be happy. He plays, sings, talks etc. Vet said he doesn’t see that the bird is stressed.
 

BirdView

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Same thing happened with Echo my DYA. He was not eating enough formula and was not interested in pellets. I started hand feeding him sweet potato, then encourage him to eat from a bowl. Later, I gradually mixed Zupreem pellets with sweet potatoes until he learned to eat pellet on by itself.

 

txdyna65

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I was going to mention trying really mushy sweet potato or oatmeal. When Lucy (YNA) was weaning off formula thats what we fed her. She was a normal amazon though lol, she eats anything and everything.
 

melissasparrots

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I'd start him out in the morning with a hand feeding. Whatever he will accept. Even if its only 5 or 10 cc of formula. Then put him directly in his cage with a few bowls of a wide variety of food and then leave. No play time, no snuggles, no checking on him. You are out of sight. Preferably out of the house so he can't hear you. Or take a nap so you aren't making any people noise. Don't walk back in the room for a few hours. Do this every day for a while. The huge assortment of food should include a bowl of assorted dry food. Even if it does not meet your approval for healthy. A good seed mix and pellets. Another bowl of assorted cooked soft food. I usually do some cooked soft sweet potato served warm with cooked soft rice, quinoa and lentils mixed with a little bit of banana. Also some thawed mixed vegetables. Another bowl of a few chunks of fresh food. Such as cucumber or summer squash, celery, peppers etc. Remember the part about leaving the room and not coming back. Sometimes they need to get their appetite primed with a little bit of formula and then have lots of variety to sort through and no one around to beg from. Try this all of this week. Make sure in the middle of the day he gets some safe fly time. I've had the weaning process abruptly halted by clipping flight feathers. Being able to fly seems integral to learning to wean in a timely fashion.
You can also mix methods. Some people have good luck getting their bird to eat by handing it food. This can have a serious draw back of not teaching the bird to eat on its own. But, in moderation, try it and see if it helps. He is right about that age where he should be wanting to wean. They can loose a surprising amount of weight during weaning. Some loose up to about 20% depending on how fat of a baby he was.
 
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