12 weeks old and still on formula

[yanek]

Hi to all been looking at this site for some time and find it very help full and thanks any way this is my first grey and he is `12 weeks old but has little interest in solid food i have tried all kinds.. he has his formula in the morning and then has some porage spoon feed.. he picks his food in the day. vegges. fruit. nuts .seeds .pelets. etc .thy are all at hand for him but he does not eat much at all and seems to have little interest in it he then has his formula in the late afternoon ;;p.s. he calls for his formula and is very restless untill he has it once he is feed he is very happy ..please exscuse my spelling thanks and also does not drink a lot of water very very little any help would be great thanks

[judygram]

He is just being a little slower to wean but well within the range. Continue to give him his feedings and offering the veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and pellets, he will eventually eat more and more of them. Offer them first thing in the mornings as that is when they are the most likely to want them when they are hungry. I'll just bet in the next couple of weeks he does go to eating more of the solid type foods.

Why don't you introduce yourself in the welcome room and tell us a little more about yourself and your grey.

[yanek]

Hi and thanks for the reply in his cage there are four feed containers one for water the rest i keep full of food all the time is this ok or should i empty in night thanks

[judygram]

If it is fresh food like veggies and fruits I would remove them at night and refill with fresh in the mornings.

[lovemyGreys]

Continue the handfeeding formula 12 weeks is still young & grey babies are all different some wean earlier than others so dont worry.Depends what food is in the dishes,if its fresh fruit or veggies then remove after a few hours,if its seed or pellets then its fine to leave them.

here is a link for you to have a read through.

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/bird-food/36364-hand-feeding-a-baby-grey.html

[yanek]

Thanks one and all

[BMustee]

So, he gets handfed in the morning and again in the afternoon...is he being fed at night too, or really the question is how many times a day are you hand feeding him? At 12 weeks he should be on one or two feeding a day. Ether morning and night or only at night. Normally problems with weaning are really owner issues...not to say this is th case. If baby birds are not given the chance to eat on their own they never will, and before you know it you got a 25 year old being hand fed. If you are only feeding him morning and late afternoon I would push the afternoon feeding back a few hours to being in the evening. Now, if he is REALLY crying for food then by all means give it to him, but if it's just a halfass wine for it then don't. At that point he will probably check out the "big bird" food. You might want to try the weaning pellets and soft food like apple sauce...that what my grey was really into when he was weaning. Mine weaned at 15 weeks, and I believe he was at 11 weeks when he went down to 2 feedings so your not too far off the mark.

Keep us posted on your babies progress.

[Tari]

Some birds just wean faster then others. I found that if I offer the food on the bottom of the cage they come more to eating it.
With my babies I use a paper plate and they get down and "play" with the food before they start eating it. This is normal and should be encouraged.
Good luck

[danmcq]

Hi Yanek!!

As others have said. Twelve weeks is still young and you could start reducing his hand feedings to just 2x a day. Have seed, nut and pellet mixes and of course water available at all times for him to just play and eat a little of as he gets bored or hungry in between hand feedings.

When you take him out, offer various veggies and fruits for him to explore the texture, taste feel and all the wonderful ones available. he will make a mess of them, but it helps get them on the way also. :-)

[Dave007]

I totally disagree with some of the information being given concerning weaning. It should never be the person who decides to lessen formula feedings per day. That's a choice that only the bird should make. Many birds take all different amounts of time to cut back on formula feeding which includes baby parrots in the same clutch. Eventually, the bird simply refuses to accept a feeding or spits it up after being given that feeding. That's the time that the person should stop that feeding. A bird who continues to accept formula is only doing what it's internal system is dictating. If it takes 4 mts for the bird to refuse a feeding it's because nature is making that decision, not the bird. All young parrots will eventually stop accepting formula. That too is nature's way of saying that the internal system is now ready to go on to a type of food that's more in line with the more developed system. That more developed system will be realizing that formula feeding isn't what's needed. There's nothing wrong with having other types of food laying around but curiousity is what makes the bird try it out. Those other types of food should never be put there to entice a bird in order to substitute a formula feeding. Cutting down on formula feeding just because a person thinks it should be cut down makes for a nervous, sometimes neurotic bird in the future. Commercial breeders are quite well known to commit the sin of premature lessening of feedings simply to fulfil a promise to have a chick/chicks ready for sale at a prescribed time. A bird who is still taking in 3 feedings a day should never be sold or given to a person until the weaning process is complete no matter how long it takes. Also, there is no such thing as a 25 yr old parrot who is still being handfed unless the bird is being fed a treat or nut or special type of food that it can't possibly grip on it's own.