How can I determine my Lovebird age? And some tips from you.

[shadi.maanna]

Hey, I recently bought a lovebird from a pet store. It was hand fed and looks tamed. It immediately flies to my hand when I open the cage, and improving with the step-up command.

I don't know the exact age of birds but here are some hints, maybe you can help me:
1-Black marks on its beak.
2-Incomplete feathers under its beak and its neck.
3-Inability to break sunflower seed and it can hardly eat the tiny round yellow seeds (Don't know what they call them).
4-The pet store owner gave me powdered food to mix with water and a syringe, and recommended to feed it with the syringe for a week or two, and monitor how it eats the seeds.

Anyways here is a picture from facebook for my lovebird:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... permPage=1

I'd welcome some tips from you all as I am a new bird owner.
Thank you.

[cml]

From the sounds of it your parrot is very young, and has probably not weaned properly yet - meaning it isnt eating reliably on its own yet.

Its not reccommended to buy unweaned parrots, but since you already got it, you need to take good care of your new friend. You will need to keep handfeeding it for a while, and you need to get someone to teach you how - because if done improperly, it can kill the bird .
Since your bird is already eating some seeds, hopefully it will wean completely soon.

There are others who know much more about this than me, but I didnt want to read and not respond!
Good luck, and post a picture here rather than linking to facebook .

[Eric&Rebecca]

All of these indications (aside from the beak) point to a very young bird which is barely weaned, clearly the pet store was aware of this when they sold it to you which is very bad. In most countries it is now illegal to sell unweaned birds like yours. As a new bird owner this is NOT your fault you have just been badly informed by the pet store and you can fix it. I would get in touch from where you bought him and explain the situation. Do NOT use the syringe unless you have experience in doing so. I have some experience but I still would not use it. (I have detailed a method you can use below)

OK, you need to keep a very close eye on the droppings if they become small and black or just generally smaller and infrequent your bird is not eating enough! You will also need to weigh your bird using kitchen scales to monitor changes in weight. I would also get your new bird to an avian vet as soon as possible for a check over. Check the ideal weights for lovebirds online.

Go out immediately and buy some eggfood although I think by the sounds of it you already have some- EMP is a good brand it's like a dry mix with some black seeds in. Is this what you have? Mix the food with water to a liquidy porridge type consistency, put it in the microwave and warm it up for around 45-60 secs. It should cool down to room temperature but not cold (he will get crop statis) and definitely not hot or warmer than room temp or you will get crop burn, then it is ready for feeding. Take a cough syrup spoon, you know the white plastic ones, sterlize it in boiling water or f10/bird safe if you have any. Pop the bird on the edge of the bowl and hold the spoon FLAT near his beak. Do NOT tip is down his throat or he will choke and end up with food in his lungs. I have handfed birds who have regressed before and I was petrified of using droppers and syringes. As the bird is picking up food for himself this method should be fine for him, he will go onto the seeds eventually but you need to 'top him up' with this. If he begs feed him just until you can get him weaned. If he won't take from the spoon or the wet food from the dish go immediately to the pet shop, the breeder or a vet who can help you.

He might take it from the spoon or the dish. If he takes it from the spoon he will move his head back and forth fast to get the food his and then empty it into his crop. Keep refreshing the spoon until he refuses it. If he takes it from the dish keep it like that. Do this morning and night and leave seeds in the cage for now. You can start on the pelleted diet much later once he's weaned fully. Also you can feed this mixture dry by leaving it in his cage like you do the seeds but please do not leave the wet food in the cage as it will create bacteria.

After he eats it will get it all over him so if you get some papertowels and some warm watrer you must wipe him down otehrwise his feathers will get stuck together and hard. Eggfood is very sticky. You can also offer throughly cooked brown rice (this is soft and a good food for them to have) and you can blend fruits and veggies together so he can eat that but again don't keep it in the cage for longer than two hours.. Keep an close eye and get him to a vet for advice as soon as possible. Aloso make sure he is emptying his crop, if he swells around the throat for long periods he has crop statis which can lead to sour crop and eventually death.

If I was a new bird owner without the knowledge I have I would ask them to take the bird back and wean t for you, then you will return and collect it.

[shadi.maanna]

Here's a picture

The pet store taught me how to feed it. It's not hard only needs a little bit of focus. However I forgot to mention it's very good in flying. It was flying up to the roof the first two days I got it. Today I put it on one end of the living room and i stood on the other end and it just flew to my hand but had a difficult landing due to its small feet it guess. I leave it outside the cage most of the time and it follows me everywhere I go. I don't know why it does that, maybe because it's still a baby and needs someone to depend on.

[Eric&Rebecca]

It's because you feed him.

A few tips for you as requested :

You need to find an avian vet in your area, he will need a new bird check up soon anyway. The avian vet may or may not do bloods but they should do baseline tests on their poop and a physical exam.

Make sure you bird proof the house: no exposed electrical cords, no metals he can chew, no air freshners, no smoking, no perfumes, no polishes or nail varnish, no hairsprays, no strong fumes, no non stick or teflon cookware, no open windows

Bird cage to be cleaned everyday and deep cleaned once per week using f10 or bird safe disinfectant. Household cleaners are poisonous

Large cage- even though he is out of it a lot the cage needs to be big. See minimum sizes and BAR SPACING for lovebirds. Incorrect bar spacing can cause fatal accidents.

Do NOT take your bird outside without a harness or if its in the locked cage. Even the most well trained birds can fly away, get eaten, eat something bad or get hurt

If you're sure about how to use the syringe then that's great but you still need to be vigilent and watch for signs of crop problems. Its not something that's as easy as you think, I've seen it go wrong first hand with the most experienced people.

Crop stasis: when food stays still and does not move through the crop. This can be caused from a variety of reasons but the most common is the food being too cold or thick.

Sour crop: literally like it sounds, a complication of crop statis, the food rots in the crop which results in infection and death if not treated. A vet would literally have to scoop his throat out with a tube and then feed him that way.

Crop burn: Food burns the crop, even if it barely seems warm to you it can still cause crop burn. The crop is extremely sensitive.

Malnutrition: can be caused by inexperienced weaning nd making the food too thin

These are just some ofthe comlications but you will need to visit and avian vet anyway who will explain everything more.

If you tell us where you live in the world we could help you locate an avian vet. I'd get him to duble check the beak colouration and screen for viruses. I'm sure its totally fine and just a mutation of his colourings but it will need double checking.

[shadi.maanna]

I'll try to feed it with a dish. The odds are that it'll eat them because it is always trying to the eat seeds from it's dish.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Probably, that's good if he'll eat from the dish its a good stepping stone. Still feed him it wet 2-3 times or when he begs. He can have it dry too. Make sure he knows how to drink too.

Oh and no onion, avocado, chocolate, garlic, uncooked or undercooked rice or pulses or grains or lentils or anything like that... many things.

If you've got a question about anything you want to feed pop it in the health and diet section before feeding. You can find a list of toxic foods and things you should not feed online.

Eventually you will want to reduce the seeds (after weaning) and take a pelleted and fresh diet with seeds as a treat but this is further down the line.

Do you know where your nearest avian vet is (you can't go to a normal vet with birds as they have no idea usually)

Oh and there's usually no way of determining a birds age (certain birds like cockatiel's you can by their molts frm juvenile to adult plumage) but judging by the weaning state of your bird I would say 3-6 weeks old.. that's incredibly young. Most birds that size are usually ready at 12 weeks and if they do go earlier than that around 7-8 weeks normally they are completely weaned. Its' bad they've done that to you as a new bird owner.
He will have wobbly landings for a while they are learning His feet won't grow much more, if at all, he just has to learn his balance.

Also make sure you do all the other things i said and avoid those i said are dangerous

This is a link written by another member of the forum- (not mine)

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2178

[shadi.maanna]

I live in Qatar, I'll ask where's the nearest Avian vet.
It has a medium cage and I will get it a big one, a stand, and a clicker as a start.
Other than health, what can I teach it now? I tried the step-up it was doing it fine. What can it know other than this at this young age?

[Eric&Rebecca]

The most important thing at the moment is getting your bird healthy and weaned. Once you've completed that you can start recall training with the flying but I would get him healthy, check him with an avian vet. I wouldn't start formal training for another month or so. I would just stick to stepping up and spending time together

Here is one I think:

Dr Walter from Italy at Doha Vets, 4367187. He is an avian specialist and was the government avian vet before moving to Doha Vets.

That will give you time to make your house safe for training birds. A healthy bird is far easier to train. You can try talking to him a lot, they will get him vocalising for you. He probably won't talk but he will sing and chitter for you That's a good thing to start doing.

Tricks and training are great but having a healthy and happy bird is the most important thing.

With the cage the bar spacing is the important thing, I think this is 1/2cmfor lovebirds... please check online for this too. If its bigger or smaller your lovebird will hurt himself.

[Pajarita]

Your bird seems to be about 4 to 5 weeks old -much, much, much too young to be sold or weaned. Even if you think he's eating, I bet he is not gaining enough weight because they are fed by the parents for three months BEFORE they come out of the nest. Please make sure you feed him, at least, three times a day (it would be better if it was four). You would need to weight him every day to make sure he is gaining. A dish is not going to do it. You need to hand-feed and start weaning in another four weeks. That store owner should be in jail for selling you that baby!