New baby Meyers

[Katz]

So after waiting a long time, and after a lot of difficulties, my baby girl Meyers, Gilly, is home with me! We were originally going to pick her up with my boyfriend, and took a road trip from New York City to Ohio, but our car broke down halfway there and plans were halted. She ended up having to be shipped but handled the experience beautifully...like a champ. I am very excited and very happy!

When I first had her, even in the crate, she was tweeting and whistling. She would step off the perch and playfully chew my fingers through the slats. I also gave her droplets of water with my syringe and handfed her pellets and she took them. At home, she started getting comfortable quickly and was quite vocal. I even put my hand in the cage and she went up to it and climbed on it and chewed my fingers.

However, some issues I have that I wanted to discuss are: she does not seem comfortable with how big the cage is. She seems to not know how to navigate, and is very sloppy moving around and falls a lot. She is also not eating or even going to the food/water bowls yet, as far as I could see. I coaxed her to the bowl by putting my face and fingers next to it and making kissing noises, but she just sat on it, facing the wrong direction, and then climbed back to her perch.

I also saw a behavior that is very strange to me. It looks like she was cranky when I woke her up in the morning, and didn't want anything to do with me. She let out this croaking/growling noise whenever I walked past the cage, or got close. She would also open her beak and slightly lunge forward in an aggressive fashion, I suppose. I will see how she behaves when I get home from work.

Any thoughts? How can I correct this aggression, and also, what can I do to get her to eat?

[marie83]

How long has it been since the breeder told you she was fully weaned? Some birds can regress a little bit after weaning when put under stress and believe me as happy and cheerful as she may seem she has been through a bit of (ok alot)an ordeal. She's been taken from the only place, people and siblings she has ever known, put in a box she's probably never been in before and shipped all alone with nothing but a bit of food and water for company. Then suddenly the box is open with strange people gazing at her, she comes out the box and very little is even remotely familiar to her, the sights, the smells, the noises etc.
Are you sure she isn't eating and drinking when your not looking? she may be having a quick nibble when your out of the room and she doesn't need to keep an eye on you, lol. If your sure then give her a little formula and see if she will take any of that. If she's still not eating and your sure she hasn't eaten anything else I would contact the breeder and get her vet checked too as a precaution.

As for her behaviour, everythings new and she needs time to adjust, nothing much to do really at this point just don't reinforce the behaviours as it will become harder later to deal with. Don't react to her lunges, screams, bites or whatever else she may throw at you, but paise lots for the good things she does.
Just to add if she is really that clumsy you may wish to lower her perches for the time being or even go as far as pad out the bottom of the cage. The bar spacing may be a bit bigger on you cage than the one at the breeders, this can definitely make a difference to a birds mobility around the cage in the first few days. A bit of a daft comparison but it's like us walking on deep dry sand on a beach when we are used to walking on concrete, it takes a while to get used to lifting our feet higher so we don't trip.

[Katz]

Thanks for the reply.The breeder, who seems to be a non-rusher and very responsible, said she was eating well on her own about two weeks ago. That's about when we planned to go get her and the car broke down. She did take food from my hand, and even in the middle of the fit she was having, she took a few pellets from my hands this morning. She also licked some water off my hand. She will go to a vet tomorrow (wednesday), as I was planning on getting her blood drawn and cultures and whatnot done. So we will she what the doc says.

It looks like she basically refuses to go to the lower part of the cage where the dishes are. I filled two dishes (on opposite sides of the cage) with food, and one with water. Maybe I should put another small on higher up where she hangs out on the perch?

She is very observant and inquisitive, and I moved the food in the bowl and swished her water to show her it's there and she appeared to understand. We will see, and I will update, thanks!

[marie83]

Good luck at the vets, I'm sure she's just finding her feet though and theres nothing to worry about. Putting extra bowls in sounds a good idea, at least until she's eating normally. I don't know about myers but some species are more comfortable feeding higher up as thats where they feed in the wild wheras others are ground feeders and prefer lower down. You can convince her later on that further down the cage is where the food will be normally, for now it's more important to get her settled

[Katz]

Hey! I came home today and was greeted by a very excited baby. She tweeted for me and I opened the cage and she immediately jumped from the perch to the wall of the cage by my face so I reached in and she chewed my fingers a bit and climbed right on. She is not really finger trained so I will work on it. She also went flying around a few times (she is not clipped), but I have a small room so she did not go far.

Good news is, it looks like she ate, as there are bits of food all over the floor of the cage. She also went to the perch by the bowls and drank right in front of me.

So it looks like she is adjusting fast! Yay!



Thanks a lot for the help and advice!

[Katz]

Another bit of an update...she regurgitated for me three times while on my finger! And when I tried putting her back she didn't want to get off. it was sooo sweet!

[laducockatiel]

Awesome! Sounds like your Meyers is turning out to be quite a character! Make sure to keep us posted

[liz]

Teach her the word no. That way she will keep her food and in the future you won't get it in your ear.

[Katz]

has yours actually done that to you??? That's hilarious...

I just got back from the vet. It looks like she lost weight from what the breeder said she was when she left...he says she's a bit on the thin side and recommended sweet potato and veggies...but it looks like she has not been well exposed to veggies and is not really taking them. I just cooked some egg and cut up some veggies really small and mixed them with her roudybush. But not biting so far.

Any tips on how to get her to like these things?

He didn't want to take blood due to her age, but we did a poopy test and will see if it comes out good. Otherwise, he says she looks great.

[Katz]

This morning I wok up a bit early to spend a little extra time with her. We hung out and did some step-up exercises (she is getting much better), and I boiled some carrot and cooked quinoa and organic 9-grain hot cereal. First, as she was perched on top of the cage door, I brought a leaf of escarole and started picking off bits and eating them, making yummy noises. She seemed intrigued, and withing two minutes, she started taking bits of it herself. She didn't eat much, but she took a few bits and nibbled a bit, long enough to get a taste and show interest. Then, I sat on the bed, and with her on my hand, I fed her bits of the quinoa/grain mixture and boiled carrots, copying the technique. It was an instant hit. She loved it, and after a while, she saw me moving the food around in the little bowl and went into the bowl herself.

I am hoping to do this often and she will hopefully get the hang of eating veggies. I am very lucky she is so adaptable. She is doing very well. Hopefully she will gain a bit of weight (I have a gram scale at home).

Thanks, everyone!