weaning your lovebird

[lovethelovebirds]

Hi, I bought a lovebird at 5 weeks old and continued to hand feed him as instructed by the breeder. He is now 8 weeks old and I am finding it very difficult to wean him off the formula. I am now only feeding him twice a day, but he just doesn't seem interested in the millet and other food options in his cage. He may go and have a nibble once a day that I notice and that is all. When I have him out for cuddles I try and encourage him to eat seed too. And he is happy to have a small nibble from my hand but he only seems to crack the seed and then spit it out. I am worried he will lose weight because of not eating much/any food on his own. The breeder told me to cut down the feeds to only one soon, but I just worry it will cause him to lose weight. But if I continue hand feeding him, I am worried he will never learn to eat for himself.

What do I do? Please help.

[Weka]

Hello and welcome --

It would seem that there is a general consensus that taking an unweaned bird home is a very difficult affair, indeed: (link -- viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2178 ). Hopefully someone here with some experience might be able to give some advice...

All the best,

Weka

[Pajarita]

Don't listen to the breeder (a terribly unscrupulous one for having sold you such a young, unweaned baby!) and continue hand-feeding twice a day (at sunrise and sunset) while offering two or three kinds of soft-food (you wean to soft foods, not to seeds, only cheap and bad breeders do that). I once had a clutch of lovebirds born in my birdroom and they never came out of the nest until they were 12 weeks old and, all along, they were been fed by the parents and did not eat on their own.