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Newbie!

New to the parrot forum? Introduce yourself and your flock to us.

Newbie!

Postby toni » Mon Apr 17, 2017 3:42 pm

Image

Hello everyone! I'm a newbie on here and have come along with my beautiful baby Bentley, a baby blue and gold macaw.

Bentley is 25 weeks old - Ive had him (I say 'he' but i'm still waiting on DNA results)for just going on 3 weeks now and I am completely smitten! This baby has fast became my whole world! I have 6 human babies but 4 are grown and have flown the nest and i still have a 9 and 13 year old at home. This is one baby though who I i know will never fly the nest so Im thrilled at that!

Today, Bentley ventured right off his cage and came down to play on the couch with me where I preened some of his pin feathers for him (he is currently molting), played with toys with him and had lots of cuddles, and he politely regurgitated his lunch for me. I also noticed how clean he is for toileting! He played for a while then climbed back on top of his cage to poop. I praised and gave him treats for going 'potty' and he came down and did the same thing 3 times in a row. Out of several hours off his cage today he didn't mess anywhere except for climbing on his cage to do it. I think hes kinda taught himself!

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce my baby to your forum and hopefully gather lots of ongoing advice on here as there is always something I am Googling for!

Thank you so much for having us!
Toni & Bentley :macaw:
toni
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 5
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: macaw blue and gold
Flight: Yes

Re: Newbie!

Postby Georginia » Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:52 pm

Welcome to the forum, Toni (and Bentley)! Bentley is adorable! My name is Georginia, but you may call me Geo, if you wish! I have two male Budgies (Skittles and Nico), whom I love very much! Here's some pictures, if you want to see!

Here's one of Skittles:
http://prnt.sc/exbg4n


Here's Nico!
http://prnt.sc/exbgkk


And here's one of the two:
http://prnt.sc/exbdiw


I'm sure you will enjoy this forum and the lovely people among it! I've been a member on here for about almost 2 days and have already been given a lot of useful information to improve the lives of my boys! I'm so happy you decided to join a forum just to make your buddy's life the best! If you have any questions about me, my birds, or need any help with caring for birds, just shoot me a PM, and I will do my best to answer it (or you can always make a post, that way you'll get more replies from more experienced owners, as that's the point of the forum)! I hope you find what you're looking for on this forum! We're glad to have you here!

(Skittles and Nico wanted me to tell you that they said, "Squawk!". That's their way of saying hello!)
:)
I currently have two male Budgies, whom I love very much! I hope to soon expand my bird family and adopt more loving feathered friends into my home!
Georginia
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 40
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Budgies/Parakeets
Flight: Yes

Re: Newbie!

Postby liz » Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:15 pm

Toni, welcome to the forum.

"Squawk", that is just too cute.
User avatar
liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Newbie!

Postby Georges mom » Mon Apr 17, 2017 9:05 pm

Welcome to the forum Toni and Bentley. This is the best place to be with the nicest people who will help you whenever you need it. I've been a member for about a year and a half now and I just love it. Bentley is just beautiful!
Georges mom
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 103
Location: Indiana
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Yellow naped amazon parrot
Flight: No

Re: Newbie!

Postby ParrotsForLife » Mon Apr 17, 2017 9:30 pm

Welcome :)
User avatar
ParrotsForLife
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1725
Location: Ireland,Dublin
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Rocko and Loki, Cockatiels
Mango, Plum headed parakeet
Tiko, African grey, Oscar, BFA
Flight: Yes

Re: Newbie!

Postby Pajarita » Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:47 am

Welcome to the forum, Toni and Bentley! Let us know if we can be of any help to you but, in the meantime (and forgive me if I am telling you something you already know), please make sure you are offering two kinds of soft food served warm and fresh twice a day and that you are still handfeeding him/her (they handfeed until they are 9 months old).
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Newbie!

Postby toni » Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:05 pm

Thank you so much everyone!
OMG Pajarita :O - I did ask 'shouldn't he be handfed soft foods still?' and they said no! He's on Harrisons high potency mix for molting, and Tidymix, plus a whole selection of fresh fruits and vegetables and nuts. As soon as my finger goes near his mouth he bobs his head up and down like hes trying to feed from it and i feel so bad for him but they told me he doesn't need hand feeding? Can you give me any advice on what I should offer him as i want him to get everything he needs and I thought he was too young to be fully weaned yet!!
toni
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 5
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: macaw blue and gold
Flight: Yes

Re: Newbie!

Postby ParrotsForLife » Wed Apr 19, 2017 5:48 pm

Wow cant believe they told you that :shock:
User avatar
ParrotsForLife
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1725
Location: Ireland,Dublin
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Rocko and Loki, Cockatiels
Mango, Plum headed parakeet
Tiko, African grey, Oscar, BFA
Flight: Yes

Re: Newbie!

Postby Pajarita » Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:43 am

toni wrote:Thank you so much everyone!
OMG Pajarita :O - I did ask 'shouldn't he be handfed soft foods still?' and they said no! He's on Harrisons high potency mix for molting, and Tidymix, plus a whole selection of fresh fruits and vegetables and nuts. As soon as my finger goes near his mouth he bobs his head up and down like hes trying to feed from it and i feel so bad for him but they told me he doesn't need hand feeding? Can you give me any advice on what I should offer him as i want him to get everything he needs and I thought he was too young to be fully weaned yet!!


Well, you need to take into consideration that, to a breeder (or a petstore), a baby parrot is merchandise and the faster you sell it, the more merchandise you move and the more money you make so, because the industry is completely unregulated and, although most people have the best of intentions but don't have any knowledge whatsoever about them, they wean the babies way faster than it should be done and can lie to you about it without it being illegal. If you check what macaw parents do in the wild, you will see that their babies stay with them for up to four years learning from them, and that the parents continue supplementing their food intake for nine months. I ALWAYS recommend that anybody who buys a baby parrot handfeeds even when the baby is already a juvenile and doesn't really need it from a nutritional point of view (which is NOT the case here). Why? Because handfeeding is the BEST (bar none!) bonding method we have and it prevents problems later on!

In your bird's case, he is old enough to eat on its own but he should still be handfed both for the nutrition, the bonding AND, last but NOT least, the feeling of belonging, of safety that they derive from it. I suggest you get yourself some handfeeding formula or, if you really want to do it right, make your own (I keep a jar of handfeeding formula in my fridge but I only use it in dire emergencies and until I have to time to get the materials to make my own because they are all soy-based and I don't feed any soy to any of my animals). When he makes that movement with his head, he is begging you to feed him... he is a little baby without a mama or a papa and he is asking you to be it, poor little thing! I would handfeed him twice a day (morning and night) and offer him two different kinds of soft food served warm and fresh also twice a day as well as 'adult' food on the side. Because that is what you are offering: adult food and the same way that you would not just put a plate of beef stew in front of a toddler and leave him to eat on his own but prepare special food for him and feed it with a spoon, you should not just put out adult parrot food in front of a baby parrot and leave it at that (and when you read this, you went "I KNEW IT!", didn't you? :D ). The thing is that, if you don't wean properly (and that means the kind AND amount of food PLUS the handfeeding), parrots develop eating disorders like constant begging (I am sure you have seen videos of adult parrots begging and begging and begging) or a condition where nothing is ever enough in terms of quantity (the parrot is fat and full and still begs for more) which, in time, means obesity (they've done studies with birds).

Soft food is just what it sounds like: food that is soft and easy digestible (same as for a human toddler). It's actually quite easy to make and the base can be whole grains (as in gloop), pastina, polenta, or even old fashioned oatmeal (not the instant kind) etc. mixed in with baby jar food.

I don't feed pellets because my research has found that they are not and never will be the best dietary option for parrots (too dry, no phytonutrients, inferior quality ingredients, all of them but Tops made with soy and lab made vitamins and minerals which we now know are not utilized as efficiently as the natural ones). I feed organic gloop with raw produce for breakfast and all day picking, nuts/seeds for dinner and I supplement with powdered multivitamin/mineral supplement twice a week (for the vit D3, mostly). I also change the diet from one season to another but that's another story... I've been doing this for over 20 years and not only my birds are healthy, the ones that come in with health issues are made better by it.

I also make my own handfeeding 'formula' by mixing whole grain flours with pureed baby food and fruit juice and/or water plus a bit of a multivitamin/mineral liquid supplement two or three times a week but I am a bit of a maniac when it comes to my animals food and people have used the commercial handfeeding formula successfully so start with that. The ONLY trick to handfeeding an older baby is to make sure the formula is at the right temperature (so keep a food thermometer handy) and that you insert the tip of the syringe on the left side of the beak pointing toward the right (this ensures the baby will not aspirate) but some people find it easier to just put the food under the tongue (in the 'bowl' of the lower beak) only some of them are real good with their tongues and push the syringe with it (my cockatoo does that).
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Newbie!

Postby toni » Sat Apr 22, 2017 8:37 am

Thank you so much Pajarita!

I'm not a parrot professional but I had an instinct straight away he was looking for me to feed him. Ive ordered him some formula to begin with and then may move on to baby foods like you suggest. I gave him some warm porridge oats just made with water last night to try him and he was a happy birdie, he loved it! His formula arrives today so he will be getting 2 feeds a day plus all his regular foods from now on. I knew I should have listened to my gut instinct from the beginning! I've had a parrot before, an Amazon, but he was older so I didn't need to know all the baby hand feeding info - I'm so glad I found this forum!

Thank you so much again for your help! x
toni
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 5
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: macaw blue and gold
Flight: Yes

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