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help--skinny nbird not eating

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help--skinny nbird not eating

Postby clicerhelp » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:42 pm

Hello board,

I've owned an african grey before. she would eat anything and everything. i never had a problem feeding her and never gave AMOUNT of food a second thought (only nutrition). I now have 2 brand new pionus. i know nothing about pionus parrots (except that I've read some of the research on wild pionus diet in the wild). The 2 birds are on their 3rd day in my home. One of the birds is dangerously thin. The vet says I need to fatten him/her up.

The bird, Ricco, has taken almonds from me, but will only eat about half an almond then tosses the rest. The same for Brazil nuts, hazelnuts. (S)he took a walnut but only took one bite then tossed the rest. won't eat pecans. picks at zupreem. rhas thus far refused oranges, cheese, canned corn, swiss chard, grapes, broccoli, chicken, bacon, strawberries.

how much (quantity) should a pionus consume each day? what about in order to gain weight? Should I try to feed very high fat foods? if so, which ones?

how do I get him/her to eat, and what should I try? vet says all is well health-wise. I need suggestions!

Thanks,
Val
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Re: help--skinny nbird not eating

Postby SirHubi » Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:24 pm

I heard that scrambled egg encourages a parrot to eat fruit and vegetables, but I'm not sure if it is truth. You can always give it a shot ;)
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Re: help--skinny nbird not eating

Postby purringparrot » Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:05 pm

What about a feeding formula? Also did the vet do any blood work to make sure that she isn't eating do to illiness? If she isn't timid of you how about a warmed mixture that can be spoonfed. All our birds love to be spoonfed bananas mashed up with sweet potatoes and then warmed.
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Re: help--skinny nbird not eating

Postby TheNzJessie » Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:14 am

if all else fails try soak seed, its what some birds are given as there first 'real' food after handraising foods because of its high nutrience and fat (form the sunflower seeds)

i would recomend you try that if you birds is a seed eater the mix has chick peas corn oats and sunflower seeds and is cheap ($4 new zealand dollars a KG) in new zealand
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Re: help--skinny nbird not eating

Postby notscaredtodance » Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:09 am

I'd be much more concerned about an unerweight bird than just "fatteninng it up" it could be an intestinal parasite/bacteria that's keeping it thin. A general rule is that a bird eats 15% to 20% of its body weight every day. Meaning if your poicephalis is 190 grams it should be eating about 30 grams of food.

What is good is that it's eating high fat foods. Obviously nuts aren't good for a long term diet, but keeping weight up and provding energy... i'd prefer using nuts too.


I also agree with the formula idea for essential nutrients.You should be able to purchase a powder in your local petstore. Assuming the petstore has a decent pet bird section.

Good luck with your bird, and keep a really close eye on it. They can deteriorate very quicklyl if something is wrong.
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Re: help--skinny nbird not eating

Postby TheNzJessie » Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:34 am

i was not implying it needed 'fattning up' i was just merely suggesting going back to the basic foods and see if he/she eats it, i only said fat because sunflowers are included and are 'fattening'
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