Help please. Baby Alexandrine is retarded

[Ashleigh253]

Hi everyone,

Please help me with my new birdie. He is a baby Alexandrine at 15 weeks of age. I just got him for a week. He cries a lot for food or whenever Im around. He still does the nodding as he is being fed by hands. According to the breeder, he was raised with all diff kinds of bird from budgies to conures and lorries. However, he is really bulky but light and slow; he doesnt do much during the day but sit still and stares at no where. If I put something in the cage, he wouldn't care less.

He is loosing weight gradually from 190gr to 177gr this morning. His lower beak is kinda shifted to the left with abit of deformation (I think its from syringe feeding when he was younger), his spine bone is curvy and his front belly bone is clearly shown (I think due to being skinny?).

The breeder said he has been weaned for the last 3 weeks. However; he eats really slowly and really picky. He has a habit of tipping the food tray upside down as well. Ive been tying the tray to the cage so he cant flip it.

I just wonder if he is the weaker baby of the very heavily bred mom who didnt have enough nutrients for him and whether or not he is a retarded bird that doesnt know how to act like a bird yet? Ive looked every websites but couldnt find any infomation about this topic. Any one experienced about stunted or retarded bird please help. Should I hand feed him, crop feed him or should I send him to a boarding school so he learns how to be a bird from other birds?

Thanks so much,
Ash

[Chantilly]

Hi everyone,

Please help me with my new birdie. He is a baby Alexandrine at 15 weeks of age. I just got him for a week. He cries a lot for food or whenever Im around. He still does the nodding as he is being fed by hands. According to the breeder, he was raised with all diff kinds of bird from budgies to conures and lorries. However, he is really bulky but light and slow; he doesnt do much during the day but sit still and stares at no where. If I put something in the cage, he wouldn't care less.

He is loosing weight gradually from 190gr to 177gr this morning. His lower beak is kinda shifted to the left with abit of deformation (I think its from syringe feeding when he was younger), his spine bone is curvy and his front belly bone is clearly shown (I think due to being skinny?).

The breeder said he has been weaned for the last 3 weeks. However; he eats really slowly and really picky. He has a habit of tipping the food tray upside down as well. Ive been tying the tray to the cage so he cant flip it.

I just wonder if he is the weaker baby of the very heavily bred mom who didnt have enough nutrients for him and whether or not he is a retarded bird that doesnt know how to act like a bird yet? Ive looked every websites but couldnt find any infomation about this topic. Any one experienced about stunted or retarded bird please help. Should I hand feed him, crop feed him or should I send him to a boarding school so he learns how to be a bird from other birds?

Thanks so much,
Ash

Hi Ash, were I you I would take him to a vet, it sounds to me like he is not eating enough and is possibly unwell, I would try feeding him baby formula, he is probably not really fully weaned like the breeder said.
what colour is his poo? this is important to know because if it is black and tarish, it means he hasnt been eating at all, also it must have a liquid part and a white part or he is dehydrated and isnt drinking.
Also how long have you had him? 3-4 days and he might just be stressed (thus the reason for not eating).
The others should be able to help you out more, but I think knowing these two things will reallyhelp them answer you, and give them more to work off.
I wish you the best with your baby

[Ashleigh253]

Hi,

Thanka so much for such a quick reply. I got him for a top buck from the guy named Greg (Caboolture) and he is not of much help (sell bird and thats all). I took him to Brisbane Bird Vet 2 days ago and Adrian was suggesting that he might be "retarded" and wasnt weaned properly and I should crop feed the baby ( heard so many diff opinions on crop feed so might have to do it if things dont get better). Really want to know if anyone has been having a baby acting like Rex and any luck growing up.

I put Rex and Patch (Indian Ringneck) in the same cage since yesterday hopefully Patch will teach Rex a bit of how to eat,to move and be a normal bird. So far not so much luck cause Rex bites out curiousity and it hurts. Patch has been running away from Rex.

[Chantilly]

Hi,

Thanka so much for such a quick reply. I got him for a top buck from the guy named Greg (Caboolture) and he is not of much help (sell bird and thats all). I took him to Brisbane Bird Vet 2 days ago and Adrian was suggesting that he might be "retarded" and wasnt weaned properly and I should crop feed the baby ( heard so many diff opinions on crop feed so might have to do it if things dont get better). Really want to know if anyone has been having a baby acting like Rex and any luck growing up.

I put Rex and Patch (Indian Ringneck) in the same cage since yesterday hopefully Patch will teach Rex a bit of how to eat,to move and be a normal bird. So far not so much luck cause Rex bites out curiousity and it hurts. Patch has been running away from Rex.

I wouldnt put him in with your ringneck right now... they could too easily hurt eachother

[liz]

You need a 1 month quarantine from your Urn. That bird may be sick and not even the vet knows it.

If he is retarded it is a good thing that you got him instead of someone who really doesn't care.

To me it seems that he is cold, alone and scared. Alone meaning that he is not with his sibblings.

If it was me I would feed him baby bird formula. If he does not know how to eat then he is very weak is why he is still and staring. Keep him with you as much as you possibly can. Some birds like to hide in their human's shirts. Mine never did but some did liked the comfort and heat of my hands when they were new to me.

If it was me means that I look at things different than others. I see my cockatiels as each needing different things from me even though they are flocked. They are all rescues and some are physically handicapped but most are mentally handicapped because of the baggage that came with them.

We have educated bird humans in this sight. The first that come to mind are Wolf and Pajarita. But Chantilly and others are up and coming researchers too. I draw my knowledge from them.

Most of my rescues came to me in dirty cages and they were skinny and malnourished from being kept on a seed diet. Most should never trust a human again, but once they get all the food they want and see that I love them without needing anything from them, they do come around. Caring for them has been rewarding

Most cannot be touched but some have been able to touch me. I am so grateful that I am able to care for these babies after taking them from living hells.

[Wolf]

What exactly did the vet in Brisbane do for your bird? And what were his instructions? If he suggested crop feeding, which is very dangerous if not done properly, did he take the time to show you how to do it properly? I find myself having more questions than answers in regards to this vet. I would be looking for a better vet if I were you as this one does not seem to care very much about your bird.

I really don't know where to begin as there are so many possible things that could be the cause of the things that you have described. Yes, he could have been improperly weaned and probably was, but I think that that may just be a part of this birds problems. He was likely gavage or syringe fed improberly resulting in a beak deformity which will require treatment through careful trimming for the rest of his life. It is likely that the bird is malnourished as well as probably underfed and may also have a sour crop or some other type of crop infection that needs to be addressed. When you say that he is bulky but very light, that leads me to believe that he is having problems maintaining his body heat, which could be the result of mal and/ or under nourishment or from an infection. either way the bird needs supportive care such as using a heating pad placed under a towel or two and covered with paper for ease of cleaning. the towels are so that the heating pad does not burn your baby, but the temperature in the box or whatever he is in, not a cage needs to be raised to close to 90 degrees F. The container needs to be larger than the heating pad so that the bird can move off of it if it is too warm and needs to have water at all times. you will probably need to give the bird some fruit juice not only to hydrate the bird but to help give him enough energy to try and eat.

Pajarita is much more knowledgeable than I am and can give you much better advice than I can on the care of this bird. So I would recommend that you follow her advice over mine when she replies to this.

[Ashleigh253]

Hi Wolf,
The Vet is really kind and he is an Avian Vet. He has done numerous surgeries to cure wild birds or strayed birds so I have a huge respect for him.

He suggested that the bird is retarded. Underweight. Acting like a baby still in the nest.

His suggestions: crop feeding twice a day. He and his nurse Hannah trained me for about 15 minutes on how to crop feed correctly. Furthermore, ive been watching Vetafam youtube videos about crop freeding so abit more confident today.

Updates: baby Alex is only 175gr and he needs foods so I crop fed him twice today. Just put him to sleep. He seems respond to it pretty well. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Been cuddling him as much as I could today(Patchie the ringneck was jelly that poor thing). He still came towards me but whenever I put my hands out for him to step up, he ran away. I hope that the crop feeding doesnt destroy the trust with my hands. His droppings is watery with spaghetti sort of shape in light yellowish green color. He has been a bit more active today when I got home from work. (Biting toys, playing with the veg stick and preening himself).

[Chantilly]

Hi.. again
I really wouldnt crop feed unless you are certain it is the only option. First try syringe feeding (make sure the syringe dosent have a rubber on it, or spoon feeding from a plastic spoon.
I have heard of Adrian, and supposedebly he is great....

[Ashleigh253]

Hi Chantilly. Yes I love Adrian and he really is great. It took him 1.5 hours to look at Rex and Patch and taught me how to crop feed the baby .

So far, ive been crop feed him alright. is now 187gr . However, he still bobs his head and screams at my fave and fingers. I meant really is screaming. Is it from the crop feeding?

If I leave my hands on the table, he will slowly comes toward me, bobs his head, makes his baby crying screaming sound and draws blood out of my fjngers (dont worry, i sat still and ignored the whole event). If there isnt any hand on the table, he still comes toward me and does the sane thing. If Im out of sight, he stops making noises all together , complete opposite to my baby IRN.

He doesnt make any sound if my partner is around.

Im kinda upset cause what traumas did I caused that make him so scared of me ((

[liz]

Crop feeding is invasive and he could be reacting to your hands as hurtful monsters.
I have rescued animals who were so malnourished that they no longer wanted food. You have fed him enough that he should have come out of it. Siring feeding is more natural since the babies lay their heads back when a parent feeds them.