Congo african grey

[Lisha]

Hi all..I recently bought a congo african grey he was only 11 weeks hes now 17 weeks old.For the past week he vomits hes porridge is this normal? This only started about a week ago and im confused.please help

Ps i hand feed him through a syringe

[Wolf]

Get him to the vet tomorrow or even tonight if possible, he needs help and he needs it fast.

[Pajarita]

Ditto! Run to the avian vet! A 17 week old bird should be eating on its own already...

[Lisha]

Thank u guys so much..I was told to stop the formula and leave him as hes eating seeds i do give him fruits and veggies but i just dont know if hes getting enough.Hes behaviour hasnt changed in any way hes still so playful but im just so used to him already and worry about him..So il stop the formula completely now

[Wolf]

Are you saying that you took him to the vet and the vet said to take him off of the formula? Or did someone else tell you to stop the formula? This is important as he may have a crop infection and if so this needs to be addressed by the vet. You can pay the vet now and resolve this before it gets worse or you can wait and pay even more for additional medical care if this is an infection. If you took him to the vet them most of what I have just said should be disregarded, but if you did not take him to see the vet, you could be making a big mistake, I would prefer that you don't make this type of mistake.

[Lisha]

Hi wolf sorry i didnt specify in my previous msg..I did take him to the vet and dats when i was told to take him off the formula he cannot be on a formula and seet diet as well as veggies and fruits.When i bought him from the pet store they told me to keep him on formula for another 2 months and i just have him over a month.

[Wolf]

Thank you, I was hoping that the vet was who told you to take him off the formula.

Pet stores are terrible and most of them will not bother with giving you any instruction especially on the care of a bird. I don't have a very good opinion of them or breeders as they are more interested in getting your money than in the well being of these birds, something that I find to be shameful.

[Lisha]

I totally agree with u on that i feel the pet stores dont give u much info on the bird itself and how to properly take care of it..My husband bought him he just fell in love with the bird i wasnt to keen at first but ever since we got him i cannot imagine not having him around..My birds name is Rio by the way..Only after we bought Rio thats when i decided to do research and ive read they shoouldnt be selling birds so young that cannot eat themselves and need to be hand fed

[Wolf]

Well, I don't know what all you have read, but it is very true that they should not be selling birds that are not fully weaned and in addition to this they should have been taught to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables as well. The ones that do comply and only sell weaned birds still only just barely have them eating seeds and/ or pellets and then they fail to inform the new bird owner that they need to teach the bird to eat fruits and vegetables or how to go about doing this with their bird.

The level of weaning that is done by these still place the bird at too young of an age to have been completely weaned, meaning that the bird is eating adult foods but is still to young to be able to get the full amount of nutrition that they need from the adult food so that they still need the handfeeding formula as a supplement for a while longer.

I and many others like me have these complaints as well as several other ones, but they still all boil down to the breeders and pet stores only caring about the exchange of your money from your hand to their hands and not the well being of these birds.

If there is a way for us to help you, please do not hesitate to ask, we will certainly do our best to help.

[Pajarita]

I would still offer a couple of soft foods served fresh and warm twice a day - and even a bit of formula in a bowl so he can eat it on his own (not for long but for, at least, a week - I don't like to do ANYTHING cold turkey with birds). He is still weaning so it's not as if he is to eat only adult food just yet...

Why don't you check our diet section? Lots of good advice and recipes there.