im so sorry that i cannot help i ahve no experience hand feeding birds except for feeding a 4 day old turkey live locusts! the breeder was absolutely in the wrong to sell you a bird that was not confident in eating on its own. and good for you for taking you're bird to the vet. a lot of people don't captwest gave some really good advice. i was at the birdbarn the other day getting some bird food and i lent up against a cage (thinking it was empty) to get my wallet out and i got bitten on the shoulder by a b.g macaw. its has a beak deformity so he cant bite properly LUCKY FOR ME. and he was a very old grumpy thing too!
i wish you the best of luck with you're bird





