Baby Macaw Regurgitating All of His Food

[randyguthrie]

I have a baby blue and gold macaw. I am still hand feeding him. His weight topped out at about 1050g three weeks ago. It went down to abut 1000g and stayed there for two weeks. I just checked him today for the first time in a week and he is only 850g. He has developed a habit of regurgitating his food. At first I figured that if I did not keep him full all the time that he would be more careful with his food, but now I am uncertain about that idea. I give him 200ml of liquid food twice a day. I used to give him that amount three times a day when he was growing and before he started regurgitating without any problems. Can you tell me if I should be doing anything differently?

[marie83]

I don't know alot about macaws but I think the first thing I would do is get him to an avian vet for a check up. Thats quite alot of weight to lose in such a short space of time so need to be sure there is no underlying issues, then start thinking about what needs doing differently. How old is he? In the meantime give him as much food (within reason) as he wants.

[marie83]

By the way, im not being horrible when I ask but I don't know how experienced you are with hand rearing, are you always checking the temperature of the food and making sure there is no hot spots in it?

[randyguthrie]

I use tap water to mix his formula and I make sure that it is below my body temperature. I assume that it is about the same temp as milk that I would feed to a human baby.

[marie83]

How old is the baby? I strongly advise that you find someone who can show you how to do it properly, approximately how much to feed, when and how to wean etc.
It is normal for a baby parrot to lose a small amount of weight when weaning, or when they start flying, and getting to grips with adult food but from what you've said I'm assuming your parrot isn't weaning. A 200g weight loss is far too much. Please get an experienced breeder or a vet to guide you ASAP.

[GlassOnion]

Avian vet ASAP. We are just a group of parrot owners on here, we are not by any means, qualified to give the real/accurate information you need for you B&G. Losing weight could mean many different things, and being underweight during a growth period may cause abnormal stunting. Only a qualified avian vet can tell you what to do. Good luck.

[sidech]

Avian vet, this is an emergency. This baby has lot too much weight and should not be regurgitating.

Please go to the vet !

[liz]

Randy - what did the vet say? If he doesn't get a boost even his little bones will get brittle.