Trained Parrot BlogParrot Wizard Online Parrot Toy StoreThe Parrot Forum

Truman is Not Eating Well

Talk about bird illnesses and other bird health related issues. Seeds, pellets, fruits, vegetables and more. Discuss what to feed your birds and in what quantity. Share your recipe ideas.

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby Michael » Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:03 am

I haven't really considered that. You think he'll drink that if he won't even drink water?
User avatar
Michael
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 6286
Location: New York
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Cape Parrot, Green-Winged Macaw
Flight: Yes

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby lzver » Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:26 am

It might be worth a shot giving it to him in a syringe. There's probably more of a chance that he'll ingest some of the fluids that way.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laura's Bird World Blog - http://laurasbirdworld.blogspot.com/
Jessie - Senegal
Lucy - Red Bellied
Kylie - Meyers
User avatar
lzver
Amazon
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 788
Location: Guelph, ON
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: 1 Senegal; 1 Red-Bellied; 1 Meyers
Flight: Yes

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby pchela » Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:33 am

He needs to eat. Try organic natural peanut butter or almond butter, hand rearing formula, Mac and cheese, anything he will eat. I know you want a strictly healthy diet but he has to gain and maintain his weight right now. Even a bunch of sunflower seeds are better than nothing right now. Good luck. I will be hoping the best for Truman.
"I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks, yes, you can talk, but LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" ~ Jack Handy ~ Deep Thoughts
User avatar
pchela
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1281
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal -Pippin
Red Belly - Nicholas
Lesser Jardine's - Rupert
Timneh African Grey - Isabeau (Ibby)
Flight: Yes

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby Michael » Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:37 am

He has never refused an almond.

Here's the one thing I worry about though. I worry that if I give him a load of almonds now, then he won't be hungry/motivated enough to eat anything else come later. So for instance this morning he hasn't eaten anything so I'm not going to give him anything till around noon (9AM-12PM) to give him a chance to come around to eating pellets. I know his morning weight so I can see if he ends up picking anything up or not. If he hasn't eaten anything by then or even if he has but not enough, I'll give him an almond and a walnut to hold him over and possibly oatmeal as well.

Or do you think it's better to just feed him nothing but nuts all day just to get calories?

PS I called the vet office today and they said the manager is out till Friday but they will bring the billing issue up with her when she returns.
User avatar
Michael
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 6286
Location: New York
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Cape Parrot, Green-Winged Macaw
Flight: Yes

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby pchela » Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:17 am

Honestly, if it were me, I would just feed him his favorite foods all day, as much as he wants. He has to keep his weight up. I know you worry about their diets and have a mainly pelleted diet, but the important thing is that he gets the calories now. I wouldn't even worry about pellets until he'll eat them willingly. I would put a bowl filled with pellets, nuts and anything you think he might eat in with him and let him eat what he wants. Also, as others have suggested, if he's not drinking, he'll need pedialyte, possibly from a syringe if he won't take it on his own. Birds can dehydrate very easily. Rapid weight loss is terrible for a bird. Just load him up with almonds and if he loves almonds, maybe some almond butter as well. Anything he will eat, I'd give to him in abundance right now. If he continues to lose weight, you may have to hand feed him. Do you stay in touch with Jean Pattison? She may have some good advice for you.
"I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks, yes, you can talk, but LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" ~ Jack Handy ~ Deep Thoughts
User avatar
pchela
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1281
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal -Pippin
Red Belly - Nicholas
Lesser Jardine's - Rupert
Timneh African Grey - Isabeau (Ibby)
Flight: Yes

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby Michael » Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:45 am

Ok, so I went and fed him oatmeal cause he hadn't eaten any pellets for the two hours he has been awake. I hope it's ok to feed the flavored oatmeals (today was apple cinnamon). He almost seemed to like it on the first few bites. But he doesn't really make any effort to lick off the spoon himself. You should see Kili, she goes crazy for oatmeal. With Truman it seems like the name of the game is if I can get it in his beak, he'll swallow it. Getting it in there is a challenge though. He'll turn away and close his beak. I'll pry it open a bit with the spoon and use a finger to flush some oatmeal off the spoon and into his mouth. 3/4 ends up on the floor or on me. Luckily I'm doing this on his training perch and there is a newspaper underneath.

It seemed like I barely got any of this into him at all (maybe 4 teaspoons where 3/4 of each ended up on the floor) but upon weighing him I discovered that it was nearly 10g of food/liquid. That's a good start. Brought him up from 306g to 315g. Then I left him with an almond and a walnut cracked in half (in the shell). He seemed eager to have the nuts.
User avatar
Michael
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 6286
Location: New York
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Cape Parrot, Green-Winged Macaw
Flight: Yes

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby Michael » Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:57 am

I just got off the phone talking to Jean Pattison. She suggested feeding him Exact baby formula so I ordered a pack of formula, syringe, and thermometer overnighted from Drsfostersmith. The shipping is more than the actual stuff but I'll feel more comfortable having it. And considering how much I'm spending on vet care as it is, $50 for backup food isn't that bad. She suggested putting a little peanut butter and Lafeber's into the mix. She said to feed it at 110 degrees. That the warmth would encourage him to eat it. I've been fearful of serving the oatmeal too hot so if anything I was over cooling it. She told me that overcooling is almost the bigger issue.

Also she told me it's better to give him gatorade than pediolyte (sorry ono idea about spellings). She also suggested human baby food, papaya nectar, or fresh papaya. She agreed that under the circumstances it is better for him to be eating anything than nothing at all.
User avatar
Michael
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 6286
Location: New York
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Cape Parrot, Green-Winged Macaw
Flight: Yes

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby pchela » Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:38 pm

I'm glad Jean was available to help. I've heard that Gatorade has too much salt and pedialyte is better but I will defer to Jean who has way more experience than me.

If you need any help with hand feeding please feel free to pm me. You should be fine since you've already been handfeeding medicine but just in case, I'll check back often for the next few days.
"I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks, yes, you can talk, but LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" ~ Jack Handy ~ Deep Thoughts
User avatar
pchela
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1281
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal -Pippin
Red Belly - Nicholas
Lesser Jardine's - Rupert
Timneh African Grey - Isabeau (Ibby)
Flight: Yes

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby Giantmoa » Wed Aug 18, 2010 1:49 pm

:? have you tried mashed sweet potatoes? its healthy and my bird goes nuts for a bit of it, but she loves anything warm and mushy...
I came across this article if you want to try more ideas:
http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-diet-an ... foods.aspx

hope this helps even a little bit & good luck
:gcc: Rainbow
User avatar
Giantmoa
Poicephalus
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 361
Location: California
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Green Cheek Conure
Flight: No

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby entrancedbymyGCC » Wed Aug 18, 2010 3:32 pm

lzver wrote:Have you considered giving Truman Pedialyte to ensure he doesn't become dehydrated? If he won't accept on his own, try feeding using a syringe. You can even try a 100% fruit juice if you have it around..


I had read the same suggestions, I think in Gallersteins book. Juices are calorie dense and easy to eat....
Scooter :gcc:
Death Valley Scotty :cape:
User avatar
entrancedbymyGCC
Cockatoo
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 2106
Location: Southern California aka LALA land
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Green Cheek Conure
(Un)Cape Parrot
Flight: No

PreviousNext

Return to Health, Nutrition & Diet

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google Adsense [Bot] and 26 guests

Parrot ForumArticles IndexTraining Step UpParrot Training BlogPoicephalus Parrot InformationParrot Wizard Store