June 25, 2021
eclectus baby
when do i stop feeding the eclectus baby? is it 12 weeks or more?
At what age do i introduce solid foods or fruits to weaned baby?
When will they try to fly? at which month?
Question:
Answer:
Hi VeeTee,
When the chick starts to pick at things, you can go ahead and introduce some soft foods. This may be as early as 6 weeks old. You can mix some thick formula and put in a dish and also cook some brown rice and add mixed veggies and serve this to him warm, in a dish. He will start to pick at soft foods and soon you will notice he is eating some of the food. Between 8-10 weeks, you can offer more solid food like pellets. What you want to do is fix a variety of foods each morning to give him about an hour before you hand feed him. This can be pellets, soft foods, fruits, veggie, thick formula and water. Leave the room where he can see or hear you for about an hour. Then you can return to him and hand feed him. Repeat this about an hour before each hand feeding. You want him to be hungry, but you also don’t want to starve him into eating. With this process, he will eat a bit more each time. You will have a lot of wasted food, but he needs to learn to try different foods and eat on his own, without developing any food anxiety or getting stressed out. He may be weaned at 12 weeks, but most likely he will still want to be hand fed once or twice a day for a few more weeks. This is the healthiest was to wean him – you should never force a parrot to wean because it can cause behavioral and food issues with him. He can fly as soon as his wing feather grow, so be careful. Baby birds can get injured when they first fly. You never want him to fly if his crop is full of formula or he might land on it and aspirate food. You can google the term “abundance weaning” to learn more about the right way to wean a parrot.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
