Hi,
That’s OK – my answer will be long! LOL
I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but the problem is with you, not the bird. YOU are in charge and you are letting this little bird control your life. Weaning is easy if you do it the right way. As long as you let the bird do what he wants, you aren’t going to wean him and you will end up giving him to a rescue because you aren’t getting any enjoyment out of this. Now, most cockatiels are weaned much too soon because the breeder wants to sell it. He is still at an age where in the wild, the parents would be teaching him to find food, but also still be supplementing him by feeding him. He has this instinct to cling to you because he knows you are supposed to give him food. He doesn’t necessarily understand that he needs to learn to eat it on his own.
To begin with, he can’t stay out of the cage all the time just because he wants to. If we let our birds do everything they want, our birds wouldn’t live very long. Just like if this was a small child, you must set boundaries. You must stick to what I am going to tell you. Each time you give in, you have undone any training you already did. And you are failing him. Seeds are not what you should be weaning him onto. If you do, he will never get the nutrition he needs. You should wean him onto pellets, or one of our foraging foods which are balanced just like pellets. While they do contain whole seeds, the difference is with loose seed mixes, the seeds have hulls, so any vitamins that are added are lost with the hulls. The seeds we use have the hulls removed so the added nutrition coats the seed, not the seed hull.
As for amount, you are going to starve him to death on one hand feeding a day. He needs three times a day until he is eating some foods on his own, then you cut out the middle feeding, then evening, and finally all hand feedings. First thing each morning, instead of handfeeding him, prepare a lot of different foods for him. Give him a dish of pellets or crumbled Avi-Cakes or Nutri-berries, a dish with cooked brown rice & mixed veggies, warmed, a dish of thick formula warmed, some cooked eggs, and fresh water. Yes, this is a lot of food and most will get thrown away, but this is how they learn to eat. Put him and the foods and water in the cage and leave the room. You must stay away from him where he can’t see or hear you for at least an hour. Otherwise he will just beg. He needs to think he is alone so he will explore the foods. After an hour, you can go to him and hand feed him. Repeat this an hour before each feeding. Don’t keep him out of the cage all the time – he needs to learn some independence and learn to eat. Don’t get him out because he screams or pitches a fit. Leave the room so he learns that this behavior does not work. Over time, he will eat more on his own and eat less formula until he refuses the formula. Again, you must commit to this and never give in or you have just wasted a lot of time and training and made it harder on him. I’m going to give you the links to our pages on behavior, training and feeding to help you better understand how to work with your bird. He will not learn from punishment or harsh words – all training needs to be positive. Ignore unwanted behavior and reward good behavior.
Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior
Teaching Your Bird
Bird Food Guide
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
