Cockatoo NOT weaned (7months)
Piper_Cheroki
I bought an umbrella cockatoo from a breeder under the belief that he
was weaned. He was 6.5months when we got him.
He now calls 3 times a day to be hand feed, sits right back on his feet
and tilts his head as a chick would do to its mother and cheeps. He is
now 7months old and full of it, likes to swing and play but seems to
forget that food is actually more important.
He refuses to eat solid fruit, veggies, nuts, I have given him pellets,
to which he just likes ripping them up rather than eating them, I have
tried mixing them into soft foods so he gets a taste for them but it
just doesn't seem to be working.
My too will sometimes sit on his seed for a good 40minutes to an hour
only managing to eat 3 grams of kernels.
I have tried making birdy bread out of the pellets but he still won't
eat anything solid that's given to him. So I have been cooking a mass of
different vegetables and liquidizing it to a smooth paste, then adding
some fussy feeder vitamins to compensate for his lack of experimentation
with food. He wants it hot and will never take anything cold! I tried
making the paste a little lumpier every week but this failed from the
start, as he sifts throgh each mouthful as if it were poison and if he
finds a Lump or small chuck of anything in his mixture he spits the lot
out!! by lump I am talking (1mm - 2mm) in length!!!!!
He loves tea because of the warmth but I know he isn't supposed to have
this so this a rarity. It is like he is scared of anything different
unless its his seed or veggie paste!
Sometimes he will voluntarily fly on his seed but as I have said he will
pick out the tiniest seeds such as safflowers and only eat 3 grams in
the entire day.
His weight is up and down but seems to be hovering between 520 - 530
right now, thats with me still hand-feeding 3 times a day every 2-3hours.
I know this is a problem so what would be the best course of action to
get this bird to wean off? I believe he was tricking the breeder into
thinking he was actually weaned.
Any advice on getting this bird to eat properly would be great, as I
don't want to damage his nature nor his animal instincts more than
necessary but I felt I had to take this route or this "Too" would
certainly not be here today.