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Post by anniea1234 on Nov 5, 2005 20:19:11 GMT -7
We just bought a Congo African Grey last week at a bird fair in AZ. He'll be 14 weeks old tomorrow. His breeder said he was on 3 feedings a day. We were the ones that wanted to take him home that day. I've had a Blue Front in the past, and we have tiels and 2 conures. We bought our sun at a different bird fair last spring unweaned, and she's the most beautiful, loving, but jelouse bird we have. I've read so much contradictory info on the net. I prefer to spoon feed, (I had bought baby spoons for the tiels, but they're too big for their mouths, my son wants to feed him with the giant syringe. The conure was much easier to feed, Caeser, our grey, likes to try to get on my shoulder to eat. He's also eating fruit, but not many vegetables yet. I give him a mix of pellets with fresh water and some cockatiels seed mixed in, as he doesn't seem to be able to handle the parrot pellets or seed mix yet. He likes millet. He's started coming down from the perch on top of his cage and playing on the top with toys and climbs around the outside of the cage. If he thinks he's been alone in my room too long, he'll come out and find us. Our vet is on vacation, so I'm taking him in Tuesday, the breeder said he was vet checked, but the more articles I read, the more confused I get, so I want to get his advise on how many cc's he should be eating, calcium deficiencies and so on. He seems to like the cuttlebone, but then I was reading about phosphorus imbalances. I worry about him as much as if he was a baby, which he is. I checked out some ads in the paper, but they were older birds for which the owners were asking too much, one admitted I would need to use gloves to handle the bird, the other one we drove out to see, had ever feather plucked out, they had no idea how old he was as they found him in a park. I think we paid too much for this one, but my son nagged me to death, and I'm in love with him now too. How do I post a picture of him? Thanks, sorry it was such a long post.
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Post by Jane on Nov 6, 2005 3:43:40 GMT -7
Hello and welcome to the forum. There is a lot of contradictory information on the internet because there is a lot of controversy about avian nutrition and research is ongoing. It is natural to worry but your baby sounds great. Keeping an eye on weight is always a good idea, I still weigh mine and they are 12 and 14 years old. He should be close to being weaned so keep offering a variety of foods. Mitzi particularly liked peas whan she was a baby - and still does. Pictures need to be on a website first, and see the topic about avatars in the FAQ section.
Jane
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Post by AnnieA on Nov 6, 2005 6:24:02 GMT -7
Thank you Jane. I'll look into to buying a bird scale. The vet will be weighing him on Tuesday, and I'll ask him where I should go to get a reasonably priced scale. I'm so glad I found this site.
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Post by Jane on Nov 6, 2005 13:43:42 GMT -7
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Post by AnnieA on Nov 7, 2005 8:08:42 GMT -7
Thanks, I'll look in the department stores for an electroinic kitchen scale. I didn't know they made them. How much more will he grow?
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Post by Jane on Nov 7, 2005 9:17:46 GMT -7
Probably not much more and they tend to lose some weight during weaning. I got Mitzi at 12 weeks and she was smaller than Monty at that time so still had some growing to do.
The other thing is that there is quite a variation in weight for adult Congos, some are bigger than others and that is why the build of the bird has to be taken into consideration as well as the weight.
Jane
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Post by anniea1234 on Nov 15, 2005 17:02:57 GMT -7
He checked out fine at the Vet. His breeder said he did some unnecessary tests, but he's fine and so is his weight. He's on my shoulder watching me type. He likes looking at the computer screen. We went to a bird fair on Sunday and bought him a larger cage. (No, we didn't bring the bird). He seemed larger than the greys that were for sale at that fair. Caeser is 16 weeks now and doesn't want to be weaned. We cut him down to 2 feedings a day, but fruits and vegetables are fed to him thoughout the day and he seems to be eating fine. He won't necessarily be a one person bird will he, my son and I both try to spend equal time with him, He's making a lot of different sounds, not speech, but he's added a whoo to his whistling and baby talk. He's such a neat bird. We also have tiels and 2 conures, one sun and one nanday.
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Post by agmommy on Dec 5, 2005 14:49:41 GMT -7
This is kinda a delayed responce but here goes anyways... Keep in mind has he gets wean he will lose some weight. make sure you are watching how much he eats, some babys just take longer to wean than others. I would assume being that it is dec. he is on 1 feeding or completly weaned? Please post some pics!
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Post by spookyhurst on Dec 5, 2005 23:52:10 GMT -7
A question for agmommy and anniea...which vet do you use? Right now Nikko has to go to the bird rescue clinic in Tucson for vet care, but once the adoption is final, I would rather take him somewhere local (Phoenix area).
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Post by anniea1234 on Dec 6, 2005 6:43:09 GMT -7
Yes, he's on one feeding a day now. He really doesn't eat all that much of it, and we just feed him off a baby spoon now. It's more like a ritual he has to have then he's really hungry. He gets antsy about the time we usually feed him and will even walk to the kitchen to let us know its time. He can't handle the parrot mixes or pellets yet, so we're feeding him conure food. He likes eggs, oatmeal, broccali, snow peas and all fruit, esp. grapes and bananas. How old will he be when he can eat the the parrot sized mixes and pellets? I trited to cut and paste a picture here, it didnt' work.
I use Dr Funk at VCA Mesa animal hospital. It's on 8th street and Country Club. We were refered to him by another vet who was down the street when when of our tiels was hurt and they didn't do birds. I like him.
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Post by anniea1234 on Dec 10, 2005 9:47:53 GMT -7
Finally weaned him last night. Petsmart was out of Kaytee exact and we have 3 babie tiels. The oldest one looks big enough to start feeding. So we did the ritual with grapes and cheerios instead. Seemed to make him happy. The night before that, it seemed like Lupe, our sun, and Paulie, our Papa tiel ate more of the formula than Ceaser our AG. Then I ended up dumping the rest down the sink.
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Post by lindsay on Dec 10, 2005 11:08:05 GMT -7
Georgie is still on one feed at about 7 o'clock, he's really funny cause when he's eating out of his bowl or you offer him something from your hand when it's nearly his feed time he makes little begging noises and tries to eat things using that little pumping motion that babies use to eat their formula. I don't know when I should consider stopping this final feed, he does still seem to enjoy it and he sees it as his cue to make his way to his high perch ready for bed....so cute.
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Preston
Super Talker
NEED HELP? WE WILL ANSWER AS FAST AS WE CAN (Note: Preston passed away in 2012. We hold his memories dearly, he was a great person and super moderator.)
Sisika and Pete
Joined: January 2005
Posts: 5,912
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Post by Preston on Dec 10, 2005 16:10:18 GMT -7
Why stop the feeding? Just change the food to a snack or treat and continue the bonding time; especially if it causes him to perch for the night. It sounds like a good little game you have going, and if you have the time continue it. Monitor his weight to see if it falls too much as some weight loss is normal after weening completly.
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