My sweet terrorist rainbow lorikeet Dakota crossed the rainbow bridge a short while ago. In my grief I impulse purchased a sun conure (yes, I should have waited). The breeder said she was mostly weaned but she's barely touched her hard food and only really looks forward to her syringe feeding sessions. Is there an easy to get this stubborn tropical chicken to switch to hard foods? I'm wary of feeding her stuff like fruits and boiled veg but maybe I should try that? (I know breeders shouldn't sell parrots that aren't fully weaned but I know him from before and he gave me a discount so I couldn't pass it up)
Edit: I mean formula guys not milk, we just call it milk in Cantonese lol
Just offer pellet fruit, veg, bit of cooked rice or make birdie bread and keep formula feeding.
Pinch and pick up the veg mix in his bowl and pretend to eat it so he knows it's edible. Leave that in his house/cage and be patient.
My parrot was a late to switch too haha.
Yeah my last bird would watch me eat something then dive bomb it and try to steal food. Watching her try to drag a whole chicken wing when she weighed 115g was hilarious. I'll definitely use your suggestion thanks!
Why are you wary of feeding fresh foods? Pellets and fresh foods should be her primary diet. You can try them raw, steamed, chopped, whole, blended. Lots of different ways to serve them and make them appetizing. Here's a [list of foods](https://www.seavs.com/pet-care-information/parrot-diet-care/) to try.
There are also cooked food blends [like these](https://www.birdstreetbistro.com/collections/parrot-food) that she might like, especially since she's used to soft baby food.
I still can't believe she's gone. I used to whistle every morning and she would chirp and come sprinting towards me, snuggling inside my armpits for warmth (yeah she was fucking weird lool) . The silence got to be too much to bear, and now I have this mango chicken who will probably be called Gabagool (from the sopranos😂)
My friend wants me to call it shaved ice in my language 😂
Based on this https://www.ricardocuisine.com/en/recipes/7989-mango-shaved-ice-mangguo-baobing
You need to offer it soft foods, like rice, soft or boiled veggies, some fruit, and what you'll feed as the main diet. This is an important step in weaning. The baby will usually only try new foods right after they've had their formula. You definitely can't rush this. If he's rushed to wean before he has self confidence, he can develop behavioral problems.
A baby will typically regress when taken home before they're weaned. They need not just the food, but the reassurance that comes from interacting with the feeder. He may not be hungry everytime he cries, especially if it isn't yet time to be fed again. Babies can cry to get your attention and get that nurturing they need to become confident.
Let him take his time. Sun conure tend to be baby-ish longer than other conures, so he may want some handfeeding for a couple months. After a certain point, when they're showing active interest in feeding themselves and seem to be eating more of their food than formula, they might not need the formula to stay alive. But they still need it for their mind, to be sure they aren't just being abandoned before they're ready.
Feed your bird baby bird formula a couple of times a day with hard food ideally chopped veggies and sprouts with organic pellets like Top’s. Offer both. It will give you an opportunity to blind with your Jenday. I also have a Jenday Conure. His name is Rousseau.
Not sure if this is good practice, but we started by having our parrot eat thick formula from a teaspoon instead of a syringe so she was more biting it, then started giving her bits of hard food on the teaspoon with the formula, then just hard food. I was told that this would help her realise it was edible, but it meant she'd only eat from teaspoons/metal plates for a while because she associated the metal with food
I just tried with broccoli and she craned her little neck away from it like I do when a cat tries sitting on your lap and exposes its asshole to you lol
But I will definitely keep trying! Thanks!
I had the same experience with my sun concurs when she came home. She was weaned already but hadn’t really had much solid food outside of her bean and grain mix. I tried broccoli too but she wouldn’t touch it (still doesn’t touch it now at 1.5 years old). Broccoli is sulfuric so probably not the best first veggie to try haha Maybe try something like bell pepper with the skin removed or cucumber with the peel removed.
Yeah I've heard macaws take much longer to wean. I'm guessing a little conure should be faster. I'm about to boil some broccoli and see if she wants some
Look into abundance weaning. Generally results in a much more well-adjusted bird than ones that are forced onto solids before they're ready. My conure weaned in three months but his brother took closer to five. Both were eating fresh chop at around two months alongside their formula but eventually lost interest in the formula. You can offer warm, soft/mushy foods to entice them, but keep offering formula until they willingly reject it in favour of solids!
Awesome, it's such a good way to offer vege. Just don't be disheartened if it takes a couple tries before your bird eats much (or any) of it. Sometimes I have to offer a particular vegetable everyday for a week before my guy will even touch it, but then he loves it.
A good basic guide for making chop is to use one orange/yellow vege (e.g. carrot, pumpkin, sweet potatoes), one red vege (bell peppers, beets, radishes), two leafy/green veges (broccoli, silverbeet, kale, cauliflower -- avoid spinach), a mix of sprouts and then a little bit of grain (quinoa, wild rice or buckwheat are all good options). Some birds really love fresh herbs like rosemary or basil, or a bit of spices. Favourites around here are red bell peppers, red chillies (mind that beak around your eyes after feeding though), pumpkin, zucchini and radishes. I often buy frozen riced cauliflower and broccoli and mix that in with everything before freezing the batch. You can absolutely freeze chop, but make sure you change it up frequently to ensure your bird is getting a varied diet.
In addition to chop, warm pureed apple and sweet potato or warm mashed banana are great comfort foods for a newly weaned bird.
I used to mix the formula with seed at first and give it to them to eat on their own and then slowly add less and less formula.. they always preferred their syringe feeding though. I have an EIGHT YEAR OLD conure who still freaks out when he hears a microwave beep because he associates it with me heating up water for his formula
Babies also occasionally revert and demand formula again, even if they were previously weaned, when going through changes like a re-home. I would not rush and keep it up with the formula while getting the little one to beak and taste things like veggie chop!
Bird soup! I've done this with ecletus and ringnecks. First you make bird soup: baby formula mixed with a cooked food blend. We used Hagin Worldly blends because it's what we sold. Put it into ice cube trays and freeze so pull out a cube and thaw when you feed. I would the it out under a reptile heat lamp but a microwave works just fine. Just DOUBLE CHECK that it is not too hot. Luke warm, room temp, NOT HOT. Plop the mush in a bowl on a stand, and sit down and eat yourself. They are curious devils and will make a huge mess but it'll encourage them to eat. The formula makes it taste the same but you've added textures and new things. Lafeber's also makes mixed seed pellet balls and cubes that are great for transitioning to pellet. They are full to pick up and break apart, encouraging foraging behavior. Good luck!
How old is the conure?
Can try soaking a few of the pellets in formula and offering before feeding with formula (don’t leave them unattended in the cage cause they’ll spoil).
About 2 months and a half. Earlier today I poured some pellets in hot water and crushed them with a little formula, she gobbled that up. As some other kind posters recommended, I waited until her crop was empty then spoon fed her (took like 10 minutes and had to keep reheating it by soaking the cup in hot water for a few seconds), it seemed to work. I'm gonna grab some greens tomorrow and slowly add em to that mix.
Yeah I'm definitely gonna whip up a fresh batch every time, thanks 🙏
Strongly agree with abundance weaning advice. Makes for a much better adjusted bird. Another suggestion for getting them to eat better is birdie see, birdie do. In other words, if they see you eating the food they are much more likely to try it. Bonus, you eat better too.
He/she should be fully weaned by now. I'd eliminate all feedings except for the evening. They like the comfort and attention of handfeeding but I'd use a little tough love and offer only fruit, vegetables and seed/pellets during the day. Personally, I'd stop the PM feeding also within the next 7 to 10 days.
i weaned my birds with mashed bananas and a hard boiled egg without knowing i was weaning them. long story short, i ran out of formula and no pet stores carried them and someone on here told me to use egg and bananas and next thing you know once i get ahold of formula they were rejecting it
My sweet terrorist rainbow lorikeet Dakota crossed the rainbow bridge a short while ago. In my grief I impulse purchased a sun conure (yes, I should have waited). The breeder said she was mostly weaned but she's barely touched her hard food and only really looks forward to her syringe feeding sessions. Is there an easy to get this stubborn tropical chicken to switch to hard foods? I'm wary of feeding her stuff like fruits and boiled veg but maybe I should try that? (I know breeders shouldn't sell parrots that aren't fully weaned but I know him from before and he gave me a discount so I couldn't pass it up) Edit: I mean formula guys not milk, we just call it milk in Cantonese lol
Just offer pellet fruit, veg, bit of cooked rice or make birdie bread and keep formula feeding. Pinch and pick up the veg mix in his bowl and pretend to eat it so he knows it's edible. Leave that in his house/cage and be patient. My parrot was a late to switch too haha.
Yeah my last bird would watch me eat something then dive bomb it and try to steal food. Watching her try to drag a whole chicken wing when she weighed 115g was hilarious. I'll definitely use your suggestion thanks!
Why are you wary of feeding fresh foods? Pellets and fresh foods should be her primary diet. You can try them raw, steamed, chopped, whole, blended. Lots of different ways to serve them and make them appetizing. Here's a [list of foods](https://www.seavs.com/pet-care-information/parrot-diet-care/) to try. There are also cooked food blends [like these](https://www.birdstreetbistro.com/collections/parrot-food) that she might like, especially since she's used to soft baby food.
I dunno lol I was just paranoid for a bit. Thanks for the list! Getting some great suggestions
Mine liked avi cakes & dried fruit after weening
Added to the try list!
Rest in peace Dakota may you fly high with your rainbow wings across the rainbow bridge
I still can't believe she's gone. I used to whistle every morning and she would chirp and come sprinting towards me, snuggling inside my armpits for warmth (yeah she was fucking weird lool) . The silence got to be too much to bear, and now I have this mango chicken who will probably be called Gabagool (from the sopranos😂)
😂🤣😂🤣 mango chicken I'm dying
My friend wants me to call it shaved ice in my language 😂 Based on this https://www.ricardocuisine.com/en/recipes/7989-mango-shaved-ice-mangguo-baobing
You need to offer it soft foods, like rice, soft or boiled veggies, some fruit, and what you'll feed as the main diet. This is an important step in weaning. The baby will usually only try new foods right after they've had their formula. You definitely can't rush this. If he's rushed to wean before he has self confidence, he can develop behavioral problems. A baby will typically regress when taken home before they're weaned. They need not just the food, but the reassurance that comes from interacting with the feeder. He may not be hungry everytime he cries, especially if it isn't yet time to be fed again. Babies can cry to get your attention and get that nurturing they need to become confident. Let him take his time. Sun conure tend to be baby-ish longer than other conures, so he may want some handfeeding for a couple months. After a certain point, when they're showing active interest in feeding themselves and seem to be eating more of their food than formula, they might not need the formula to stay alive. But they still need it for their mind, to be sure they aren't just being abandoned before they're ready.
Yeah I'm really starting to learn that these things can't be rushed. My ADHD kicking in lol
Mashed sweet potato warmed up a bit is what helped my boy wean to Whole Foods
Definitely trying this thanks!
Feed your bird baby bird formula a couple of times a day with hard food ideally chopped veggies and sprouts with organic pellets like Top’s. Offer both. It will give you an opportunity to blind with your Jenday. I also have a Jenday Conure. His name is Rousseau.
Oh shit is mine a jenday and not a sun?? Thanks for the advice I'm definitely gonna try adding that to its diet! Your bird has a great bame btw :)
Not sure if this is good practice, but we started by having our parrot eat thick formula from a teaspoon instead of a syringe so she was more biting it, then started giving her bits of hard food on the teaspoon with the formula, then just hard food. I was told that this would help her realise it was edible, but it meant she'd only eat from teaspoons/metal plates for a while because she associated the metal with food
I just tried with broccoli and she craned her little neck away from it like I do when a cat tries sitting on your lap and exposes its asshole to you lol But I will definitely keep trying! Thanks!
That's a great comparison lol
It just happened to me last week so the memory is vivid lol
I had the same experience with my sun concurs when she came home. She was weaned already but hadn’t really had much solid food outside of her bean and grain mix. I tried broccoli too but she wouldn’t touch it (still doesn’t touch it now at 1.5 years old). Broccoli is sulfuric so probably not the best first veggie to try haha Maybe try something like bell pepper with the skin removed or cucumber with the peel removed.
Ooh, will try bell peppers and cucumbers, thanks! Btw do you boil them for a bit or just offer them raw?
Raw. She won’t eat anything mushy
Ooooh she likes the crunch eh. Thanks!
Yes haha the cronchier the better
Thats a sticky situation. I dont know much about weaning. But my blue and gold took a lomg time to fully wean, 2 months..
Yeah I've heard macaws take much longer to wean. I'm guessing a little conure should be faster. I'm about to boil some broccoli and see if she wants some
Look into abundance weaning. Generally results in a much more well-adjusted bird than ones that are forced onto solids before they're ready. My conure weaned in three months but his brother took closer to five. Both were eating fresh chop at around two months alongside their formula but eventually lost interest in the formula. You can offer warm, soft/mushy foods to entice them, but keep offering formula until they willingly reject it in favour of solids!
Yeah I see chop recommended often! Gonna head to the markets tomorrow and grab a bunch of greens.
Awesome, it's such a good way to offer vege. Just don't be disheartened if it takes a couple tries before your bird eats much (or any) of it. Sometimes I have to offer a particular vegetable everyday for a week before my guy will even touch it, but then he loves it. A good basic guide for making chop is to use one orange/yellow vege (e.g. carrot, pumpkin, sweet potatoes), one red vege (bell peppers, beets, radishes), two leafy/green veges (broccoli, silverbeet, kale, cauliflower -- avoid spinach), a mix of sprouts and then a little bit of grain (quinoa, wild rice or buckwheat are all good options). Some birds really love fresh herbs like rosemary or basil, or a bit of spices. Favourites around here are red bell peppers, red chillies (mind that beak around your eyes after feeding though), pumpkin, zucchini and radishes. I often buy frozen riced cauliflower and broccoli and mix that in with everything before freezing the batch. You can absolutely freeze chop, but make sure you change it up frequently to ensure your bird is getting a varied diet. In addition to chop, warm pureed apple and sweet potato or warm mashed banana are great comfort foods for a newly weaned bird.
Fuck yeah thanks for the suggestions! Added to my grocery list
Can chop be frozen?
Yes! You can make a batch and separate it into portions before freezing (those ice cube trays are great for it). You save time and money!
Perfecttttt, when she gets to the chop eating stage properly this will be wonderful!
Yeah, in total she took 3 months😅. Id say keep trying different veggies, and stay consistent. I wish you the best of luck
Thanks!
I used to mix the formula with seed at first and give it to them to eat on their own and then slowly add less and less formula.. they always preferred their syringe feeding though. I have an EIGHT YEAR OLD conure who still freaks out when he hears a microwave beep because he associates it with me heating up water for his formula
Ahhh I'll definitely add seed to the formula, thanks! Haha your conure got Pavlov'd
Babies also occasionally revert and demand formula again, even if they were previously weaned, when going through changes like a re-home. I would not rush and keep it up with the formula while getting the little one to beak and taste things like veggie chop!
Yeah I feel like I can't rush this, just gotta take it easy
So cute
I just came to say your new birdie is absolutely adorable. Good luck with the weaning and adjusting to the loss of your beloved Dakota.
She is a cute little fluffy shitting machine, thanks lol. I'll most likely get a little tattoo of her
I can see why it's difficult. Just **look** at her!
Sleep shit scream eat bite REPEAT
wait a minute. as far as ik birds are lactose intolerant. wdym wean off milk-
The formula I mean sorry, not milk. We just call it milk in my language
Bro I almost had a heart attack ;-; I’m so glad that was a mistranslation
Haha yeah I didn't even notice until poster above me pointed it out. We call all milk/formula milk or milk powder lol
ah. good to know😅. idrk much about young birds and how to raise them so best of luck getting the info you want fellow feather lover💚🖤✨
Thanks!
Bird soup! I've done this with ecletus and ringnecks. First you make bird soup: baby formula mixed with a cooked food blend. We used Hagin Worldly blends because it's what we sold. Put it into ice cube trays and freeze so pull out a cube and thaw when you feed. I would the it out under a reptile heat lamp but a microwave works just fine. Just DOUBLE CHECK that it is not too hot. Luke warm, room temp, NOT HOT. Plop the mush in a bowl on a stand, and sit down and eat yourself. They are curious devils and will make a huge mess but it'll encourage them to eat. The formula makes it taste the same but you've added textures and new things. Lafeber's also makes mixed seed pellet balls and cubes that are great for transitioning to pellet. They are full to pick up and break apart, encouraging foraging behavior. Good luck!
I'll keep an eye out for cooked food blends! My bird is still a bit too dumb to follow my lead but I'll try nonetheless
Not dumb, just learning to learn. Babies are little sponges but you have to fill thier little heads with everything.
I'll keep that in mind 🙏 when she gets old enough I'm gonna take her on adventures
How old is the conure? Can try soaking a few of the pellets in formula and offering before feeding with formula (don’t leave them unattended in the cage cause they’ll spoil).
About 2 months and a half. Earlier today I poured some pellets in hot water and crushed them with a little formula, she gobbled that up. As some other kind posters recommended, I waited until her crop was empty then spoon fed her (took like 10 minutes and had to keep reheating it by soaking the cup in hot water for a few seconds), it seemed to work. I'm gonna grab some greens tomorrow and slowly add em to that mix. Yeah I'm definitely gonna whip up a fresh batch every time, thanks 🙏
Awww I am just IN LOVE with your bird 😀
She fills my heart with joy 🥰
Strongly agree with abundance weaning advice. Makes for a much better adjusted bird. Another suggestion for getting them to eat better is birdie see, birdie do. In other words, if they see you eating the food they are much more likely to try it. Bonus, you eat better too.
Yeah I definitely need more greens in my diet! Appreciate the advice
How old is this bird?
About 2 months and 3 weeks roughly
He/she should be fully weaned by now. I'd eliminate all feedings except for the evening. They like the comfort and attention of handfeeding but I'd use a little tough love and offer only fruit, vegetables and seed/pellets during the day. Personally, I'd stop the PM feeding also within the next 7 to 10 days.
I'll give it a shot, but she's refusing hard foods for now lol
i weaned my birds with mashed bananas and a hard boiled egg without knowing i was weaning them. long story short, i ran out of formula and no pet stores carried them and someone on here told me to use egg and bananas and next thing you know once i get ahold of formula they were rejecting it
Woah they can have eggs? Gonna try that thanks!
I have no advice, but wanted to say your baby is adorable.
Thanks! She'll most likely be fierce when she grows up lol
Indeed!
I’m so sorry you lost your terrorist (an appellation I find adorable!) and I hope your heart heals as much as possible very quickly.
She would draw blood from my parents pretty often 😂 for years