# Baby Cockatiel won't eat, please help!



## Cat345

My 5 week old baby Cockatiel Malachi had to get pulled from his parents today because they were plucking him really badly I think because they want to have more eggs, I was hesitant to pull him because I have never done this before, but he's great even though he wasn't handled too much because his parents were very protective of him and I was afraid if I took him out to handle him they would stop caring for him I did however take him out a couple times when he was 4 weeks and held him, but despite not being socialized he loves people and loves cuddling which surprised me, and he will eat just about everything except formula which is the problem, I've tried and tried I only got him to take 1ml at most, I whistled, shook his head a little like his parents do and touched the sides of his beak, he just does not want the formula. What should I do? His parents serverely pluck him and he won't take formula. This is his first day away from his parents and I was hoping maybe tomorrow he'll be hungry enough to take the formula anyway, but I'm pretty sure his crop is empty and he's very happy to eat anything else like he's hungry, he's eaten Spray Millet, some finely chopped dried veggies and some cracker. Any help will be appreciated


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## tielfan

See if he's willing to eat formula from a spoon instead of a syringe. If he hasn't been handfed before, he isn't familiar with this kind of food so he'll have to learn to eat it.


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## sonjab314

Sometimes it is hard to get cockatiels to see humans as "parents" if you pull them after 3 weeks of age. By this time it is imprinted on their brain that they are a bird and not human so it is confused. Just keep working with him and trying different feeding techniques and go ahead and give him some millet and see if he will maybe start pecking at it even through he is still a little young. If he is more interested in the millet than the formula I'd try to get him on solid foods. Sorry I cant be more helpful.


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## Cat345

tielfan said:


> See if he's willing to eat formula from a spoon instead of a syringe. If he hasn't been handfed before, he isn't familiar with this kind of food so he'll have to learn to eat it.


I've tried the spoon, he wanted nothing to do with that, he eats Millet and everything else out of a bowl, would it be a good idea to put formula in a bowl?

Sonjab314: Isn't he too young to just eat solids?


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## tielfan

Yes, putting formula in a bowl is fine. You could sprinkle some already-hulled millet on top of it to encourage him if necessary. At five weeks he isn't old enough to take in all the solid food he needs, so he has to get his formula somehow.


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## Cat345

tielfan said:


> Yes, putting formula in a bowl is fine. You could sprinkle some already-hulled millet on top of it to encourage him if necessary. At five weeks he isn't old enough to take in all the solid food he needs, so he has to get his formula somehow.


Okay thank you, I will try that and let you know how it goes. He's eating a lot of Millet, seeds and dried veggies and drinking water every time he eats, he's eaten a whole bowl full last night and now he's maybe half way through (more or less) a bowl I just made this morning and still eating. Is he eating a lot of solids for his age or is this a normal amount?


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## tielfan

That's a lot if he's really eating it, but it's possible that he's just chewing a lot of it into crumbs and not actually swallowing it.


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## Cat345

I tried the bowl, I tried the syringe and spoon again, I tried putting it on my finger and on a cracker I tried putting Millet on top of the formula in the bowl, and I've even tried force feeding him and absolutely nothing is working, I have no idea what to do now. I can't tell 100% if he's eating all those solid foods, he's still doing good though eating and drinking most of the time he's in his brooder besides when he's sleeping, any advice on what I should do now? I'm so worried


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## tielfan

Are you checking his weight daily? That will tell you whether he's maintaining his weight or losing.


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## Erinsmom

You need a scale that measures grams. You can find them everywhere cheap...I got mine from Target for 25 dollars. Get him weighed immediately . You need to know if he drops more than 10 percent of his weight.

As far as needing the formula he sure does at 5 weeks old which is the age of my babies right now and they eat seeds millets, veges BUT still get about 30ml a day each in formula depending. I can sometimes coax them into opening their beaks by tapping on the side with the syringe. Do you know how to hold him and how to place the syringe in the mouth properly? There are many vids on u-tube to help you. Mine have been pulled since just before 2 weeks old and even then at 5 weeks some days can be difficult to get them to eat.

You say he is in a brooder all day but by that age they can and should be in a grateless cage during the day with a few low perches....also should be learning to fly. so maybe part of the problem is he is not getting enough stimulation or exercise to get really hungry. 

Honestly I don't know for sure but my first thought was to not offer the other foods first thing in the AM and try to handfeed. If it doesn't work wait 2 hours and try again and keep this up for at least part of the day and see if you can get him hungry enough to take the formula. It might help to make it a bit runnier than normal cake batter thickness at first??

I would also suggest you make sure you know where an avain vet is.....make sure they KNOW birds as most regular vets do not. That way if you get to that 10% and still can't get him to eat you can get to the vet


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## Cat345

Erinsmom said:


> You need a scale that measures grams. You can find them everywhere cheap...I got mine from Target for 25 dollars. Get him weighed immediately . You need to know if he drops more than 10 percent of his weight.
> 
> As far as needing the formula he sure does at 5 weeks old which is the age of my babies right now and they eat seeds millets, veges BUT still get about 30ml a day each in formula depending. I can sometimes coax them into opening their beaks by tapping on the side with the syringe. Do you know how to hold him and how to place the syringe in the mouth properly? There are many vids on u-tube to help you. Mine have been pulled since just before 2 weeks old and even then at 5 weeks some days can be difficult to get them to eat.
> 
> You say he is in a brooder all day but by that age they can and should be in a grateless cage during the day with a few low perches....also should be learning to fly. so maybe part of the problem is he is not getting enough stimulation or exercise to get really hungry.
> 
> Honestly I don't know for sure but my first thought was to not offer the other foods first thing in the AM and try to handfeed. If it doesn't work wait 2 hours and try again and keep this up for at least part of the day and see if you can get him hungry enough to take the formula. It might help to make it a bit runnier than normal cake batter thickness at first??
> 
> I would also suggest you make sure you know where an avain vet is.....make sure they KNOW birds as most regular vets do not. That way if you get to that 10% and still can't get him to eat you can get to the vet


Thank you, I will go look for a scale today. He's not in a brooder all day he's out with me playing on my lap or shoulder or he's on his playground on an enclosed table because I've ordered his cage online and it hasn't come yet. I'm pretty sure I know how to hold him and place the syringe in his mouth properly, but nothing worked I've tried tapping the sides of his beak but he really just seem to want nothing to do with the formula, but I will try watching more videos on Youtube and I will try not letting him have solids in the morning and see if that works. I've actually been looking for an Avian vet around me, I've only found one so far and contacting him seems nearly impossible but if I need to I will just drive down there. Thank you for your advice


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## Erinsmom

Hopefully the scale will ease your mind but really its the only sure fire way to know if he is ok. Fingers crossed MAYBE he will be an early weaner. Keep us posted and BEST of luck!!


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## Cat345

Erinsmom said:


> Hopefully the scale will ease your mind but really its the only sure fire way to know if he is ok. Fingers crossed MAYBE he will be an early weaner. Keep us posted and BEST of luck!!


Thank you very much!

Also, he is pooping a lot, well not a lot I guess I'd say a normal amount for a bird and it's green and white to dark green, this means he must be eating something at least right?


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## Erinsmom

Yes it sounds as if he is eating good and maybe he will just be an early weaner because of the circumstances. I would feel better if you had a scale to monitor and could at least ensure a full crop before bedtime. My babies last feed is at 1130 pm. Right now they are getting 3 feeds a day still and they are 36, 37 and 38 days old plus in the baby cage they have unlimtied millet, seed, pellets with fresh veges in the AM and birdie bread in the afternoon. Now that said my birds are on the larger side at just over 100 grams each so if your bird is smaller they will eat less. We shoot for 10% of their body weight at each feed but at this age it can get difficult to hit that.


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