# cockatiel wont wean!!



## Amanda1125 (Jun 8, 2012)

I have a male cockatiel I believe to be about 11 weeks old. I have had him for 4 weeks. I started off giving him 10cc 3 times a day of formula(nutristart). I eventually got to 5cc 2 times a day. I noticed he was loosing weight getting as low as 59grams. He is now on about 9cc of crushed up Exact pellet food mixed with lots of water in the am. And at night he gets the same thing but I add formula to this feeding. The main issue is he begs constantly for me to feed him even when his crop is full. I give him lots of attention but still crys for me. If I leave the room and he cant see me anymore he will stop crying. When I come back into his eye sight he crys and runs around frantically staring at me. He eats dryer exact pellet food at lunch time by him self but usually I have to get him started by showing him the bowl and putting a few in his mouth. He also eats millet great. He weights about 62 grams right now. How do I get him to stop begging for food and to wean off the food? Oh ya and he like cheerios?


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Some cockatiels can take up to 4 months to wean. Alot of it has to do with the thickness of the formula. If the formula is too thin the bird is not getting enough nutrients, which can result in poor weight gain, and secondary health issues such as a yeast and/or bacterial problem.

Formula should be the thickness of babyfood applesauce, and fed at approx. 104 degrees.

Can you get a commercial formula such as Exact or Embrace? This would be better than crushing up pellets.

I would also suggest that you go to a vet and explain what you have been doing to date and ask for either a gram stain or culture done to see if there is an underlying problem or yeast or bacteria causing the crying.


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## Amanda1125 (Jun 8, 2012)

Okay I will look for exact formula but the only kind of formula they had at petsmart was nutristart. I use the crushed up exact pellets because I thought that would make him more used to the taste. I work at a vet lad is there anyway I could accomidate that In This situationn somehow? I get free testing but I have to collect the specimen sample myself. He does not appear sick he appears needy . Is there an y medicine easy to get without a vet if it is a yeast problem? Thank you!!!!!!


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*Is there any medicine easy to get without a vet if it is a yeast problem? Thank you!!!!!!*
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OK...if you work at a lab they should be able to tell you what supplies you need to submit specimans. With young birds even a small overgrowth of yeast can be problematic.

As to an Over the Counter (OTC) med. I have gone to a healthfood store and got some Caprylic Acid (Capryl) to add (1/4 capsule) to each formula feeding. I add 1/2 tsp. of plain yogurt to the formula 1 feeding per day to help balance the intestinal flora.

Getting a commercially made formula will help to.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Can you post pictures of the bird? That will help us see what physical condition he's in.


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## Amanda1125 (Jun 8, 2012)

I have lots of pictures but I'm not sure how to load them on here. It wants a url but I have the pictures on my kindle I'm using? Also I wanted to ask if he does not have a yiest problem and I give him caprylic could it harm him?


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## Amanda1125 (Jun 8, 2012)

Oh ya... he looks great... he plays and seems a happy bird (after his feeding of course)... I also wanted to mention that I have a 2 yr female in the cage. She shows him how to do things. He eats pellet food on his own if showed it is there.and he only eats a little not enough to get full. I'm just scared if I reduce the ml per feeding he will drastically loose weight again. He is 69.0 today


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## tom123 (Jun 6, 2011)

click on *Post Reply* rather than replying on the quick comment box and you will see an *Attachment* option to upload your pictures directly


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## Amanda1125 (Jun 8, 2012)

He is the white face.The first two are from 4 weeks ago when I first got him. And the last one is thenmost recent. It seems like he has some sort of posture problem or something he is always like scrunched up. Also he ate by himself all day yesterday (pellet). Every monday I give them seads so I will see if he eats those today.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I'm not sure about the scrunched position, but he is gorgeous. Side note though, tiels should be on a varied diet of seeds and pellets, as an all pellet diet (with only seeds occasionally) can cause health issues in the future. Tiels are naturally seed eaters. AND its easier to wean a baby onto seeds than it is onto pellets, mainly because pellets can be very hard for a baby to eat at first.


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## Amanda1125 (Jun 8, 2012)

So what exactly should be his diet? I though pellets was the healthy choice? Sometimes it seems like he struggles with the seeds like opening the sunflower seeds. Will treating him for yeast if he does not have a problem will that harm him?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Pellets are an important part of the diet but birds need more than that. This article on diet will help: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27479


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## Amanda1125 (Jun 8, 2012)

Okay that is helpfull. Any ideas of veggies? My 2 year old lutino is so picky.she loves seeds


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