# Bagwis Feeding Problem



## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

Well, I pulled Bagwis for feeding yesterday and it took him at least 3 tries to get used to the syringe. The problem is that he's not eating his full amount of formula. He's eating about half (3 CC) and refuses more. I currently feed him 4 times a day and might make it five just so he doesn't starve. There's very little head pumping. He'll head pump, just randomly. I switched to the spoon for this morning's feed and although he wears most of it, he seems to prefer it to the syringe. 

Bagwis is 20 days old today. Huzzuh!  But Aaaaaaah! Baby birds are so frustrating!


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## Colorguarder08 (Sep 13, 2014)

I handfed 5 babies this summer and one of them I swear constantly acted like he was starving and would beg for more when his crop was full. The other 4 I could barely get them to eat at all. Sadly the one who never wanted to stop eating ended up dying


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

Colorguarder08 said:


> I handfed 5 babies this summer and one of them I swear constantly acted like he was starving and would beg for more when his crop was full. The other 4 I could barely get them to eat at all. Sadly the one who never wanted to stop eating ended up dying


Sorry to hear about the one who died  . Bagwis ate pretty good at 3 pm, so there's hope he'll eat more at 9-11 pm tonight. The spoon does it for him


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

If he isn't eating enough at a feed then try feeding him an extra feed a day to get the proper amount of food into him. He is just about the age that they diet for a,few days to lose the baby weight so they can fly... His appetite should come back full force after that.


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## Colorguarder08 (Sep 13, 2014)

vampiric_conure said:


> Sorry to hear about the one who died  . Bagwis ate pretty good at 3 pm, so there's hope he'll eat more at 9-11 pm tonight. The spoon does it for him



The one who died was the one I had planned on keeping.


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## Phoenix2010 (Sep 15, 2014)

I have been taking mine inside to handfeed younger (2weeks) and find they adapt much better. I usually feed 2hourly day 1, then 3 hourly the next day. Usually they are feeding ok after 48 hours. I am also trying the less is more with the babies I have inside now and feed 5-6 mls per feed. This works for me


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

Colorguarder08 said:


> The one who died was the one I had planned on keeping.


**Cringes** Oh that is the worst  Especially when one gets so attached to them!


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

Phoenix2010 said:


> I have been taking mine inside to hand feed younger (2weeks) and find they adapt much better. I usually feed 2hourly day 1, then 3 hourly the next day. Usually they are feeding ok after 48 hours. I am also trying the less is more with the babies I have inside now and feed 5-6 mls per feed. This works for me


Ideally I'd pull them at 14 days, but my vet reamed me out for pulling them too early, so I'm trying at 19-21 days. I've really noticed they're harder to hand feed at this age. Takes them longer to register that the fake puke I'm feeding them is 'food', lol.

Bagwis seems to understand that he's supposed to eat now. Been begging well and cries to be fed every time he sees me  I've got him on 4-5 feedings a day, depending on how full his crop is. Yaaay for success!!


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## Colorguarder08 (Sep 13, 2014)

Yeah so now I'm on the look out for a female pearl preferably a year old but close in age with Riley will do (he's a year old)


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Lmao don't you just cherish the day you become a walking food source? Every time you're spotted they're like OMG FOOD TIME YAY!!

I'm so glad he's doing better!


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

LOL - Thanks everyone 

If I thought Bagwis was hard to feed at first, Spider is even worse. He's obnoxious. Squirms like I'm trying to suffocate his poor lonesome, LOL. Even spits his formula out so almost nothing gets into him. Sigh. Abby is on par with what I experienced with Bagwis. She's got the hint that she's supposed to eat when I'm around, LOL. 

Going to try feeding spider and Abby in 2 hours time. Wish me luck


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Ugh Panda was awful to feed when he was around 3-5 weeks. He'd flop around and flap his stupid wings and try to climb all over my hand while trying to get to the spoon so it was impossible for anything to actually get in there, but if I held him still to eat he'd squirm and freak out like I was gonna murder him. Like OMG bird just sit your feathery butt down and eat calmly!


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

shaenne said:


> Ugh Panda was awful to feed when he was around 3-5 weeks. He'd flop around and flap his stupid wings and try to climb all over my hand while trying to get to the spoon so it was impossible for anything to actually get in there, but if I held him still to eat he'd squirm and freak out like I was gonna murder him. Like OMG bird just sit your feathery butt down and eat calmly!


Yes! EXACTLY! It's like, bird, you'll starve if this doesn't get into you. Ugh. Sooner or later some food will get into him  

As much as I complain, I **AM** enjoying myself.


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

I think the worst thing Panda does when I put him on the bench/table to eat, is he flies away, does a lap of the kitchen/living room and then lands on my head. Dude, I can't feed you mid-air and I can't feed you up there either. Sit still and you might just get what you want! lol.


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

shaenne said:


> I think the worst thing Panda does when I put him on the bench/table to eat, is he flies away, does a lap of the kitchen/living room and then lands on my head. Dude, I can't feed you mid-air and I can't feed you up there either. Sit still and you might just get what you want! lol.


**Howls with laughter** OMG..that is HILARIOUS! I remember my babies banging into everything when they were learning to fly. The walls, the lampshades, the curtains. You name it - it was fair game. I know you're supposed to let them fly before eating, but with babies it is so hard to prevent them FROM flying! 

On another note: Now that my problem with Bagwis has seemingly cleared up, I'm having problems with Spider. Spider refused... _*REFUSED*_ to eat. Just spat out whatever I was feeding him and after a day, even when I was feeding him every 2 hours, he didn't have anything in him. No, actually..it was about the size of a pea. So he's back with mom and dad. I'm going to co parent him. Or try to. The other issue is that it seems his dad is plucking him. You can see Spider flinching every time his dad is around. Poor baby just is NOT cutting a break.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Dad is obviously ready for him to leave the nest, asap!


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## Flashfire (Sep 16, 2015)

Colorguarder08 said:


> I handfed 5 babies this summer and one of them I swear constantly acted like he was starving and would beg for more when his crop was full. The other 4 I could barely get them to eat at all. Sadly the one who never wanted to stop eating ended up dying


I have a little one like that, he begs for food all the time, even when his crop is full and he has just been fed. It's like you can never fill him up. I am so scared of overfeeding him. Everything seems normal, except he just cries all the time. I am worried that he will die too.


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

You might want to have him checked over by a vet. While it's normal for babies to have eyes bigger than their bellies and promise you they need more food when they are actually about to burst, it's not normal for a baby to be constantly crying for food. It can be a sign of an underlying problem such as yeast. Yeast infections are USUALLY pretty easy to diagnose but i've heard that sometimes the only symptoms the baby has is being constantly hungry and not gaining weight despite being fed often.


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