New with a baby Alex. :) After Advice.

[janene]

Hi Everyone,

My first post here. I'm a new Alex owner, which I am hand raising. I have hand raised in the past quite a few birds - but my Alex is my first larger parrot so I'm just after a bit of advice.

My alex is about 4 weeks old, he has quite a few feathers but still a while to go. He is hand fed, but he is not one to take it "willingly" - now that said I don't force feed him, but he is a very slow eater and doesn't bob eagerly when he is eating, he just takes small amounts at a time. He does eat enough to fill his crop, but only just. Then he just starts to spill or spit it out so I don't continue (which would result in forcing him).

He's been happy to do this for almost a week now, but I'm just curious if there's a way I can get him more "into" feeding. I often feed with him sitting on a towel with him in my lap which I feel is where he is more comfortable. He still shows signs of fear so I am moving slow with him, and tend to feed him in a quite area of the house away from noise of family or TV. I also keep him in an enclosed box with a warming pad to keep him from getting too cold. The box is often left in a quiet room and covered so he is nice and dark. But I wonder if this hinders the bonding process? Should I keep him in a busier part of the house? Should I leave the box open so it's not as dark? As often when I uncover him for a feed (or to hold, which I do for an hour or so of a night while we watch TV or talk as a family) he often tries to jump up and nip me as I reach down to him. He's find when he's in my hand or on my chest, but just as I'm going to pick him up, he does the biting thing. I realise it's likely due to him being scared, but just after some ways I can help build the trust between us...

Also, what age do you suggest I try some solid foods and fruits?

Thanks

[avinet]

Hi Janene, welcome to the Forum

I've hand raised maybe 200 Alexandrines over the years, and your baby sounds very typical of a baby being reared on its' own. We always dreaded having a single one to feed, it was always a bit of a battle to get enough food into them, while if we had 6 or 8 there was an element of competition and they generally fed better. We also found that they needed to be taken for feeding quite young - usually before their eyes had opened. If we left them until 3 weeks in the nest we knew we would be in for a battle.

Are you weighing him regularly? If you are feeding a species for the first time I would always weigh every morning, before the first feed, with scales accurate to 1 gram. I would expect to see a steady weight gain up until his weaning stage was beginning. It was always a bit of a surprise that even though they seem to be picky feeders, they would still gain weight steadily if healthy.

4 weeks old is a bit young yet to go into a cage, best still in a dark tub between feeds - and a quiet room is probably best with still a bit of heat needed. Probably this time next week he could go into a cage during the day and a tub with heat overnight, for a week then in a cage all the time. By 6 weeks he will be pretty well covered with feathers.

The scared think is also quite normal - just be sure to make a bit of noise, maybe talk to him a bit, before taking the cover off the box - and don't worry about the lunging when you go to pick him up - he will grow out of that quite quickly - again the older they are when you start feeding the more they do this. How old was he when you started feeding?

I would feed in a "busy" place - he needs to get used to the household sounds and sights. And the evening cuddles after a feed while watching TV are good.

Alexes are not the easiest babies to feed - it can be a bit of a trial. We had our little tricks - feeding 3 or 4 all together on the table was one. Sitting side by side often would stimulate them to compete for food - made it a bit messier but we got the food into them - and we were always spoon feeding if possible. However some stubborn ones had to be syringe fed - but it was never our first choice of method.

Often not a fun bird to hand rear, but great birds when the grow up - we have 11 of them as house pets! Everyone here likes baby photos so I'l add a couple on the end - they may be familiar to the long time members but a nice photo always bears repeating

cheers,

Mike


These had gone into a cage but were a bit younger then we would have normally moved them from a tub. They were difficult feeders, and we found going to a cage improved feeding responses. Also it enabled us to put fresh food in with them to get them eating by themselves to supplement the poor feeding response from the spoon.


Probably at the normal age we liked to move them into a cage.
Quaker babies might be the cutest but Alexandrine babies are not far behind!!!

[janene]

Oh Mike, thank you for your response. It was very very reassuring! It's never any fun to have a stubborn bird but at least now I realise it's normal behaviour.

I am feeding via a syringe, as he shows no interest at all in the spoon (I have tried a few times) and I end up having to gentle open his mouth with the end to get him to take even a small amount...It often doesn't work well but with the syringe he does take it easier.

He is definately the hardest of all the birds I've had to handraise, but he is such a little adorable thing it's hard to not melt everytime I see him.

I noticed in your first picture the food available, did you find they picked at it much? I did offer some pear to my little guy the other night, anyone would think I offered him lemon at the reaction I got lol. He wasn't keen on it at all. I figured I'd wait a week or so and try again.

Also, I find if I add a little bit of baby pureed apple to his formula, he seems to show slightly more interest. Is this something I can continue on with? I've used this method on birds in the past that have been fussy and it's worked well. Not sure if Alex's should not have this often at this age?

Thanks again Mike
and gorgeous photos.

[janene]

Seeing as how ya'll like pics here is the little one himself (or herself, but it's better than "it" lol)

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[flyingfox5]

Hi, beautiful young one (it), ive never owned a alex but i definetly have a soft spot for them,
regards eileen

[avinet]

Oct 19, 2011 15:01:42 GMT 10 janene said:

He is definately the hardest of all the birds I've had to handraise, but he is such a little adorable thing it's hard to not melt everytime I see him.

I noticed in your first picture the food available, did you find they picked at it much? I did offer some pear to my little guy the other night, anyone would think I offered him lemon at the reaction I got lol. He wasn't keen on it at all. I figured I'd wait a week or so and try again.

Also, I find if I add a little bit of baby pureed apple to his formula, he seems to show slightly more interest. Is this something I can continue on with? I've used this method on birds in the past that have been fussy and it's worked well. Not sure if Alex's should not have this often at this age?

It's the eyes - irresistable - and they look like they are smiling.

I have to say your guy looks a little older than 4 weeks, around 5 I would have thought. I would suggest thinking about moving him into a cage this week during the day and then a cage full time in around a week - unless you live in Tasmania and have a cold house We very often found that once they went into a cage their confidence rapidly increased, and their feeding often became easier as a result.

Did you breed him? or was he from another breeder. I often found that breeders often had a rather hazy idea of how old babies were - we would get customers coming in and telling us they had these 3 week old cockatiels and I would say "oh - their pin feathers just starting to open?" and it would be "oh no, started flying last weekend"

I would be chopping into bite sized pieces up some fruit and veggies and putting the dish in a cage with him. Veggies we used would usually be (all fresh and raw) corn kernels, grated carrot, chopped greens such as kale, celery leaves, silver beet, some red capsicum, perhaps some zuchinni, and fruit would be Granny Smith apples, perhaps a grape cut into quarters and maybe a bit of passionfruit. I also give a bit of multigrain bread. And I would definitely be sprouting some seed - a great first food.

No problem with baby apple - I usually add baby apple to my hand rearing mixes - around 10% perhaps. I think it does improve the taste and the pectin can improve digestion. Which mix are you using?

If you can take a photo of his head from side on I can probably tell you what his sex is - can't looking down on him though. Males tend to have a flattened head - like the three in the first photo of mine, but this is actually more pronounced when 2 to 3 weeks old, then gets less distinctive towards weaning before again getting more obvious as they mature towards 3 or 4 months.

cheers,

Mike

[janene]

Hi Eileen - thank you for your comment

Mike - He is from a Breeder. So I was told he was approx 3-4 weeks when I got him, and I've had it about a week. So you're probably right in your estimate of his age. I'm in NSW, it gets to about 7 or higher overnight right now. But expecting much warmer night temps starting this weekend. The breeder is said to have approx 50 breeding pairs, so I assume he isn't up to date on all his hatching dates.

I will try to get you the photo from side on. He's very wary of the camera (I have a large one) so I try not to freak him out too much with it.

Can you suggest a place to get some seeds to sprout? I often see websites overseas selling "sprouting seeds" that you can do this with - but no luck in Aus.

Thanks

[avinet]

Getting him into a cage will help his confidence, but it is always harder with Alexes when they are the only baby. I have a lot of issues with those breeders who advertise baby Alexes for sale for the buyer to hand raise with an "easy to feed" line. Alexes are not easy to feed, and the complete beginner will likely lose the bird. When we had our shop we would see lots of these sorts of situations when customers would bring in these poor half dead babies and want us to fix them up. We would never ever sell a baby before it was weaned, no matter how much experience the customer claimed to have.

One of my pet gripes

Anyway to get back to your question about sprouting Janene, if you look at scas.org.au/html/how_to_sprout_seed.html you will see my article on sprouting, and that includes a photo of a good sprouting mix. If your local pet shop doesn't sell a similar mix (and very few sell a sprouting mix) then an acceptable mix is made by buying a good quality large parrot mix for cockatoos and adding some dry mung beans from the health food shops - about 10 to 15% mung beans. That will likely give you a mix similar to the one in my article. Then just follow the instructions.

Of course for your birds you are probably going to do a cup full, not a colander full, at a time. In our shop we used to do a colander full every day - for 15 years or more!!! All out staff became experts at sprouting seed very quickly

cheers,

Mike

[janene]

Mike I do agree with you on the weaning sales. Apparently the breeder he came from has over 50 pairs of breeding Alex' and sells most of the chicks. I'm grateful I have a background in raising birds (albiet smaller varieties) but fear for those he sells to inexperienced owners. No only is it a cash investment, but it's also a tiny little life that is now in the hands of any old harry. - So yes, I do agree...with that said, I wouldn't have my baby if it'd have not been for his willingness to sell unweaned though - so I'm a little torn in both directions..

I moved him into a cage today. He seems to huddle in the corner a lot but on occasions I saw him preening himself and stretching out his neck to look around. I have a small soft teddy that I have had with him since I got him to give him that security feel and I popped that in. He seems to be warming to it well (the cage I mean). Tried him on some grape the other day and he enjoyed it, pear not so much lol. I will try some of your suggestions tomorrow.

He is still lunging and trying to bite me when I first go into pet him, I go slow and talk a lot first...Sometimes he just opens his mouth but doesn't actually lunge...othertimes he does. Looking forward to him outgrowing that! Any idea how long the stage will last?

Otherwise he is doing really well. Eating MUCH Easier now with the formula, takes it very willingly now which is excellent. Gaining weight daily. Has taken a liking to my finger, and licks it every chance he can (when he's not trying to bite it lol)

[avinet]

Good to hear he is eating well now, and you should find his confidence in the cage will rapidly improve, usually only takes a couple of days for them to be at ease and allow their natural curiosity take over.

Have the cage in a family room type of location so that he is exposed to the sights and sounds of the house, and if he is alert, stop and talk a little to him as you pass by his cage. He needs to feel that he is part of a flock and you have become his flock. If he likes something like grapes then give him a bit of grape as you pass, between feeds.

I have found that my birds have never been keen on pear - they much prefer Granny Smith apples, also grapes and paw paw, mango, strawberries, and Alexes especially love passion fruit. Some will like mandarin, only a few like oranges.

cheers,

Mike

[janene]

Just a question...

I'm getting a baby Blue Ringneck on Friday, very similar in age to my Alex. Could I put them both into the same cage (after some slow introductions) during the day? I have another cage available for the RN but thought it might help keep each other company?

[avinet]

Shouldn't be a problem - I have always found Alex babies mix in very well with other birds, as per the photo below - Alexes, Ringnecks, Rainbow Lorikeets and Pale-head Rosellas all cuddling in together after being fed.

cheers,

Mike

[janene]

Thanks Mike, good to know

Now a while back you asked me to get a more side profile of Luger (not sure if I ever said his name lol)

Is this shot ok? For you to be able to tell male or female.

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[avinet]

If I was to guess from the photo I would say a girl.

If you look at the photos I posted earlier in this thread, the 3 Alexes in the first photo all had a flat top to their head and were boys, while in the second photo the one crouching down under the perch has a rounded top to the head and is a girl.

From the photo it looks like she has a rounded top to the head - but you will be better able to judge that being able to see her in the flesh - or in the feather!!

cheers,

Mike