[Osprey]

If I'm counting correctly, I think Cloudy is 26 days. He's starting to preen, stretch his wings out and walk around. He can kind of perch but he's top-heavy (looks hilarious! And don't worry, he's usually in my lap.) He also wants to be with the other birds. It's so cute!

So, when can he be weaned? Or when can I show him seeds? Would they hurt him?

 

[Kate]

Any attempt at weaning should not take place until the bird is fully feathered and able to perch, which is usually around 6 weeks. If you are hand raising him please don't rush him into weaning, he is not even 4 weeks old yet and when I take cockatiels to hand raise I take them at 3 weeks. With their parents they would start weaning after fledging occurs especially if they were in the wild. They have to be able to fly so their parents can wean them as they have to be able to go to the food source. In an aviary or cage the food source comes to them. Don't rush him into weaning. He will cut down the amount of food at each feed as he has to get rid of the baby belly (top heavy look) so that he can sleek down to fly. You can then introduce him to a cage with food in it and cut out one feed. I usually cut out the midday meal and feed then only morning and night. Some cockatiels can be very lazy to wean, my friend has one that should have weaned over a week ago with the others but this one still begs for food everytime you go past and it is a female. Every slow weaner I have ever had has been a female.

Basically they will wean in their own sweet time. Never rush a bird to wean as they could go backwards.

 

[Osprey]

Thank you, that was really helpful!

 

[Jenny]

Kate pretty much nailed it Tiels usually wean anywhere from 6-10 weeks, depending on how needy they are. Tiels and toos seem to be the worst at weaning on any particular time schedule. They all go at their own schedule. In the next week or so, start offering some big-bird food, soft fruits and veg, and see what Cloudy does with it :thumbsup:

 

[Kate]

Jenny I had one that was 3 1/2 months old and totally refused to wean. I ended up getting her to eat seed on her own by sprinkling some dry lorikeet mix on the seed, she loved the smell. I gradually eased off on the lory mix until she was just eating seed. I named her Miss Piggy.

 

[Osprey]

Kate pretty much nailed it Tiels usually wean anywhere from 6-10 weeks, depending on how needy they are. Tiels and toos seem to be the worst at weaning on any particular time schedule. They all go at their own schedule. In the next week or so, start offering some big-bird food, soft fruits and veg, and see what Cloudy does with it :thumbsup:

Thank you!

 

[Jenny]

Jenny I had one that was 3 1/2 months old and totally refused to wean. I ended up getting her to eat seed on her own by sprinkling some dry lorikeet mix on the seed, she loved the smell. I gradually eased off on the lory mix until she was just eating seed. I named her Miss Piggy.

:lol: Sounds like Rocky, a Goffin's we had at the pet shop, that didn't fully wean until he was just under 1 year old! :svengo: His owner was so darn patient, thankfully, but Rocky just would NOT give up his evening feed!

 

[Osprey]

lol poor too. XD

Yay! Cloudy is four weeks today!

oh yeah, do I have to feed him every six hours? I haven't been getting much sleep lately... I'm not sure whether he can go from 8 PM to 7 AM.... (is that too long?)

 

[Kate]

That should be fine. My normal feeding schedule for a tiel was morning, lunch and evening. Basically the crop should be at least 3 quarters empty before feeding and it should be empty at least once a day. This makes sure the crop is working properly and there is less chance of a crop infection from stale food. This also works in your favour when weaning starts as they will be very hungry in the morning so I would not give them as much food in the morning to entice them to eat seed. If they have not eaten any seed then you can make it up at the lunch time feed. Basically they need feeding 3 times over a 16 hour period.

 

[Osprey]

That should be fine. My normal feeding schedule for a tiel was morning, lunch and evening. Basically the crop should be at least 3 quarters empty before feeding and it should be empty at least once a day. This makes sure the crop is working properly and there is less chance of a crop infection from stale food. This also works in your favour when weaning starts as they will be very hungry in the morning so I would not give them as much food in the morning to entice them to eat seed. If they have not eaten any seed then you can make it up at the lunch time feed. Basically they need feeding 3 times over a 16 hour period.

Once again, thank you very much!

 

[Osprey]

I gave him some pasta and he loved it! :O Will it hurt him? (I may have had a little alfredo sauce on it but I think I was able to wipe most of it off)

And now I see him chewing on the paper in his cage... <_<

 

[Jenny]

Nope! No sauce is best, but a little won't hurt them

 

[Kate]

A tiny little won't hurt. My beautiful Cheekie loved Sweet & Sour Pork and his sister Caesar loved Mashed Potato and Gravy.

 

[Osprey]

That's interesting.

He's doing awesome!

 

[Osprey]

Is it okay if I feed him once a day? He'll be 43 days later today.

 

[Kate]

At this stage you should be able to get away with once a day if he is eating during the day. He will naturally cut down the amount he wants. If his crop feels like it has food in it at night he may not need a feed at all. With weaning you pretty much have to go by feel and instinct. Every bird is different and weans at a different pace.

 

[Osprey]

All right, thank you.

 

[Osprey]

I think I may have weaned him too early... (I think) he's constipated... and I dunno why. He's a pig, I tell ya.

 

[Kate]

He may not be drinking sufficient water. Try giving him some water or some very runny food.

 

[nanay]

Michelle,
How is he doing now?