Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
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Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Hi everyone. I'm new here just got a ringneck I have had Bodhi for about a week now he/she is a hand fed eleven week( more like twelve now) blue IRN. My first question is how much time should a young bird be allowed out of the cage? I have read the more the better, but I work from home so I'm basically always here(home) aside from errands maybe the night out. On that note I have been letting Bodhi out from about 11am-9pm. He mostly just hangs out on the top perch of his cage where there is water and food; preen sleep eat repeat. The past two days he has been eating alot of apples and millet. He will leave his perch and flutter/glide (currently clipped)down to my shoulder if I'm at the kitchen table or just the table if I'm not there and hunt around the table for millet and apple. How much is to much? I had been told by the breeder he would like to eat alot of millet right now because it's easy for him to eat and learn to eat seeds. So essentially I just want to know if I should give my bird more time in the cage and since he is seeming to prefer millet and apples should I be concerned about this now or is that OK
I just want to make sure I'm doing right by my bird , thanks for the help
I just want to make sure I'm doing right by my bird , thanks for the help
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- Location: Bedfordshire UK
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Millet and apple are ok, (but not apple seeds, they are toxic), but your bird needs more variety, Vitamin A is essential to his eyesight, and he needs other vitamins too, you can start introducing sweet corn, peppers and chillis, they love the seeds, green leafy vegetables, and other fruit, kiwi is another seedy one, and one of Sanjays favourites. Don't forget to provide fresh drinking water every day.
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Thanks for the reply. I offer him all sorts of stuff he won't even look at it just looks at me pacing around looking for millet and apple which is why I was concerned. And as of last night he wouldn't even eat apple anymore just millet he would taste the apple but not bite it and go looking around for millet. If I keep offering other foods in time will he start to try them or should I start cutting out the apple and millet to get him to eat other foods?
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- Posts: 2050
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Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
By all means, I have never given Sanjay the same foods every day, and he looked askance at the different foods to begin with. When we bred dogs, we weaned our puppies on "anything and everything" so they wouldn't grow up being fussy and fickle. As far as I can remember, it was little cubes of melon and green seedless grapes which got him really going, after that he was eager to taste test my offerings.
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Man I don't know what to do. This is day three of him not eating any breakfast and the past two days he wouldn't eat any meals at all just hunts for millet, honestly he won't eat pellets, his seed mix, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn, strawberry, baby carrots mango's nothin. I'm very concerned and stressed out over this. I know it's only been a few days but I feel like I'm failing my bird.
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Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
You are doing your best, don't be so hard on yourself. Blame the breeder for encouraging this, was it false economy?, once your chickster realises he doesn't get millet 24/7 and he has the munchies, he will be quite philosophical and decide "food is food". Sanjay still enjoys a panicle of millet, but not at the expense of his fresh fruit and veg, as long as your bird drinks water, he should be ok while this phase passes.
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Do you mean buying the millet or Bodhi? Neither was the case I just got him millet because the breeder told me he was going to eat alot of it. So far today all he has eaten is a half a slice of apple that I hand fed him just now. Offered him carrots peas strawberries apple grapes for breakfast this morning at nine didn't eat or drink anything there's also pellets and seed mix in his cage I just offered him red, green and orange pepper with spinach wouldn't have anything to do with it so I gave him an apple slice I had mentioned previously he still hasn't drank anything today he has been drinking water regularly aside from today. Should I not offer him millet anymore or will he starve himself if I don't give him millet?
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- Posts: 2050
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Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
I got the impression his breeder fed millet because it's inexpensive, and has a lot of protein but not much else. I've had an idea, why not dampen his foods then dip them in millet grains? A bit like dipping fruit in chocolate to get children to eat fruit. Sanjay is partial to blackberries and raspberries because the seeds are on the outside, as with strawberries too. Anyway, a birdy cannot live by millet alone!. They don't drink a great deal once they are eating fresh fruit etc because they get the juice,
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
My girl friend just tried to feed him a strawberry coated in millet and he wouldn't touch it just ate some of the millet that fell off -sigh. I think later I'll try to coat more of his food with it rather then just one item and see if maybe the variety with the millet might help.
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Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Good idea, I'm sure perseverance will pay off, do you hang his food up? I spear Sanjays on Skewers and peg it up with a clothes peg (a peg at the bottom so it doesn't slide off), maybe he likes his food hanging up like millet?, it's more natural.
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Trying that now he doesn't seem to care. He just keeps trying to squeeze his way or bite his way through his cage . And if I let him out he just starts looking around for millet everywhere he has seen it or been fed it. He won't stay on top of his cage where there is water and food just leaves and starts searching for millet and there's no distracting him with toys or trying to give him stuff to try just turns his head and keeps looking. So far today all he has eaten is still a half a small apple slice.
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
I just gave him a plate of assorted peppers mango and spinach coated in millet right now he's just eating the millet off it and avoiding everything we will see.
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
No luck, wouldn't even nibble anything. Should I keep trying to coat things with millet or just say no more millet and keep givingnhim foods till he caves in?
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- Posts: 2050
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Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Have you tried googling your problem?, I'm not an expert, or perhaps you could ask an avian vet, it's a quandry because you don't want him losing condition, my instinct is that animals won't starve themselves, if you eat next to his cage, does he show interest in your food?, does he accept treats from your hands? Because they often want to taste what we are eating.
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
He will take food from hands....if its millet or apple everything else he just turns away from, he bit a pepper and spit it out nibbled a piece of celery. Same thing with broccoli and cauliflower bit it and dropped it kept looking around for millet . Since he tried those things and didn't like them he now won't try what I hand him if it's not apple or millet.
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- Posts: 2050
- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:07 pm
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Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Sanjay bites bits of his pepper and throws them to get to the seeds inside, so, cut a bell pepper in half as near to the top but not all the way, remove the stalk, then lay the top, with seeds exposed, in his bowl, and see if that tempts him. There is also quite a bit about this in the Budgie forums etc, so google "my parakeet..."etc rather than "my IRN"
Re: Looking for some opions about my new baby IRN
Thanks I'll give the pepper thing a try