Hi Maggie,
I'm sorry I haven't written or sent pictures in a couple weeks. Kismet is home with me now & keeps me busy. Actually he's been home for about 5 weeks now. He's such a cute little squirt and a lot of fun to be around. He's very playful & happy & squeaks & makes noises at me constantly. He's very verbal for a little one.
My question is this. He's not eating very well in my opinion. He is on 2 formula feedings a day which is fine except for now he actually regurgitates a whole bunch of the formula up after I feed him. This is something new he's been doing the last couple weeks.
He is also a very picky eater. He was originally eating his pellets well but then stopped, he also doesn't eat very many veggies. I've tried so many different ones to find his favorites. I can get him to eat peas fairly well & a raw baby carrot & brussel sprout & jalopeno pepper slice but he won't eat any fruit at all and the veggies he will eat isn't very aggressive or in very big quantities. This worries me. I have tried his pellets in various ways, crunched up, soaked in water so it's soft, mixed with fruit juice, mixed with a variety of hot sauces. Today, he didn't eat any of his veggies all day long & I kind of convinced him to eat a little corn tonight & his formula. I"m at a complete loss. I have tried so many different foods & varieties but he just has no interest in food. I tried hanging his papaya & banana from a kabob to make it more fun & he will pick at it but not really eat it.
He's 15 weeks old on Wednesday & I realize he's young but is this normal? By this age, shouldn't he be weaning down & eating more solid foods? I've tried a variety of mash contraptions as well as the fresh straight foods. Still no interest. But he also doesn't want more formula. I tried increasing his feedings again in case he needed more but he didn't want it. As it is, he only eats 4-5 syringe's of formula each feeding which seems low too.
He's in his big cage now & as I said, is very playfull, vocal & happy. He's getting used to the cage & does move around to play with various toys although I have noticed he spends most of his time in one spot when I'm not home. But when he's out he's all over the place playing & having a ball. He's flying now & seems to really enjoy that too. I am going to clip him after he's flown for a bit because of the dogs but the vet also suggested I let him fly a bit longer so he'll get more stable. Oh - I took him to the vet last week as an inital check up & because I was worried about his eating habits & she said he seems very healthy & happy but is on the thinner side. She is going to do a few tests to make sure there are no digestive issues. I can't force him to eat & as I said, he regurgitates a lot of his formula back up now when I give it to him so what do I do? He dislikes anything sweet so far which amazes me and shows so little interest in anything else that I worry about him.
Any ideas on what I can do? The vet suggested taking the veggies away forcing him to eat more of his Harrison's pellets but I would hate to think he's going hungry because he doesn't have the things at least I know he'll eat a little of. I do weigh him every day to make sure he isn't loosing weight which he's not but he's also not gaining & he is light for a grey I think.
I probably repeated myself a few times & I'm sorry for that. I would love any advise you could offer on how to possibly get this little one to eat more. Is this normal for one this young? Do you know what age
they stop eating their formula? I can't remember that part.
I'll send you an updated photo because I think the ones on your site are still before his feathers came in.
Thanks!
Linda & Kismet