Help! baby cockatiel

Question
Hi Chrys.  I recently got an unweaned baby cockatiel.  He's two months and is already full feathered.  He's only feeding in the mornings and evenings. I'm giving him the zupreem cockatiel pellets, millet, and a little bit of seed.  At noon I give him his pellets moistened with warm apple juice or warm baked potato with a little bit of baby food.  I've seen him many times eating his pellets and seed, he spends the whole day like that.  my  question is: how do I go about the weaning? He is already eating his food, but I'm afraid it's not enough.  Also, he keeps begging for his formula. Oh and he always goes for the food when it's warm.
I would really appreciate your help with this.

Oh and if you have any tips on hand feeding or how to prevent aspiration, I would really appreciate it as well
thanks !!

Answer
Hi, Kyara.

You're right...you need to give this baby more food.  Try cooked brown rice at first...give it when the rice is warm.  You can mix scrambled eggs in with the rice.  Once your baby starts eating this, start mixing in shredded veggies, such as carrots, zucchini, yam/sweet potato, etc., frozen peas, etc.  Also try corn bread, whole/multi grain or wheat breads/muffins(healthy type...read labels), dry sugarless cereal such as Grape Nuts, Cheerios...the healthy types that are small enough for the bird to eat/munch on.  Keep as much food in front of the baby as possible, of course without it going bad (remove the rice, etc., type of food after an hour or so).  

When the baby is eating more, then take away the morning feeding.  The last feeding of the day is the hardest to wean a bird from.  Also, the baby will sleep better at night with a full tummy (and so will you!).  There's no set time babies have to be weaned...wean them when THEY are ready.  However, you have to "push" them a lititle by allowing them to get a little bit hungry or they won't eat other food.  Your baby will continue to beg until s/he is completely weaned...to the baby, you represent a food source.  The baked potato is good, millet OK, seed not so good.  Be sure to keep a higher ratio of pellets to seed for your bird.  At 2 months of age, your baby's beak hasn't hardened completely yet, so s/he still needs an abundance of soft foods...the baby might not be getting enough nutrition if the softness of its beak prevents s/he from eating enough seed and pellets.  

When handfeeding, you need to always try and get a feeding response from the baby before you handfeed.  The feeding response is when the baby bobs its head up and down.  This up and down action closes off the trachea so when the bird eats, food doesn't go into the lungs.  If food goes down the trachea, a bird can aspirate.  This can result in aspiration pneumonia or the bird can die within a few minutes.  You want the food to go down the esophagus into the crop.  With the bird facing you, insert the handfeeding syringe into the right side of the beak aiming the food down the left side of the throat.  But FIRST, rub the sides of the baby's beak in order to get a feeding response...then feed.  It also helps to feed slower if babies are aspirating.  I always try to ensure the baby is awake and standing up to feed.  Sometimes after they get a bit into their crops, they like to start snoozing, but keep them awake so they can swallow the food when fed.  

Chrys