about food

Question
hello amber,
    we have 2parakeets male and female they just have 2 babies now.one was born sept 1, 2006 and 2nd is sept 3, 2006,we have a problem coz we tried to take them from mom so they will be attach to us, we feed them babybird food that we mix with water they hated it they dont want to eat it, we have to force them with droper but this morning we feed them oatmeal our food they love it they`re crazy about it.my Question is can we feed them that? or can we feed them real baby food formula like Gerber? can we feed them anything we eat?
thanks alot
  JOANNE

Answer
Hello Joanne! Lets see, since they are about 3 weeks old now, they mother and father still should be feeding them. But since you pulled them, they are being fed by you (obvisouly) Normally at that age the babies are getting regurgitated seed from their parents and no longer get crop milk from the mother. The babies are probably growing out of their crop milk (aka the breeding formula) and want to move on to bigger food. Oatmeal is good but cannot be fed as a solid diet. Baby food can be used but only in light portions. Make sure to avoid meat, milk, avacado, or other weird baby food, fruit is the best choice along with some vegitables like carrots. When feeding them baby food or oatmeal, you might want to put some vitamin drops or other supplement powder just to make sure they are getting enough minerals to grow healthy. You can also try weaning pellets. Weaning pellets are sold at pet stores and are little pellets that you soak in warm water then give them to the bird. Some birds love weanin pellets and its a great food until they start eating by themselves. Dont force them to eat the watered formula. Make sure their crop is totally empty before feeding again. if they would like to eat some of your food, like cooked peas, cherry tomatoes, cherries, parsley, cooked pasta, ect then you may feed the chicks that as a treat. Soon enough they will be eating on their own! good luck!