Hello everyone !

Hello Natalie, and welcome! I would agree with Biteybird that the person who sold you little Captain perhaps did not have his best interests at heart, or at best, did not fully understand what they were doing. My advice would be to take your bird to a certified avian vet if you don't know how to syringe feed, get the vet to check the bird, recommend a formula and show you exactly how to feed. A quick check over would be good for him and make sure no damage had been done by removing him from his nest environment too soon. The squalling noise will be a call to feed him. Baby birds need feeding every few hours, day and night, so I cannot recommend a vet visit strongly enough to get specialist medical advice. Make sure you take your little one to a certified avian vet. I'm sure you are doing an absolutely amazing job at the moment, but I also know how devastated you will be if anything goes wrong with him. I would also get him insured as quickly as possible, as proper avian vet care can be expensive! Please do let us know how it goes, we all care very much about our own and each other's birds on this forum, and we'd love to be able to track how you and Captain are getting on.

I'm not in Florida so couldn't recommend a vet to you, but there should be directories online of certified avian vets all across the world. Good luck!

Welcome to the forum. Baby Quakers set their own pace for weaning. This is sometimes called "abundance weaning" and will produce a more independent, confident bird that stays tame. A Quaker is not fully weaned until it can crack seed. The bird needs to be able to use his beak and tongue well enough to crack seeds.... or there could be other chewing-related problems that could develop in the future. All baby Quakers should be examined by an avian vet.

I wish you all the best with your new baby and hope you enjoy him/her as much as we love our little ones. We are all here to help one another so don't be shy.