Hand feeding baby Lovebirds

[Jolyn Beagley]

:eusa_clap We have just recently purchased a breeding pair of lovebirds. They have had 5 babies 3 green, 1 yellow and the rest are too young to tell. I have been told to start hand feeding at three weeks, and that its best to use a spoon. The people we bought the birds from have been doing it for years and they got their spoons from McDonalds. McDonalds no longer have these types of spoons. Does anyone have any advice on how to feed, or perhaps where to find litttle tiny spoons? We were told eye dropers or seringes if not used just right would kill the babies.Any advice or coments would be appreciated. ....Jo

[nybird]

Hi Jo

Congrats on your new babies....lovebirds are really very easy to feed however, great caution must be used when handfeeding any baby bird. It is important that the baby be giving a feeding response( a pumping or bobbing motion of the head when the feeding instrument of choice touches the beak) before attempting to feed. I have never used a spoon for lovebirds but have done so for many larger species- amazons and cockatoos. If possible locate a local bird club and see if there is a member willing to demonstrate the use of a syringe. Here is a link about Handfeeding Lovebirds AND it includes a video by Kaytee on handfeeding. One word of caution - be sure to always test the hand feeding formula temperature.

http://www.parrotparrot.com/lovebirds/handfeed.htm

Originally Posted by Jolyn Beagley

Does anyone have any advice on how to feed, or perhaps where to find litttle tiny spoons? We were told eye dropers or seringes if not used just right would kill the babies.Any advice or coments would be appreciated. ....Jo