My Grandpa got me a present....

[KDK241]

I tried calling the wildlife rehab. again today and got no answer so I'm just waiting to hear from them. After the last 2 days of every 15 min. to 1/2 hour feedings I want to keep them. You never realize how little time 15 min. is until you have to do this. It takes me longer than 15 min. just to make the formula!
I was reading online about how to wean them so they can become normal birds again so I guess if I have them for that long I will try that and see how it goes. Right now I'm just worried about this worm parasite. It takes 4-5 days for symptoms to show up and it's only been 2 but I worry that since they are so little they won't have any symptoms and it will just be too late. You can treat it with wormer so I think I am going to call my vet tomorrow and see if she thinks it would be safe to give them some when they are so little.
They all have their eyes open now and are getting stronger. The oldest 2 stand up now when they want to be fed and don't fall over like they used to so that makes me feel better. They have to be getting some nutrition if they are stronger, right? I think I am going to start weighing them tomorrow. I have no idea how much they are supposed to weigh right now but at least I will know if they are gaining or losing weight. They are just sooo darn cute! Now if they could just stop waking me up at 6:30am to eat....speaking of which...time to eat again!

[birdsnreps]

awww, you have peeping babies waking ya up at 6:30!! LOL lets see what they look like now!!

i got mine when it had several pin feathers already. i found him at my school when i was walking to the car to go home. i hid him in a little box from my grandma cause i was scared she would make me get rid of him lol. i had to force feed him the first day cause he was scared of me. grandma was ok with me keeping him though :) i had to hold him down, open his beak and shove the food in there, lol. after that first day, he learned that having me around meant he was gonna get fed, so he got real tame real quick. he was always peeping for me, he was so sweet. poor thing was starving when i first found him, he was kinda weak too, i wonder how long he had been down there. i think he had fallen out of the nest :(

[KDK241]

Awww, that's cute! I will take some pics of these guys next time I feed them, so in about 15 min., lol. Their feathers come in really weird! They have their wing feathers and head feathers and a row down their spine and a couple stripes on their sides and then almost all the feathers on both sides of their breasts but it's completely bald in the middle. The older one has gotten bigger already. His beak to head ratio is evening out a little bit and he has started preening his wing feathers today. I will get some close up pics this time. They really are the cutest things and soooo different then the tiel babies! I feel like I'm neglecting my birds though. They usually get to be out most of the day but now that I have to run and feed so often they don't get as much time out and not nearly as much time with me as they used to. It's to the point where they are starting to scream at me everytime they see me, lol. My cousin has been hanging out with them but I guess it's just not the same!

[KDK241]

Here are some new pics of them. The first is the oldest baby (at least he's the biggest). They always look so grumpy to me, lol. The next is the smallest one. He rolls around like crazy all the time! Then there's the middle two that I think hatched on the same day since they look exactly alike and are the same size and the last is what I see every 15-30 min!

[cashmerekiddy]

You are a wonderful and loving person for the time and effort you have shown these babies. Thank you Katie for helping them - it really makes my heart melt to think that you are offering so much to these little fellas :) They are doing well and are very lucky birds!

[Buggzter]

You might want to call around to other local avian vets - you might just find one who will rehab them or help you with it so they can be wild birds. And don't worry about the federal law. If the police find out, they likely will just give you a warning and get you in tough with SPCA or a wildlife rehab that will take them - the big stuff is really protection of many threatened birds in the US from having their populations compromised by catching wild birds for pets... At least, that's what I've read... And I also think it's wonderful that you are doing this!

[KDK241]

I called around to other vets this morning but couldn't find anyone. I am waiting for a call back from one vet though and left yet another message for the rehab. place. This is a lot of work! Nothing like my tiels at all but I couldn't just let them die. I think I have finally figured out the right mixture of formula, baby food and water so they will eat more of it. Either that or they are just eating more. They are fun but this morning they decided they wanted to eat at 3:30...too early! One more day before the symptoms of this parasite are supposed to show up so prayers that it doesn't! I called to make an appt. with my avain vet tomorrow just in case so I can get them in right away. She doesn't really know much about wild birds but she said she would be willing to see them and do a fecal to see if they have parasites or not and I figure it's better than nothing!

[birdsnreps]

awww, lookit those huge beaks!! they are adorable!! i want them!! LOL

[KDK241]

I know, they are so cute! After reading on the net today I learned that the mom stops sitting on the nest around 7 days because they can regulate their temp better even without feathers so I stopped leaving the heating pad on. I was worried that they might need to be cooler to make them grow in more feathers. They have a few more feathers coming in but they are all mainly on their heads. It makes it easier because now when I watch TV I just put them in a little bowl, set them on my lap and every 10 min. or so see if they want food. MUCH easier then taking them out one at a time, feeding them, letting them poop (they poop EVERY time they eat), putting them back, just to do it all over again in 15 more minutes. My hands are raw from washing them 1,000 times a day, lol. After reading that about 60% of baby robins will die in their first year it's going to be REALLY hard to let them go! No one called me back again today so I'm to the point where I give up on that. They just look so different day to day that I can't wait until tomorrow just to see what changes have happened. They don't even look like the pics I took yesterday anymore.

[KDK241]

Well, it's been a week and they now have all their red speckled feathers on their breast and are getting stronger. I have been trying to call the wildlife rehab every day because I am concerned that they are not getting any more feathers or getting any bigger. It's like my baby tiels all over again. NO ONE IS CALLING ME BACK!! What good are they???? I have been weighing them daily and they have been gaining weight but really slowly so I switched up their diet to baby food sometimes and puppy food sometimes. They like the puppy food more anyway. I don't know if it's something I am doing or if the day and a half that they went with no food cause them to go a bit slow. I have brought them outside the last couple of days since it's so nice out and today one of them hopped on out of the "nest" and started hopping around the yard!! He had a blast following me around and learned how to hop pretty fast instead of trying to walk. It was just so sad cuz he's so tiny! He only weighs about 45 grams and should weigh more than that right now. It's like they are developing correctly mentally but not actually getting bigger. Now I can barely keep him in! He hops on the back of one of his siblings and just hops on out! Very cute though. I'm going to go dig for worms tonight and start leaving some out for him to pick at to learn to eat. The other 3 are perfectly happy staying in the nest and have shown no interest in trying to escape. I did bring them to my vet and she couldn't find anything wrong with them and they are worm and parasite free so that was good. I'm just hoping that they will start eating real food soon and that will make them grow much faster.