3-4 week old budgie. help!

[robot]

The day before yesterday my boyfriend brought home a budgie that is 3-4 weeks old. I've kept budgies before but never one this young so I'm a little freaked out (and I'm very freaked out someone sold it to him, but that's already been done, and I live in Japan so the rules aren't the same as in other countries). Most of the colored feathers have come in completely on his wings, rump, and most of his head but he still has some pinfeathers around his face, on his stomach, and under his wings. The bird isn't acting sick, he chirps constantly if he's not sleeping or preening. He likes to cuddle up to our hands (or down a shirt) and take naps. We're keeping him in a little box for now with a little towel to sleep under. We're covering the box at night.

The budgie will eat out of a little dish but also enjoys being "handfed" with a little straw spoon. The food is for baby birds, it looks like little yellow seeds and the guy said you're supposed to pour hot water over the seeds and give it to the bird when it's warm but not too hot or cold. It's warm when I first give it to the bird, but he'll eat some, walk away and chirp, walk back to eat some more and by then it's already gotten cool. Does the food have to be warm all the time? I know for little naked newborns it has to be warm, but what about babies with almost all their feathers?

Also, his droppings are much wetter and looser than I remember typical budgie droppings being. There's more liquid and the stool is formed, but not in a little circle. Could this be because he's a baby or from the wet food?

Is it safe to start giving him vegetables, like sprouts?

Thanks in advance!

[shosh]

There are budgie experts on here and I'm not one of them but I can hopefully give you a couple words of help that are not off the mark.

Yes, your little fellow is far too young to have been given away but, as you said, what's done is done. Thank you for taking care of him now...he'll need you!!
The baby formula is powdery and does need warm water....since he is older, if he is being spoonfed and not fed with a syringe down his crop, I don't think it is AS imperative that the food be the exact temperature. It should be warm, around 108, if I recall, but definitely NOT hot...NEVER hot. If it cools a bit while he eats it to the point where it is cold, you can always make a bit more. Microwaving can be tricky since there are hot and cold spots....you have to be careful that it is equally warm throughout. Some don't mind it when it gets a little cooler, others will refuse it...I think it is best for them to have it warm...goes down easier.

I believe that if the consistency of the food is runny, his droppings will follow suit. If it is thicker, the stool will also be more formed but I do believe they tend to look softer, in general, since the food is not hard. Baby budgie might still be young for veggies....others might want to weigh in on that. A good weaning food is quite nutritionally complete and since he is only a few weeks old, I'd stick with that for another couple of weeks...then start adding the veggies.

Hope others can help more....lots of wise people here.

[usamma]

Hi,

I'm no expert (just learning from my first batch of babies right now!). I can tell you that with my parent-fed babies, their poop is a lot wetter and bigger than the adult poo.

My friend who lived in Japan for a number of years was also sold a very young budgie. They were told to make a mash for it out of seeds and hand-feed it until it was weaned. Apparently it's a common practice so that it becomes more bonded to the new owner. I don't agree with the practice, though. Even with my own babies, they are being cared for by the parents but I hold the oldest ones for about 10 minutes a day and they are very tame just from that. I don't need to take them away from the parents for hand-feeding.

[robot]

shosh, thank you for the input! The food actually isn't powder, it's more like crushed up seeds so the texture is really gritty. When I add water it doesn't seem to get softer but the bird is eating it. He'll eat it by himself out of a bowl but will eat more if someone his holding him with one hand and holding the seeds right in front of him with the other hand, I guess that makes him feel more secure? He'll still eat it when it's cooled down so I guess he's not too picky about the temperature. After eating, he peeps and cuddles for a few minutes then goes right to sleep. I put a heating pad on one side of his cage and he's been sleeping right next to that when he isn't sleeping under a shirt or in a hand.

usamma, "bigger and wetter" is the perfect description of what the poo looks like, I guess it's just a baby bird thing. Thank you for telling me that, I feel better now! Do your babies sleep half the time when they aren't eating too? I'm suprised getting really young budgies is a common thing here because most people work wayyy too much to do the warm food feeding every few hours, the only reason I can do it is because I'm looking for a new job! A budgie just a few weeks older would be much easier to deal with.

btw here is a pic of the baby from the other day: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...abydino010.jpg

He looks much less raggety now, the tail feathers that are nearly pins in that picture are now mostly normal.

[shosh]

He's adorable!!! And you will be a great mommy!!! Just keep doing what you are doing....
Baby birds like baby everythings do sleep a lot. They need to grow big and healthy and that's the body's natural way of doing it. Let him sleep as much as he needs to sleep. He'll know when it's time to be awake and he'll start to explore and to play the older he gets.
Sleeping under a shirt or a hand gives them a great feeling of security. It's warm and dark and safe....I'm sure he's happiest when snuggled with you.
Sounds like you are doing everything right...keep on with the mixture and in a few weeks you can try introducing some veggies....you can always try and puree some carrots/dark leafy greens/brocolli etc. into the baby mush as well to get him used to the taste before you change consistency with the harder veggies. Veggies high in calcium and vit. A are best...start with those before you move to fruit.

[usamma]

Yes, the babies sleep a lot. I was thinking, maybe you can put your baby in a small box with some wood shavings and put another smaller box for it to hide in or something. The baby would not have left the nest box yet and probably wants that security. When I hold ours they fall asleep a lot when I cuddle them just right. They really crave dark places and bodily contact from their siblings. I still think it's kinda sad that they sold it so soon.

I wanted to add, with the older babies in our nest box, they are only fed a couple times a day from what I can tell. In the morning their crops are empty, and at about midday they are only half full, and at bedtime they are stuffed. The parents are probably trying to get them to sleep through the night. ha ha! I think at that age you can probably feed your baby and go out for a few hours to look for a job, feed it again at lunch time, etc. Also buy a food scale and weigh it at the same time each day to make sure it's gaining weight. I read somewhere that when they are weaning to an adult diet they will lose 10% of their weight, but when being hand fed they should be gaining.

In our nest box, the parents are feeding the youngest ones first. They are always stuffed, but the older chicks often have to wait for food.

Here's one of ours, who fell asleep on my belly yesterday.


Here is the same bird. It is only 23 days old, and I think yours is a couple of days younger based on the feathers. Its very cute though!!

[GracienGeorge]

awww geez!!! baby budgies are soooooooooooooooooooooooo cuuuute!!

[Tinker]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! I agree they are so cute!

[robot]

oops i messed up!

[robot]

Here is a video of him eating breakfast yesterday:
YouTube - Baby Parakeet

He's been eating every 2 1/2 hours or so today, I mix up the warm mush whenever he starts the crazy loud hawk screaming. Also, today he started exploring! He hopped out of my lap to go explore the rug and pick at the tassles at the ends of it. I put him up next to the goldfish tank and he seemed to find it incredible: like, "what are those birds doing flying in a glass box where I can't get to them?" It's amazing how much he changes every day!