breeding questions and pictures

[kaylabaxter]

Hello everyone,

I want to start by saying that my new lutino Lacey has started eating like champ and is starting to nipple at pellets as well as seed, and no longer has loose droppings.

Now I have a few other questions. As I said in my other post before, my sister also has a pair of tiels in the house, and for the last week I've noticed a change in their behaviour. The timing is amazing because I never would have recognized these signs if it wasn't for the ton of research I've been doing on tiels since I brought Lacey home. I'm the kind of person who spends hours online reading every possible thing about any new pet I'm considering. Anyway, I recognized the pair's behaviour as breeding behaviour, so I made a nest box for them and right away Jack, the male, started investigating it and soon went inside and began picking away at the entrance and perch and rearranging the pine shavings inside. The next day he began tapping on the inside of the box and calling to Moe, the female. The day after, she showed a lot of interest in the nest box, and finally yesterday she spent most of the day going in and out and there's now an area in one corner where the shavings have been pushed aside a bit and she's going to town on her cuttlebone. I was wondering how long after this will she lay her first egg? She doesn't appear to have a swollen looking vent area yet, but I was wondering if they are any other signs I should be watching for?

Although they are my sister's birds, I will be the one caring for them while they're nesting, and caring for the chicks when they hatch. I plan to handfeed the chicks once they reach 2-3 weeks old, but am prepared to incubate eggs and handfeed newly hatched chicks if mom and dad don't make good first time parents. I already have an incubator and have all the materials for a brooder (I've bred and incubated gecko eggs in the past) and have a good exotic/ avian vet 10 minutes from my house if the chicks or parents need medical care. I'm a university student, but will be finished class by the time i plan on handfeeding the chicks, so I'll be home all day to monitor them, and I've already had people show interest in the babies, so finding good homes won't be an issue (I know how people feel about backyard breeders and people breeding just to make money). I'm really quite excited about the possibility of raising such amazing little birds, and any help for a first timer would be awesome.

Sorry for the long post, but a few other things. Has anyone ever used Hagen Tropican baby hand feeding formula, or know if it's a good formula to use? It's the only stuff I've been able to find in any stores in my area, I'm looking early in case I have to buy online. I want to make sure it's here in time if I have to do that.

And lastly a few pictures of the parents to be. I'm new with tiel mutations so this may be wrong, but I'm thinking that Moe is a cinnamon and Jack is a whiteface pied? He has all white flight feathers and several white tail feathers. And if this is correct, then the chicks would be all normal greys split to pied and white face with the males also being split to cinnamon, assuming the parents aren't split for anything?

Moe



Jack




both


and Lacey just because she's adorable and sitting on my hand as I type this


Oh, and I forgot to mention that the pair are not on a seed diet, they have always eaten pellets along with fresh foods, and they've always had a cuttlebone, so they are getting proper nutrition for egg producing/ chick raising.

Thanks,
Kayla

[Syaoransbear]

Your female will probably lay eggs any day now. My female laid eggs 5 days after we put a breeding box in. I also never noticed her abdomen looking any larger at all before she laid eggs, but she has thick feathers.

I haven't used hagen hand feeding formula, but I use zupreem and I love it. It mixes well, holds the temperature well and there haven't been any problems with sour crop.

[Jannabellsmom]

They're all sweet! I'm glad you have time to watch over the babies, and I hope it's a wonderful experience for all of you.