3 Babies almost 2 weeks help needed

[dlrblkjack]

Hi new to the board. I have 3 babies they are just two weeks old the parents have been feeding just have a few questions. Can we touch the babies and hold them now or is that just with hand feeding? If we do touch the babies will the parents still feed them? Okay one more when do we start to wean them and do you leave them in the same cage? Thanks for any help

[sweetrsue]

I've never seen a cockatiel refuse to feed a baby that had been touched. If you are letting the parents raise them leave them in the same cage but remove the nestbox. If the parents want to nest again they may start to pluck the babies to evict them from the box. If you are hand feeding you could move them to another cage but make sure they stay warm enough! If they get too cold it slows down digestion. I find a heating pad under one corner on the lowest setting works well. They will tend to huddle over that spot to sleep at night. A couple of low perches and shallow dishes for sprouts or soaked seed helps. Mine likes spinach (He is 5 weeks now) Not so hot on cheerios and does play with millet. Good Luck!

[crazy4tiels88]

First off yes you can hold them, touch them and also tame them before you find homes, they should still feed them but I would be careful if the parents aren't tame they may freak out at first but will get over it!!! They can be weaned at about 6-8 weeks of age and you do need to put them in a seperate cage if you want them to continue to be tame. Melissa & her five tiels. I hope I was some help

[christie99]

Please, unless the parents are plucking them, don't force them to wean by removing them to another cage. Make sure they are eating well on their own and holding their weight. You can measure this by using a gram scale. When they fledge, they should loose about 10% of their weight, but will gain it back afterwards.

One thing the others didn't mention, wash your hands before handling them. This will keep excess germs away from them. I would limit play with you to 15 minutes maximum at a time for older chicks (fully feathered) and shorter times for younger chicks. This is because younger ones have a harder time maintaining body temprature.

[Meredith]

You said these babies are 2 weeks of age, is that correct? I breed cockatiels regularly and I do have one pair that I cannot handle there babies until they are at least a few weeks old. I learned that the hard way as I handled one of the babies that was very young still and the father ended up killing the baby, since then I have never handled any of the babies from this pair until they are at least a few weeks old. It is not common for the parents to kill there babies like that, but does happen from time to time.

If your babies are 2 weeks old then you would be fine and it is a good time to start handing them now. As far as weaning them goes unless you plan to pull them from the nest for hand feeding then don't try and wean them. If they are to be parent raised birds then there parents will wean them when they are ready.

[dlrblkjack]

Thanks for all your help...

[tielfan]

If the parents are feeding the chicks you don't have to do anything to wean them - nature and the parents will take care of it, just as they do in the wild. Weaning is the process when the chicks learn to feed themselves, and it doesn't begin until after they've left the nest. At that point it will be up to you to provide foods that are easy to eat in places that are easy to reach so the chicks will have the opportunity to practice. My chicks were much better at foraging (picking things off the floor and chewing on things that were hanging up) than they were at eating from a plate or cup. The parents will continue to feed the chicks at first but then will do it less and less as the chicks become better at feeding themselves.

Don't be surprised if the babies hiss and screech at you when you handle them - this is a natural reaction to a predator/stranger in the nestbox. It doesn't stop quickly either. I ended up learning to handfeed just so the chicks would learn to like me faster. But I only fed them once or twice a day and the parents did it the rest of the time. I also left the chicks in the nestbox all the time except for when I took them out to feed and handle them. I figured out quickly that the sight of an empty nestbox freaked the parents out, so I blocked them off from the nestbox whenever I had the chicks out.

[dlrblkjack]

Looks like the parents pluck at the babies once in awhile is this normal?