Baby Lovebirds need help!

[leatherbeck]

I work as a Vet Tech at an animal hospital. I was owned by a sun conure for many years until her shocking death this week.

Someone gave the animal hospital a pair of lovebirds and after about a year we had a clutch of eggs. One hatched 1/31 and 1 yesterday with 2 in between and 2 more to go. Problem is that the parents are not being fed on a regular basis (we are closed on Sat & Sun). The birds are housed in a small cage in our waiting room which can sometimes be only in the 60's because of the door opening and closing. Additionally, they have been covered for about a month. 1st they were covered to discourage egg laying and then it was in an attempt to keep them warm.

I offered to take them home to raise them until they were weaned, but our Doc's wife says we can't move them. I would like to keep a pair so I want to make sure they are raised properly. Can they be moved and/or should they be moved to a more appropriate place? Since they are covered anyway how much would that effect them? Don't they need light? What can I tell them to make sure these babies are raised properly?

[Monica]

Do you know why your sun conure died???

My birds have been in temps that go into the low 50's without issues, and none are covered. As long as the birds are healthy and it's not a drastic temperature change then it should not be a major issue in keeping them at lower temps. Some parrot owners keep their house around 65-68° F without issues, while others are more comfortable at 75-80° F...

Keeping them covered for more than 14 hours however is not recommened. However, I have heard of birds being moved, even with chicks/eggs. Some cases the parents abandond the nest, while in others they did not. Therefore, it varies.

Does the pair have a nestbox? What are they fed? What size cage? What do they plan on doing with the chicks? Can anyone handfeed if the need arises? And be aware of issues such as slow crop, burned crop, yeast/bacterial infections, etc? Are any of the vets avian vets?

[leatherbeck]

The parents are in a cage too small for them let alone with 4 maybe 6 babies. We do not have an avian vet and I am the only one willing to hand feed or take any interest in the babies. The doctor's wife has never had birds and she does not want them moved or uncovered upon advice from some novices with a small finch aviary. They have no idea what they are going to do with the birds when they are ready to go. I offered to take them all home and put them in my spare bedroom where they can have sun and appropriate nourishment.

I moved them in the hospital for 2 days too a warmer place and they were happy and fine. The docs wife made him move them back!

[amanda143]

As much as I hate to say it, it doesn't sound like they really care, or if they do, there is nothing you are going to say to change their minds. Maybe they will make it through, maybe they won't. But you tried what you could. Is this an issue worth losing your job over?

[Monica]

Can you get her any lovebird care books??? Preferrably some newer books? Or perhaps even a more general book such as "Parrots for Dummies"

Parrot Book Store
http://www.avianweb.com/parrotbooks.htm
Best Pet Bird and Parrot Books - BirdStation and division of PetStation
Bird books and bird DVDs from Avian Publications. Bird books and bird DVDs about the keeping, care, and breeding of parrots and other birds.

[New Ekkie Mom]

Originally Posted by Monica

Can you get her any lovebird care books??? Preferrably some newer books? Or perhaps even a more general book such as "Parrots for Dummies"

I know you didn't mean that to be funny, and the entire situation is certainly frustrating, but after hearing about the apparent attitude of the doctor's wife, I had to laugh when I pictured Leatherbeck handing "Parrots for Dummies" to her. I really hope the birds thrive and eventually find good homes. Good luck to you!

[leatherbeck]

You are right! I went into the hospital to feed the parents and the doc and his wife were there. I pictured myself handing her that book as she explained that "the birds are fine as they are". I wanted to punch her!

[mayaexquisite]

I don't understand that... they're a vet hospital and they're not giving a s**t about these lovebirds!! What is the purpose for having them where they are? Does the vet's wife think they're a decoration or something??

With moving the cage you do risk the parents abandoning the nest, so you'd have to be prepared to handfeed if that happened... but the fact that no one is there on the weekends worries me because what if something happened to the chicks over a weekend?? What if the parents stopped feeding their babies on Friday night and you'd come back on Monday to find them dead.

Also, I'm assuming they're not providing these birds with proper food. They need to be given calcium-rich foods, pellets, and fresh foods daily. This is a critical time and you want the parents and the babies to be in the best of health.

I seriously don't know what is going through this vet's wife or what her problem is... when you offered to take them in, what did they say?

Let's say that all of the babies survive for a moment. What do they plan to do with them? In such a small cage, the weaned babies will soon be ATTACKED by the parents!! The pair will begin breeding again and the process will start over again... if they wanted to discourage breeding, they should've separated them into two cages instead of covering them for a month (that tick me off and is SO unhealthy for them).

Please keep us updated on this pair and their babies...