feeding day old babies

[deedeecmt]

it has been a long time since i have been on here..i even tried to re register..lol..i love the idea there is a place for parrotlets..i have been reading books and the internet untill i am totally confused now..before i ask this question..yes i am a new breeder of parrotlets but have budgies before..i have handfed my macaw and quakers..
my first baby hatched this morn. so far it seems to be going good. i heard it peeping today..that was so cool..i have never had to take a baby from a day old..i know what and how often but no where can i find a site that goes into how much..it always tells you to watch the crop that i know but i think i would be at more ease if i knew how much to feed it..it makes me so nervous because i can not see in the box to be sure mommy is feeding it ok..is there a breeder box like the one for wild birds..one side you can see in but they can not see out? that would be good..i am so sorry to ramble on so much..i just hope everything goes ok..i have been trying to breed them for a year now..we have 7 eggs..and good homes all ready for them after they are weaned..i am planning on pulling them at 10 days old..after that i am not nervous about..it is just this first few days..any help is appreciated...deedee

[Nazir's]

The breeder that I purchase my eclectus from actually made her own feeding chart. It goes by species, age, number of feedings at which age, and how much per feeding should be given. I found that chart to be really helpful over the past few months. I'll private message you her contact information and perhaps she can answer your question in regard to your species.

Good Luck

[Monica]

I'm not a breeder, and I don't own parrotlets, but I'll see what I can do about answering your questions! And hopefully, someone more knowledgeable will come in!

i know what and how often but no where can i find a site that goes into how much..
I wouldn't think that a parrotlet could handle more than 1cc's... although 1cc's might be overdoing it... actually, considering the size, you probably want to start out giving anywhere from 1/4-1/2 of a cc/ml frequently (they say every 30 mins to 1 hr 30 mins) and try to slowly expand the crop. Feed until the crop looks full then stop.

This site would probably be a lot more use to you than myself!
Little Tweet Parrotlet Breeders | How to Hand feed Parrotlets

Here's some other articles (although not quite what your looking for)
TPR - Article - Breeding Parrotlets
Hand-Feeding 101

And of course, if you can get a handfeeding book, that'd be even better! As they go into more detail... here's a snippet from one...
Hand-Feeding and Raising Baby Birds ... - Google Book Search

it makes me so nervous because i can not see in the box to be sure mommy is feeding it ok..is there a breeder box like the one for wild birds..one side you can see in but they can not see out?
They don't have "high tech" nestboxes like that for captive birds.... but they do make nestboxes that the top or back slides/hinges out so you can see in...


I know that there are some good breeders here, so I hope they chime in!

[birdsnreps]

a day one tiel cannot even take 1cc, much less a parrolet. they may take 1/10th, maybe. they are so tiny when they are born, and their crops, when full, will look almost like its completely empty, its that small. i woudl not bother the parents if i were you. they can get upset and decide to abandon their babies, or hurt/kill them. let them learn to feed their own babies, its much better that way anyway. if you can hear them peeping, just listen for the peeps. if you must check the box, at the most, check once a day, real quick, do a "crop check" to see if they have anythign in them, and thats it. close the lid to the box asap and let them be. i would only pull a baby that was really huge and hogging all the attention and food, and the rest of teh babies were really small, or if one baby was really tiny, and the rest were much larger and able to overpower the small one so that the parents could not feed him.

[deedeecmt]

Thanks For All Your Ideas..i Got A Call From My Vet Today Just To Check In To See How They Are..he Is The Greatest. We Drive 85 Miles One Way To See Him For About 6 Years Now..he Said The Same Thing About 1/10 Cc For First 3 Days .the Only Way I Would Take Them Any Earlier Is If I Had To I Just Wanted To Know For Sure..i Have Read Soo Many Wrong Answers..thanks Again..yeah They Are So Tiny..i Only Check Once A Day To See How They Are Or If I Have Any New Ones..and In The Even Shenna Comes Out While I Change Their Food And Water For The Nite And I Look Real Quick..i Heard The First Baby Peep Not Long After It Hatched It Is Harder To Tell With More..we Have 2 Now..the Sec. One Hatched This Morn To My Surprise..i Thought It Would Be Tomm..well Our Bird Houses May Not Be That High Tech Yet But They Are Now..my Hubby Has Designed Us One Exactly Like This One But One Side Has Like A Two Way Mirror But The Inside He Has Looking Like Wood Except The Very Top..i Am Really Curous To Try It Out Next Time I Breed ...next Year..hope It Works..we Have One Outside Like It For Our Wild Birds That We Use..it Is Really Neat..thanks Agian..

[birdsnreps]

sounds good :) the last thing you wanna do is upset the parents cause they might abandon them or injure them. when my eggs are first hatching, im really nosy and i like to see whats going on, i will check the nestbox once a day for maybe the first 5-7 days of the eggs hatching, just to make sure everyone is being fed. after that, and i know they are all doing wel, i might check every 2-3 days. the first few days are critical, they need to be fed. after that, they have already doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled in size and weight, and they are large enough to stand up and obnoxiously beg for food from the parents :) they are much less fragile by then so as long as the parents fed them all those first few days, the babies should do just fine and you wont really need to check on them as much.

[Monica]

Well, I'm certainly glad to learn something new!!! I appreciate the correction as well as information!

Glad to hear things are going well! Usually, chicks tend to hatch with either 2 in one day or every single day... as you'll soon find out why, once they hatch they grow fast! So keep us updated!