Recent additions!

[scottyb]

Hey guys, recently bought 2 rainbows off the internet, asked if they were a breeding pair but the previous owners didn't know, so we bought them home and they seem to have settled in nicely, big(ish) cage out the front of the house so they can see everything that goes on in the world and chat to the wild birds when they come by early mornings/afternoons... Noticed them acting a little, er... affectionate a few weeks ago so I thought I'd take a punt and buy a breeding box for them, must have worked a treat because a couple of days later an egg appeared. That egg only lasted a couple of days before it ended up broken and with much disappointment for the human parents!!!

About 2 weeks later much to my surprise we woke up one morning to find another egg, with this one, mum is acting much more protectively, even a little aggressively towards us ( which is fair enough I suppose ) but anyways, this egg is due to hatch at the end of the week if all is well and good, I haven't checked the egg to see if it's viable or anything as I didn't want to stress mum out any more than absolutely necessary, problem is, I'd like to have a go at handraising this one and hoping that I haven't bitten off more than I can chew and I'm just looking for some information/advice... So any tips, tricks, info, advice will be greatly appreciated...

thanks in advance... 

[melissa]

Hi scottyb,
Welcome to the forum!
I always find it exciting when a new pair of birds decide to settle down and raise their first brood.
I see that you posted about a month ago, so I presume you either found the information you needed and recently started handraising your little bub, or you let mum and dad do the job for you.

How is it going? If you have some photos of your chick you can post it up for all to see, everyone loves a cute picture. Otherwise some good information can be found at www.kcbbs.gen.nz/lori/ar/handrear2.html. This is information for the beginner, and gives helpful feeding times based on age of chick, formula temperature, troubleshooting etc.

I have never raised Lori's so I can't give too much advice, except that if you are handraising for the first time do your research well. Otherwise, please use a spoon and not a syringe. Your baby might get a little messier, but better to be messy than aspirating. Keep up good hygiene, sterilize your equipment (I like to do mine in hot vinegared water).

I think it is a very good idea to have a spreadsheet handy with daily feeding times, feeding amounts, and if you have a little pair of scales handy, daily weighs as well. When I first started I found my spreadsheet invaluable.

Maybe someone else who has raised Lorikeets can give you better information than I but at least that's a start. Good luck!

Cheers,
Melissa