New person owned by baby bird

[cassarilda]

Hi all,

Three days ago I acquired a baby cockatiel, who I guestimated was about 10days old, and s/he was VERY cute and VERY young!

I was told s/he would probably end up being a whiteface pied... the gorgeous baby has since proven the man wrong, since s/he has acquired new yellow crest and sideburn feather pins, and today some new orange ears feather pins have shown through.. so s/he will either be a pied grey or something with some more yellow through it (I have NO idea about colour mutations).

We have since named said bub 'Topaz', and Im guessing its a girl, cos she's so demanding!

Ive had a few problems with her, mainly due to her crop taking 12hrs + to empty over night, but Im going to try adding some pawpaw (papaya) to her formula today to see if it helps - apparently it helps the same as applesauce...

Im hoping it wasnt caused by the first few feeds being too cold.. I followed the directions on the formula pack (35*C), but when I increased it 40*C, she took it down a lot better!

But otherwise, she is growing steadily, and becoming more alert, steady on her feet and is getting to know the sound of my voice.

If anyone has any suggestions in how to help with her crop, Id love some advice.. Ive done handfeeding before, but not with such a difficult charge!

Oh and a bit about me! ;D Im in Perth, WA, and Im 22 (23 in a few weeks)... I volunteered at a wildlife rehabilitation centre for 4.5yrs a few years ago, and thats when I had my last weero/cockatiel.. unfortunately I had to give him away when I moved to Melbourne to study photography. Im still in my final year of my photography course in Melbourne, but due to unforeseen circumstances, Ive moved back to Perth to be closer to family in order to have some chemo... Topaz is part of my therapy Something to take my mind of it all. So yes.. thats me Oh and Ive been married 7months (just thought to throw that in )

Topaz at approx 10days old.

[silvercloud]

Hi and welcome to our forum Cassarilda. I like someone who puts a pic in their very first post. That is one very cute bub. How are the little ones poos? Maybe try some electrolytes and probiotics as well as massaging the crop gently after feeding. I'm assuming you're keeping Topaz warm as being cold slows the crop down. Good luck with her.

[cassarilda]

Thanks Silvercloud...

Yes she's being kept a toasty 32*C at the moment... it stays pretty regular...

Would a normal pet shop have electrolytes & probiotics? I know what they are and have used them before, but never had to buy them...

Poos are good.. green and nothing too much to worry about I think..

Her formula is pretty runny, and I check her crop regularly to make sure its not hardening at all, so we havent had any problems like that as yet...

I gave her 3mLs of the following mix in her last feed which was almost 2.5hrs ago now:
2tsp formula (wombaroo granivore mix)
7tsp water
1tsp mushed pawpaw.

I'll see how she goes for the rest of the day on the same mix... it seems to be going fairly well so far, she's only got about 1/2-1mL left in her... I was feeding her 4mLs at each feed, but I'll feed her 3mLs every 3hrs today, just to ensure her crop is working well... I might feed her 4mLs at bed time and then see how she is in the morning...

Does that sound ok?

Just out of curiosity, what is a good time for emptying the crop in one so young? I would have thought about 3-4hrs... and does it slow down over night?

Like I said, Ive done this before, but never had this problem so hadnt had to think about it all as much

[vankarhi]

the food should be closer to 38/39 degrees. I would consider 35 to be too cold. when raising tiels before, I did not know about the temps, I just kept the food warm in a bowl of water. When raising my alex from 6 weeks, the breeder told me to keep the temp around the 38/41 degrees and I put applesauce (strained baby apple food for humans) in her food for the first week or so just to make sure she settled in ok.

That surely is on very cute baby. I have never been game to get one so young.........although I did try to handraise some baby wild finches. Two died the next day, one survived for almost 2 weeks. They were butt naked when I got them and the little one that survived the longest was almost fully feathered when it died. Not sure what I did wrong, but have never tried to raise anything so small or naked before.

Good luck and hope to hear more about you and from you.

[AussieBirds]

G'Day cassarilda first things first a huge AussieBirds welcome to our forum. Just a couple of questions about topaz, how many feeds a day have you been giving her? at ten days old she should be having 4 small feeds a day but if she is doing okay on three she should be okay stick with the three mls each feed and make sure it's at least 40c test the temperature the same way you check a babies feed by touching it to your lip , if it burns you it's too hot for the bird, if it feels cold make it hotter.

Don't worry too much about the crop emptying slowly over night as long as it's empty in the morning for the first feed, however the addition of the paw paw should help that problem, but if it was going to cause problems they would have surfaced by now, keeping her warm will also help the problem IF there is one, keep the formula pretty runny and she should be right.

Looking at the picture you have posted I would be prepared to say she is about ten days old if not a little older it's hard to tell from the picture and it is too early to tell the colour yet, all in all she looks pretty healthy.

Once again welcome to our forum and keep us informed on the progress of Topaz and if we can help you in any way just give us yell and we will all jump right in.

John

[cassarilda]

Vankarhi - yep, I figured 35 was too cold.. it also was encouraging to see her eat heaps when it was increased in temperature... My husband helps me with feedings by keeping an eye on the temperature for me.

John - she's been having 3 so far, cos Ive been loathe to put new food onto too much left over... hence the long feed times... She's already had 3 today (3hrs apart and 3mLs each - from 11am when her crop was finally empty, until 6pm just gone).. I am thinking I might give her 4mLs at the next feed and send her to bed then.. hop up at 7am and see if its gone through yet..

I am alot happier with her crop emptying speed today.. I felt awful leaving her for such a long time between feeds.


Oh and Im sure she didnt have those abdomen/chest pin feathers coming through this morning! Im gonna have to start taking daily pics!!

Thanks everyone. I shall keep you updated.

[cassarilda]

Ok.. the pawpaw worked a treat!

She had a little left in her when I woke her up at 7.30am this morning.. by 8.30 she was fully empty and screeching for food.

Ive halfed the amount of pawpaw in her food for today, and will feed her 3mLs every 3 hrs.. so she will get 5 feeds today between 9am and 9pm, when Ill put her to bed with 4mLs and see how she goes tomorrow with just formula...

Oh she's going to be a pied.. definately not a whiteface tho.. she's already got orange coming through around her ears, and shes also got a few feather tips coming out of her quicks/pins.

[silvercloud]

That is great to hear.

[cassarilda]

Hi all!!! Well, Ive done an update on Topaz, in case youre interested.. its been an interesting few days, but she's definately keeping my mind off my own problems!!

Just click the link:
aussiebirds.proboards27.com/index.cgi?board=Parrots&action=display&thread=1153742958