some exciting news

[conureowner1]

Hi everyoneguess what i'm picking up my baby sun conure tommorrow i'll be finishing the hand raising. He/she is 6 weeks old and is still on 4 feeds a day.

Normally the way i hand rear my birds by time there 4 weeks old i put food and water in the brooder for them. This bird is still in the brooder but isn't been offered soild foods yet. So when i get it home i plan to put food and water in the brooder for him/her so if it wants to pick at the food and water it can. Its been a while since i've hand reared a parrot.

[vankarhi]

Congratulations..........I add soft food to my babies diets (well the ekkies anyway) at about 6 weeks but they wean a lot later than sunnies. My baby alex at the moment is almost 4 weeks old and I might add some frozen warmed up veges next week for him to play with..... ;D

I do like them at "this" age.

[conureowner1]

for soaked seed do i need to soak it for 24 hours i will be picking him/her up at 1p. If i soak some seed up now will it be fine to give to him/her tommorrow?

[avinet]

Sprouted seed should be soaked in warm water for 6 hours then rinsed and drained regularly until the first shoots appear - depending on the seed mix and the room temperature, this will take from 24 to 48 hours. Even if it hasn't started to shoot properly it can still be given after 24 hours.

I've raised quite a few Suns, and at 6 weeks I would certainly be introducing some solid food, and sprouted seed is an excellent first food, followed by the usual chopped up veggies. It is about the age I would be moving them into a cage rather than a brooder - they are able to maintain their own body temperature from around 3 weeks. I would normally move them onto three feeds at that age, as soon as I see some solid foods being eaten. Full weaning is around 9 weeks usually.

You mention elsewhere about Sun temperaments. I have found them to be marvellously affectionate to the one they love - just an orange snuggle ball that that person can do anything with. However that often means they will be fiercely protective of that person and aggressive and bitey to anyone else. My main problem with them is the noise - seems to really get to me unfortunately. If the noise doesn't bother you then they are great little birds.

cheers,

Mike

[zooyouthben]

Aussiebirds forum will not support the sale of un weaned birds.

[Robyn]

Sept 11, 2010 11:32:45 GMT 10 zooyouthben said:

Aussiebirds forum will not support the sale of un weaned birds.

We hear you Ben but does that go for experienced hand-reares. Which seems to be the case here. Should we set some ground rules, I mean to say I am always talking about my babies, posting pics & so forth. I am at the stage now, wondering whether i am doing the right thing showing off my babies at such young ages. Am i putting ideas into the heads of others?. I was thrown in the deep end when i was introduced to my first baby bird. A Pet Shop sold my hubby a 2 or 3 week old lorikeet. I was lucky i reared that bird ok. I didn't have a clue & the instructions i got was i had to feed it this stuff. That was it. That was 20 years ago. Yes i was a late bloomer.

Is it illegal or not to buy a baby from the nest or unweaned? I am not sure if my info is correct. Does each state have different rule?.

Next week i will be hand rearing a baby Red Tail Too from hatch & i was hoping to give a week by week update on how he was growing. But maybe i shouldn't because i did buy the egg.

Anyway back on topic. Sun conures are great birds. Cute & cuddly most of the time. However they can get Territorial of their flock once they mature. My first 2 used to attack anyone that came into our house so had to be caged when we had visitors.

Although i think your new bub is a bit old for a brooder & to be on 4 feeds a day. My chicks at that age would be in a cage, fed 2 feeds a day & offered seed & their vegie mix. But monitored very closely.

Actually they are everything that Mike has said & more. LOL.

Robyn.