LA
All baby birds rank very high on the uglyometer and are very fragile at this
stage.
LA
You need to keep them (and their food) very warm.
LA
A heat lamp and a well ventilated container will do the job. Change
those paper towels often.
LA
This food works great. If you follow their directions, you'll do fine.
LA
Bird feeding syringes work best. Eye droppers make the job more
difficult.
LA
And, a handy technician like Kellie Greenwood helps. She's hand fed
lots of hookbills.
LA
Eating machines -- blind, naked, non-flying, non-walking -- entirely at the
mercy of their parents (or Kellie).
LA
Here's a couple that have already been fed -- totally incapable of standing
up.
LA
You've probably heard the expression "Naked as a jay bird."
LA
Feed from their left side. They need help at this size. As they
grow, they start insisting on grabbing the syringe.
LA
Occasionally you need to turn them up to expel any air bubbles in their crop.
LA
Gently inject the tasty (?) gruel.
LA
Load him to the max every two hours.
LA
Gently skoosh out any air bubbles in their crops. Re-feed every two
hours.
LA
Not bird-like yet. Note the substrate. The paper towels need
changing at every feeding.
LA
As they grow, their eyes begin opening and you get a glimpse of their future
colors.
LA
As they grow, they start fletching. You can get some idea of their
colors now. A yellow and a blue.
LA
Changes start happening more quickly. They start looking more and more
like actual birds.
LA
Now you can tell he's a bird -- maybe not what species, but certainly a
bird.
LA
Still fletching. Very bird like. Still staggers and looks
scraggly.
LA
Still not eating on his own, so he gets his crop stuffed again.
LA
Easy to tell their colors now.
LA
They still need Kellie, their foster mom, but not so many feedings per day.
LA
Now they're ready to go in a cage and learn to stand on a perch and to chew
and eat their own food.
LA
They'll still look at you and try to coax you to feed them for awhile.
LA
But best of all, they think they're little people and aren't afraid of you.
Hand-fed birds make the best pets.
LA
You'll still need to trim one wing to keep him from soaring like an eagle.
LA
You need to interact with your hand-fed birds daily. Don't just keep
yours in a cage.
LA
Now it's time for him to kiss his mommy goodbye and enter the real world.
Last Words. We don't recommend
taking your hand-fed bird outside. We live in peregrine falcon
territory. One of our customers was relaxing on his deck with his tame
quaker parrot enjoying the evening breeze. Suddenly a peregrine
swooped down and absconded with his quaker parrot. LA
© 2009
LA Productions
aqualandpetsplus.com

3600
Sixth Avenue
Corner
of Sixth & Euclid Avenues
Des
Moines, IA 50313
515
283-0300
Home
Fish
Other
Stuff