Devin Hickman
Checking out the neighborhood
- Joined
- 4/23/14
- Messages
- 3
First off, I'd just like to say that I'm not currently able to get medical care for my pet. My avian vet is out of town on vacation and no one else around my town has any idea of how to treat birds. It's not an option right now and won't be for about 2 weeks. Secondly, I have very little experience raising hatchlings. All my knowledge has pretty much come from non-stop "research" on the internet the past 48 hours.
Two days ago, my cockatiels - who laid 10 clutches without a single viable egg - had an egg hatch. I was totally taken off guard, because I was under the assumption they were both female cockatiels. Because of that, I had absolutely no plans for any baby birds whatsoever, especially not one that seems to be sick.
There's only one bird that hatched, who I've dubbed Norman for now, and I worry about him. I found him pushed into the corner of the cage in a pile of ground up pellets, freezing and chirping, while the parents sat in the opposite corner with their other three eggs. I don't know how long he was there, but I quickly cleaned an old aquarium tank and fitted it with a heating pad and lamp for heat. I then fed him Pedialyte mixed with peanut butter at a thin gravy-like consistency which seemed to perk him right up - I'm now using Kaytee's Exact formula about once every 1 - 2 hours, or whenever his crop is relatively empty.
After the first night, it took me awhile to realize that the yolk (if it is a yolk) attached to his abdomen was not supposed to be there. At first I thought it would just dry up and fall off, but after lurking around several forums on the internet, I became paranoid. Now I'm afraid that if I don't cut off the yolk, it could begin to pull his intestines into the sac or become septic; which I'm not even sure if possible just because of the yolk alone. I'm very, very scared that this could be the death of him, and some advice ASAP would be greatly appreciated. I've attached an image of the yolk (the dark brown/red ball) below.
Another issue he's having is air or gas in his crop after feedings; it kind of just sloshes around inside it. Since I'm very inexperienced at hand-feeding, I assume this could me not pushing the formula fast enough for him and thus he's taking in air as he eats. I plan on trying to massage his crop the next time it's empty, but what can I do to fix/prevent it?
Otherwise, I think he's healthy. He has about as much energy as I would expect, cries when hungry, can hold up his neck for short amounts of time, and even managed to stand up for about 30 seconds a few minutes ago. The only time he was ever weak or sickly looking was when I first discovered him.
I would really, really appreciate some help as soon as possible. I've only been around him for two days, but I already love this bird so much and want to do anything I possibly can to help him. Thank you in advanced for any help you give. Secondly, I want to apologize if none of these things are serious: as I said, I'm inexperienced with chicks and I'm not 100% sure what's urgent and what's just a common, easily fixable problem.
Two days ago, my cockatiels - who laid 10 clutches without a single viable egg - had an egg hatch. I was totally taken off guard, because I was under the assumption they were both female cockatiels. Because of that, I had absolutely no plans for any baby birds whatsoever, especially not one that seems to be sick.
There's only one bird that hatched, who I've dubbed Norman for now, and I worry about him. I found him pushed into the corner of the cage in a pile of ground up pellets, freezing and chirping, while the parents sat in the opposite corner with their other three eggs. I don't know how long he was there, but I quickly cleaned an old aquarium tank and fitted it with a heating pad and lamp for heat. I then fed him Pedialyte mixed with peanut butter at a thin gravy-like consistency which seemed to perk him right up - I'm now using Kaytee's Exact formula about once every 1 - 2 hours, or whenever his crop is relatively empty.
After the first night, it took me awhile to realize that the yolk (if it is a yolk) attached to his abdomen was not supposed to be there. At first I thought it would just dry up and fall off, but after lurking around several forums on the internet, I became paranoid. Now I'm afraid that if I don't cut off the yolk, it could begin to pull his intestines into the sac or become septic; which I'm not even sure if possible just because of the yolk alone. I'm very, very scared that this could be the death of him, and some advice ASAP would be greatly appreciated. I've attached an image of the yolk (the dark brown/red ball) below.
Another issue he's having is air or gas in his crop after feedings; it kind of just sloshes around inside it. Since I'm very inexperienced at hand-feeding, I assume this could me not pushing the formula fast enough for him and thus he's taking in air as he eats. I plan on trying to massage his crop the next time it's empty, but what can I do to fix/prevent it?
Otherwise, I think he's healthy. He has about as much energy as I would expect, cries when hungry, can hold up his neck for short amounts of time, and even managed to stand up for about 30 seconds a few minutes ago. The only time he was ever weak or sickly looking was when I first discovered him.
I would really, really appreciate some help as soon as possible. I've only been around him for two days, but I already love this bird so much and want to do anything I possibly can to help him. Thank you in advanced for any help you give. Secondly, I want to apologize if none of these things are serious: as I said, I'm inexperienced with chicks and I'm not 100% sure what's urgent and what's just a common, easily fixable problem.
