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Need a little guidance on raising a baby Quaker.

EmbraceTheFall

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Ok, so I recently decided to purchase a baby Quaker; my second one. We lost our first years ago to an unfortunate accident involving an escape from his cage. :( I hand fed him from about 9 weeks to weaning, so I'm familiar with the whole hand feeding process. There are not many bird breeders around here, so when I finally found one, I was ecstatic. He told me he had just one baby left, that still required some hand feeding, so I thought, "ok, no big deal" and scheduled a meeting.

I showed up at his house and immediately noticed how messy it was. Not a great sign. He brought the baby out and placed him on the table, and I was shocked to realize that this guy was trying to sell me, someone he didn't know or trust, a baby only about 4-5 weeks old! He then proceeded to tell me to feed it "two or three times a day, whenever", and "never more than 9cc". I didn't need to hear any more. I couldn't leave him with this man. Now before anyone goes off on the crusade of "never buy an unweaned baby" I'd like to say that I'm well aware of the taboo, and am more than capable of safely hand feeding, and weaning a baby parrot. I have experience with multiple birds, and am disabled, with a lot of free time to see to his needs.

Now here is where I require some advice. I have handfed several birds, but never from this young, all my previous birds were unweaned, but already comfortable in regular cages. I know that at this early stage they need to learn to perch, fly, play, and that many other crucial developmental facets are involved. What I'd like to hear from any experienced person is how to best meet those needs. I have read everything I can get my hands on, but it never hurts to hear it again, and any information is much appreciated. I took this baby from the "breeder" because I knew I could make his life better, and I refuse to fail at that. Thank you in advance for any advice.
 

JosienBB

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Greycloud

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Welcome to AA! Is your avatar picture the most recent? I would say about 4 weeks, if so. Baby needs to be in a brooder until mostly feathered. You can make one out of a large tupperware container or 10 gallon aquarium. Put a heating pad on medium underneath half of it. Some nice comfy towels for bedding. Baby should be eating 4 x a day. 10-15ccs. Crop should be soft but full. 107-109 degrees. If baby seems to cry a lot you can increase to 5 feedings.
 

sunnysmom

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Welcome. Thank you for saving this baby as it doesn't sound like it had much of a chance with the original owner. I have no baby bird experience but this is a website that has a lot of good info on baby tiels- not quakers, but I thought you might still find some of it helpful: Just Cockatiels! - HOME
 

EmbraceTheFall

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The pic is from about a week ago, maybe a little less. He is mostly feathered now, except for the top of his head and his back near the tail feathers. I was told to use a heat lamp with a red reptile bulb in it, so that's what I've been using since I brought him home, but I can buy a heating pad if necessary. I've had him on three feedings a day but will step it up to four. As for begging, he does it every time I'm near him even if he just ate 5 minutes ago, and I'm wondering if it's due to him being underfed and neglected. The breeder swears he was 6 weeks old, but I just don't see that being possible unless he's just that malnourished. :( I know he wasn't socializing them at all, so I put the little guy in my TV room where I spend most of my time, and I try to spend as much time with him as I can, handling him here and there when his crop isn't full and just sitting next to his cage and talking to him when it is (if he's not sleeping). ;) This is a picture of him and the house I have him in as of today. He sleeps standing up right after I feed him, is that normal? 20150519_154304.jpg 20150519_154421.jpg
 

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Greencheek Lee

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Welcome..he's a cutie! I have absolutely no idea about birds that young, I just remember looking into lighting and found reptile lighting was not recommended, it was for daily use be discussed. I'm sure someone here will help with that. Is there a vet around you could contact for more information?
 

Jazzy*

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he is so cute! would love to see pictures of him growing up :) I hope he is healthy and keeps on improving.
 

EmbraceTheFall

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He doesn't seem to be sleeping as much as he should. It's kind of got me worried. He seems to sleep all night, but during the day he seems to either be unable to get to sleep, or sleeps for 5-10 minutes at a time, maybe a half hour, and then he's awake.
 

zoo mom

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Quite a cutie. I can't blame you for taking him or her. Obviously the "breeder" wasn't taking good care of him. I know nothing about babies but @melissasparrots Should be able to give you some information about fledging and development. I don't know if she has Quaker specific experience but she does have baby bird experience.
 

melissasparrots

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I'd go with greycloud's advice. She said pretty much the same thing I would say. If you are concerned he wasn't being fed enough, feed him 5 times a day or when he's willing to eat. Baby quakers will make it pretty clear when they are ready to start dropping weight for their first flight. They will spit formula all over the place, act like they are eating and then let it dribble out the side of the beak and down their grey chest making a mess of themselves. When that starts happening, its your hint to either feed a little bit less each meal or feed less often. Whichever seems to work best for the bird. However, if he's taking 10-15 cc four or five times a day and acts desperate for it, then he probably needs to make up for some lost time with the breeder. At a month old, most of my quakers start doing the dribble and spit business and losing weight. Although, I continue to offer them 4-5 feedings a day and just give as much as I can easily get into them. I don't normally go below 4 feedings a day until they are really starting to truly eat adult food. Not just scatter it all over the cage floor and crumble it up, but actually eat a large amount of it. Yours might still be wanting to eat as much as he can though if he didn't gain enough weight at the breeder's.
 

ZoeyFredrik

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Baby Quaker!!! :swoon::swoon::swoon::cloud9::cloud9::cloud9::heart::heart::heart:

Okay, now that is over with...

Congratulations on your baby and thank you for taking him in! Like said before, he should probably be eating four or so times a day. He is of course a quaker and probably will "quake" and beg for food whenever you go near him. He is a quaker after all;). Like @melissasparrots said, you'll begin to notice him rejecting (or ejecting) his baby food. When Sammy was a baby he did this. I'd take note of how much food was on him versus in him (is there more food on him or in him?:p) When this started happening I slowly began to feed him some soft "human" foods. I would not worry about the sleeping issues too much. If he is sleeping well at night, he is probably going to take little day naps that will become less lengthy and frequent as he gets older. I have also heard of baby birds having some development issues because of the way they were treated at the breeders.

I still cannot get over that little fluffy butt. :heart::heart::heart:
 
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