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Baby Mousebird Blessing

Jen&Mouse

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Jen
Hello Everyone,

I'm so so happy to have come across this forum the information and advice received so far from other posts has been amazing. Thank you!!

I recently found a baby Mousebird (I suspect a Red Faced Mousebird) about 7 days ago. He was found early one morning after a 4-day solid rain spell. It seems he had fallen from his nest in the morning after the rain had stopped. He wasn't in too much of a bad way so I suspect he hadn't been there long. He was just cold and shivering. I immediately took him in and gave him a warm water bottle and wrapped him up and begun researching what to feed him as I have never had the privilege of rearing a Mousebird before. My last bird mom duty was a baby Hadeda I rescued after a big storm who also fell out the tree - he has now been successfully released back into the garden and comes everyday for his mince feed.

So far things have been going well (In my mind anyway), baby Mouse (I've named him Mouse) has a very healthy appetite and is permanently calling for food and trying to eat my fingers or persuade me to feed him. When I found him I started him on a mashed up banana diet through a syringe which he seemed to enjoy and then gave him Papaya which he loved and I can't seem to get him off. it to eat anything else. He is not much keen on the banana or grapes anymore (The grapes are lovely sweet grapes from a vine in our back garden). He has a few pieces and then realises it's not the papaya and turns away with a look of absolute disgust on his face - yes he has this much character.

I got a small pot of Premolt from my vet for the Hadeda which I have sprinkled a tiny teaspoon head onto his papaya to add a little supplementation to the diet - not sure if this will help or is the right thing to do but I figured that a papaya only diet is probably not enough to sustain him.

So my worry is this, apart from him being a very lively bird and not wanting to leave me alone - at all. I think it's safe to say that I'm officially bird mom now. He talks all day when he is on me or around me and tries to get to me if I put him in his cage while I'm working as working with him on my shoulder is impossible. He doesn't seem to be growing and I don't know if I'm just being a paranoid mother but he seems to be slowing down a little. With the amount of food he has been eating I would have thought he would have grown quite significantly in this last week. I feed him every time he "shouts" at me which can be every 30 mins.

The other thing I thought of is maybe he is losing his baby fluff and that why he seems to be getting slimmer? I have attached some pictures for you to see (See link to Google Drive here as images where too large to add here - Mouse - Google Drive - the first 2 images are 7 days ago when I found him, the video was taken on Wednesday and then the last picture was taken this afternoon on our walk in the field. I don't have a scale small enough to pick up his weight, but I did manage to weigh him on a big kitchen scale and the needle seems to have moved ever so slightly but really not enough to get excited about.

I took him for a walk in our field (We live on a farm in Pretoria South Africa) this afternoon to a massive termite mound we have and dug out a few termites for him. He managed to catch one and tried to eat it but didn't quite get it right. I read about sprinkling some of the sand on his food which I have done this afternoon and he had a nice decent helping of it over his Papaya.

Apologies for the seriously long-winded note. I hope I don't scare anyone off with the length of my story.

Would very much appreciate if anyone has some advice for this new Mousebird mom.
 

sunnysmom

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Welcome to the forum. Thank you for helping this bird. Unfortunately, we don't have many active member with mousebirds. A woman who is very knowledgeable, srtiels, isn't active any more. She does have a facebook page- Suzanne Russo- and if you can reach her, has always been very helpful. Probably your best resource here right now, unless some of the other mouse bird people come on are the old mouse bird posts.

baby mousebird needs help | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

Please help my Mousebird | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum
 

Jen&Mouse

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Jen
Hi Michelle,

Thank you for your reply and the info, I will read up a little more.

I have tried searching for Suzanne on Facebook but there are quite a few and not sure which one i should try contact first. Would you perhaps know what her Profile picture is so I can try find her that way?

Warm Regards,
Jen
 

sunnysmom

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Hi Michelle,

Thank you for your reply and the info, I will read up a little more.

I have tried searching for Suzanne on Facebook but there are quite a few and not sure which one i should try contact first. Would you perhaps know what her Profile picture is so I can try find her that way?

Warm Regards,
Jen

I just looked and it seems like the website where she had her info is gone. I did fine the below links that she did on mousebirds:

Susanne F Russo's Library | Photobucket

Mousebirds Diet by Susanne F Russo | Photobucket

Also she has a group page on facebook (you have to ask permission to join) called Noodles Member Support but I can't tell if it's still active or not. If I find anything else, I'll let you know. Now, I'm wondering if she's okay...
 
Last edited:

Jen&Mouse

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Jen
Hi Michelle,

Thank you for this, I also found this Photobucket site. I'll go check out the Facebook page you sent me and see if I have any luck there.

I do hope she is ok.

Thank you again for all your help.

Kind Regards,
Jen
 

sunnysmom

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Michelle
Hi Michelle,

Thank you for this, I also found this Photobucket site. I'll go check out the Facebook page you sent me and see if I have any luck there.

I do hope she is ok.

Thank you again for all your help.

Kind Regards,
Jen

How is the baby mousebird doing?
 

Jen&Mouse

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He is doing great! I think I've have just been paranoid as he has most definitely gained weight and is looking like he is starting to mature.

He is full of life, talks for days, demands attention and food 24/7 and is just the cutest little thing I've every has the privilege of knowing.
 

sunnysmom

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That's great. I've heard they make lovely pets. Similar in temperament to cockatiels.
 
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