Hi I came across your thread and couldn’t help but respond...
My name is Ehrhard and I’m also from SA, Pretoria in fact.
This is my mousebird Lucky. I found him/her on 1 January. I think he/she fell out of the nest the previous day during a massive storm.
I got some advice from a bird breeder and fed Lucky 50/50 AV+ for parakeets and Purity baby food (fruit mix) I also give squished banana, peaches and plums.
Something really cool about mousebirds I have noticed is that they love attention, especially being scratched and petted. Lucky usually reverts to biting at my fingers if I don’t get round to scratching behind his head fast enough, then he’ll turn around and expose his back for a scratch by lifting is wings. As soon as I start scratching he closes his eyes and goes all puffy...sometimes one of his feet will even tighten up J
I suspect Lucky is either a speckled or white back species, but would like some clarity on this.
Also if anyone could possibly enlighten me about Lucky’s age? Initially I thought that he was about 6/7 days when I found him, but judging by the pics you guys posted I was seriously mistaken. Also how do you tell the sex of a mousebird? And finally how long should I worry about the temperature?
The photo's on the red towel is Lucky today, the other 2 are from the 1st of Jan when I found him. I've noticed that his tail looks quite tethered and that he has some damage on all of his wing feathers (hope you can see on the pics)... could this possibly be from the night he spent outside?